In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Lisa Rennels, a PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, about a class of synthetic industrial chemicals used in air-conditioners, refrigerators, and other technologies: hydrofluorocarbons. Rennels discusses the proliferation of these chemicals in recent decades, the cost of hydrofluorocarbon emissions to society, the feedback loop between global warming and increased use of these chemicals for air-conditioning, and global efforts to reduce the emissions of hydrofluorocarbons.

References and recommendations:

“The social costs of hydrofluorocarbons and the benefits from their expedited phase-down” by Tammy Tan, Lisa Rennels, and Bryan Parthum; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-023-01898-9

“Comprehensive Evidence Implies a Higher Social Cost of CO₂” by Kevin Rennert, Frank Errickson, Brian C. Prest, Lisa Rennels, Richard G. Newell, William Pizer, Cora Kingdon, Jordan Wingenroth, Roger Cooke, Bryan Parthum, David Smith, Kevin Cromar, Delavane Diaz, Frances C. Moore, Ulrich K. Müller, Richard J. Plevin, Adrian E. Raftery, Hana Ševčíková, Hannah Sheets, James Stock, Tammy Tan, Mark Watson, Tony E. Wong, and David Anthoff; https://www.rff.org/publications/journal-articles/comprehensive-evidence-implies-a-higher-social-cost-of-co2/

“The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear” by Paul Rogat Loeb; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/paul-rogat-loeb/the-impossible-will-take-a-little-while/9780465038589

“Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet” by Hannah Ritchie; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/hannah-ritchie/not-the-end-of-the-world/9780316536752/

“Are we the last generation—or the first sustainable one?” TED Talk by Hannah Ritchie; https://www.ted.com/talks/hannah_ritchie_are_we_the_last_generation_or_the_first_sustainable_one

“The High Sierra: A Love Story” by Kim Stanley Robinson; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kim-stanley-robinson/the-high-sierra/9780316306812