In this episode, MIT engineer and Manhattan2 director Glenn Weinreb presents an “engineering approach” to the climate emergency that identify some practical pathways that can operate at the immense scale required, quantify their costs and risks, and invest seriously in the research and industrial capacity needed to carry them out. He argues that the world must not only reduce emissions to zero but ultimately remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to bend the warming curve.
This video was recorded on September 30th, 2026, and published on October 4th, 2026, and represents the opinions of the discussion participants.
The discussion examines Weinreb’s proposal to automate construction of large numbers of nuclear power plants, using abundant low-carbon energy for electricity, industrial heat, chemical production, and direct air capture. It also considers solar-radiation management, carbon-removal methods including ocean iron fertilization and tree planting, and the need for much better cost models, climate models, and decision-support tools to compare possible strategies fairly.
A central debate concerns whether climate action can depend on widespread behavioural change, or whether solutions must instead be cheaper and as convenient as fossil-fuel alternatives. The conversation also addresses political and public acceptance, the need for rigorous research and credible institutions, and the urgency of mobilizing major funding for climate-focused R&D while confronting accelerating emissions, worsening ocean conditions, and extreme climate risks.
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Dr. Peter Carter - MD, Expert IPCC Reviewer and the director of the Climate Emergency Institute.
Paul Beckwith - Climate Systems Scientist. Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Paleoclimatology Laboratory as well as at Carleton University.
Herb Simmens - Author, Co-founder of the Healthy Planet Action Coalition (HPAC), Climate Emergency Board Member and former college instructor.
Charles Gregoire - Electrical Engineer, Webmaster and IT prime for FacingFuture.Earth & the Climate Emergency Forum; Climate Reality Leader
Heidi Brault - Climate Reality Leader, BA(Psychology), Library & Information Technician Diploma - Video production and website assistant - Organizer and convener, Metadata technician, COP Team Lead for FacingFuture.Earth and the Climate Emergency Forum.
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