Photo: Instagram
There might not be a snowboarder on the planet who has had a more meaningful impact on climate awareness than Jeremy Jones. The East Coast native and Tahoe resident who is best known for riding spine-tingling lines across the globe has spent the last decade working alongside both politicians, climate scientist, and his organization Protect Our Winters. When not filming for the Deeper, Further, Higher trilogy Jones has been one of the most vocal proponents of climate change awareness and policy within the outdoor industry.
Jones, who has made numerous trips to Washington, DC to meet with politicians, has been paying close attention to our current administration’s policies regarding climate. While the rest of the world comes to consensus in regards to fighting climate change, the US, who under the Obama administration looked to be onboard with the rest of the world’s progress, is now withdrawing on the Paris Climate Agreement. The United States who has always seen itself as a bastion of progress and innovation is now on the verge of being left behind in terms of global scientific consensus. Begging the question when will we stop politicizing climate change and work together to fight the most serious global threat of our time?
We caught up with Jeremy who was recently in Washington to get his take on the Trump administration’s dismal climate policy, how extreme weather has played a part in devastating local economies, and what we can do to be more proactive in our daily lives.
How was this last winter for you?
It was a very special winter for me. I spent the whole season at my home range, it was the first time since I was about 15 that I focused on a single range all winter.
This winter was a pretty good one in terms of snowfall for a number of regions, especially in California. Do you see this having a significant impact on the drought situation there?
Yeah, for about 8 years maybe like 90 percent of my snowboarding was in the Sierra’s, so I had to live through those three or four years of drought. To see our lakes and rivers fill back up has been pretty astonishing.
Low snowpack years affect you guys as athletes but it also has a pretty devastating effect on the local economy, how did this winter impact the local economy?
Well it was like 70 degrees through Thanksgiving, so November was a wash, and during Christmas, we had maybe a third of the mountain open. Winter came late, so this winter wasn’t necessarily a magic bullet for all of the resorts and ski shops. If you would have called me in January the mood of the community would have been one of frustration because the storms were so dramatic that the resort really struggled to stay open. I actually just read that Squaw Valley had more forced closures due to weather than they have ever had before.
Because of too much snow?
Yeah, we had one storm that had like 198 mile-per-hour wind. When all was said and done we had nine atmospheric rivers, which equated to a large amount of water in a short period of time which caused mudslides and tree falls to close roads and flooding. I like extreme weather but it was a wild winter for sure.
I think there’s this misconception that when we see these huge winters or extreme cold that it somehow negates the true impact of global warming, or that it might not be as bad as the media makes it out to be, but the tumultuous weather is still negative even if it’s cold.
Well yeah talk to the guys in Europe who were mountain biking all winter, or look at New York where it was 70 degrees in February, or Antarctica where it’s 30 degrees warmer than average. We had a big winter, but I don’t think I have ever seen it rain that much in town. I definitely haven’t seen winds like that. I’ve never seen flooding like that. So it falls in line with what scientist have been saying since the 80’s, which is that we are going to see more big extreme weather events.
Will the snowpack in the Sierra this year have an impact on the drought?
Absolutely, we went into a drought really fast as 2011 was a record snow year, and by 2013 we were in an extreme drought, which is another example of these extreme weather events. However, we are very relieved that our lakes and reservoirs are filled up. That’s really uplifting for the community.
The G7 Summit just wrapped up and we have a president who just puled us out of the Paris Climate Agreement, what are your thoughts about this new administration’s position on climate change?
I mean November, 8th was one of the worst days of my life. From an emotional perspective it felt similar to losing a friend because I knew what was at stake. To the administration’s credit, they ran on a ticket that made it clear that they would revert anything positive that previous administrations did for the environment, and they have stuck to their plan and done exactly that. We are completely under attack on all things environment from public lands, the Paris Agreement, clean power initiatives, every front. It’s astonishing we are one of three countries in the world that may not be in the Paris Agreement, and as a country that prides itself on being a leader, it’s really troublesome, to say the least.
It seems like culturally in the US we are a little bit behind the curve in terms of accepting climate change? How bad do you think it will have to get before we have a consensus, how long before it’s not a partisan issue?
That’s what separates the US from everyone else in the world. Take China and India for example: it’s not a political issue there. Where they were five years ago in terms of emissions and where they are today is astonishing. They have really embraced the solutions and have begun transforming their economies. Something like 90 percent of millennials want action on climate change, but it’s not as important to baby boomers or other segments of voters. It’s not a top three issue for many voters. Eventually, we will have to get our act together, but the issue is we are in the 11th hour on this stuff and we can not blow this next midterm or presidential election.
What can we do as individuals to have a positive impact regardless of what this administration is implementing?
Well, 2018 is right around the corner, so not only do you want to get more informed about your individual choices and how they impact the environment, but we need to get up to speed on what’s going on in our specific regions and our local politics. People ask me what they can do to help all of the time, and a lot of it isn’t super exciting, I don’t love calling my Senator every day, but we need to understand what our local politicians stand for in terms of renewables and climate policy, and hold them accountable. That really is the front lines and that is where we need to see some change.
Are there any specific resources that people who are interested in being more engaged can check out?
One hundred percent, Protect Our Winters just launched an active roadmap for acting on climate. It has everything from simple action steps to getting more involved on a complex level.
As an athlete and climate change advocate you have spent time in D.C. working with politicians, what do those meetings looks like? Are you guys actually discussing policy, or is it so they can see that there are humans who are affected by climate change in real time?
Well, we only have so many arrows, so we focus on what we call the dark blue states and the dark red states, meaning that we focus on the people we think we have a chance of persuading. It’s not just in Washington, there’s a lot of work that leads up to those meetings. When we meet with different politicians we essentially tell them that there is a huge portion of their voting demographic that wants real action on climate. A lot of times we don’t see totally eye-to-eye on these issues so we use factors like the economy to get their attention. We explain how climate change negatively impacts the local economies. We have seen some situations where senators who have been on the fence for four years finally vote for the environment and why we get some small wins. We don’t currently have enough of those.
You obviously have an in-depth understanding of policy and individual efforts to combat climate change as well as the serious ramifications of extreme weather. Are you actually hopeful that we are going to be able to stop or slow down climate change before we hit an irreversible threshold?
Yes, I am very hopeful. I’m hopeful because the solutions are good for the economy, they’re job creators and that’s something that both sides of the aisle can understand. The rest of the world is going all in on it. Places like Sweden and the Netherlands are making efforts to be totally carbon neutral. For a long time, people said that we can’t do anything without China and India changing their policy, and they are onboarding renewables at ridiculously fast pace. China is closing in on a carbon tax, so we are seeing the rest of the world carry the weight. Change is going to happen regardless of who’s in office, we have seen something like 200 coal plants shut down in the last couple years because they aren’t economically viable. Renewables are extremely competitive, they were competitive before Trump was elected and their still competitive with Trump in office. So that’s where I have a lot of optimism.
Are there any upcoming projects you want people to be aware of?
I think it’s just important for people to get into the Protect Our Winters ecosystem. We do a really good job of explaining when we need direct action, which has been happening a lot. It seems like we have to get people into action every week whether it’s in regards to EPA funding, clean power initiatives, or public lands. It’s a pretty intense time and there’s plenty to do, so just get into that ecosystem and get active.
Thanks for talking with us. Any other thoughts as we finish up?
I know you guys do a lot within the surf community and I just wanted to say I was really devastated that Kelly Slater, who is one of my heroes in and out of the water, didn’t vote in the last election. I would love to see him use his voice to make an impact, especially being from Florida and how much impact that particular state has in shaping the country. Really with as much impact as he has, he could be the difference in this thing.
