When ‘Electrify Everything’ Means Quitting Your Desk Job and Getting Your Hands Dirty

How to Save a Planet

Gimlet

Science, News, Society & Culture

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 2 June 2022

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Nate Johnson didn’t plan to switch careers. But since he did he’s gone from just writing about the energy transition, to actually making it happen. In this episode, find out what it’s like to become an electrician — and the challenges that could be holding back the decarbonization of our grid. And hear from one company, Solar Holler, that came up with a surprising solution to the issues they were facing. Guests: Nate Johnson, Trainee Electrician Dan Conant, CEO of Solar Holler Calls to Action: Become an electrician! Here's where to start: National Electrical Contractors Association Electrical Training Alliance International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Electrical School Apprenticeships Already an electrician? Become Nate’s instructor at the Peralta Community Colleges. Here’s where to apply: https://peraltaccd.peopleadmin.com/postings/5588 https://peraltaccd.peopleadmin.com/postings/5974 Check out our Calls to Action archive for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. Send us your ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail Form. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram. This episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by Meg Driscoll. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Kendra Pierre-Louis, Anna Ladd and Daniel Ackerman. Our supervising producer is Matthew Shilts. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Our intern is Janae Morris. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music from Emma Munger. Our fact checker for this episode was Stephanie Abramson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to how to save a planet, I'm Alex Bloomberg.
0:05.4	This is the show about what we need to do to address climate change and how to make
0:08.7	those things happen.
0:24.2	Nate Johnson worked for many years as a journalist, writing about the climate and the environment.
0:28.6	He was successful, he'd authored two books, was a senior correspondent at a prestigious
0:32.7	environmental magazine called Grist.
0:35.4	And so that that sounds like the reason that we would be talking to you on this program,
0:39.2	but it's not the reason that we're talking to you on this program.
0:42.1	We're talking to you now because what you have chosen to do, tell me what are you doing
0:50.4	right now?
0:51.4	I'm working as a trainee electrician.
0:54.2	As a trainee electrician.
0:56.3	Yes.
0:58.2	And how old are you?
0:59.9	I'm 43.
1:01.4	And so you're a successful author with a pretty good career in journalism.
1:08.1	And you decided to switch careers at 43 and become an electricians apprentice.
1:12.0	Yeah, that's more or less the sum of it.
1:17.7	Why?
1:18.7	Well, I've been trying to figure this out.
1:23.0	Part of it, Nate says, is pandemic related.
1:26.1	Like many people, the lockdown changed his priorities and he realized he craved a job
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -1032 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Gimlet, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Gimlet and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.