Sieren Ernst
CEO & Co-founder Climate Cost Project/Principal at Ethics & Environment
Sieren Ernst is the co-founder and CEO of the Climate Cost Project, a data and documentary non-profit focused on bringing to light the immediate costs of climate change to American communities. She is also an environmental consultant in climate policy and investment analysis. Sieren’s opinions and analyses of climate change policy, emissions trading, environmental governance, and particulate pollution are regularly published on The Energy Collective. Earlier in her career, Sieren lived in Asia, working on clean energy investment and emissions trading. Sieren has degrees in economics and history from Northwestern University and speaks Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.
Jun 29, 2017
Like the United States, China’s falling emissions have been aided by renewable energy expansions, but are more a result of economic forces that would have existed in the absence of government effort. Germany on the other hand has made strong policy decisions that have transformed the shape of its energy infrastructure, rather than letting its energy infrastructure transform the shape of its policy. If China wishes to lead the world to two degrees, it should follow Germany’s example, not the U.S.’s.