5 Colorado Climate Scientists Accept French Offer To ‘Make Our Planet Great Again’

By Colorado Public Radio Staff
December 12, 2017
Photo: French President Emmanuel Macron, Make The Planet Great Again
French President Emmanuel Macron.

Five Colorado-based climate scientists are on their way to new jobs in France, which says it wants to "make our planet great again."

French President Emmanuel Macron set out to woo up to 50 climate specialists to his country, after President Donald Trump announced the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate accord.  The first 18 were announced Tuesday. Those asked to take part from Colorado: 

  • Philip Schulz, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden
  • Benjamin Sanderson, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder
  • Barbara Ervens, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder
  • Christopher Cantrell, University Colorado Boulder
  • Joost de Gouw, University of Colorado Boulder

According to Science Magazine:

Ultimately, 450 researchers were deemed eligible to apply for the grants, and 255 submitted applications. Ninety were then invited to submit proposals in collaboration with a French institution. The French National Research Agency ultimately received 57 proposals, which were reviewed by a nine-member international panel chaired by Corinne Le Quéré, director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in Norwich, U.K. The proposals were “high quality and in cutting-edge fields,” Le Quéré says.

The Washington Post reported the comments of one of the recipients:

“For me, the chance to work on some very exciting science questions with my French colleagues and not be so dependent on the crazy stuff that goes on in Congress and with the current administration is honestly very attractive,” Louis A. Derry, a professor of Earth and atmospheric sciences at Cornell, said in an interview. “But it can be embarrassing to try and explain what is going on at home right now.”

NPR reported that the announcement comes a day before a Paris gathering called the "One Planet Summit" co-hosted by the U.N. and the World Bank designed to "re-energize" the Paris climate accords. More than 50 world leaders will be there. Donald Trump will not.

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