‘We’ve Used a Fear-Based Narrative’: UVA Darden Dean’s DC Fellows Discuss Climate Change

Open societies face a large challenge when dealing with complex problems such as climate change. Political and economic systems designed to maximize freedom make decision-making more a matter of consensus than authority or expertise. Indeed, the American political system was designed to allow for inevitable disagreement — with guardrails to prevent a descent into factionalism and chaos. When the problem is global, instead of merely national, the difficulties in taking collective action only grow.

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business created the Dean’s D.C. Fellows program with just this kind of challenge in mind. With a wide-range of  experience and a diversity of viewpoints, the group gathered for a roundtable discussion at UVA Darden DC Metro to consider not climate change itself, but rather the critical issue of how to deal with polarization surrounding it.

Opening and leading the discussion was Managing Director of Strategic Investments with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation George Ashton III, joined by (in order of appearance) Executive Vice President of the Economic Innovation Group DJ Nordquist, Atlantic Media President Michael Finnegan (MBA ’07), The B Team CEO Halla Tómasdóttir, former Urban Institute COO John Rogers, retired U.S. Air Force General Bob Kehler and Force Multiplier Capital CEO Rahul Bhandari.

Read more on climate action in “The Window is Closing to Address Climate Change” in Darden Ideas to Action.