Debunking the DoE Climate Denial Report with Andrew Dessler

In this Climate Chat episode, we interview climate scientist Andrew Dessler on his recent paper that debunks the "climate denial" report that was issued by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Andrew Dessler is a climate scientist who studies both the science and politics of climate change. He is a Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and director of Texas A&M’s Texas Center for Climate Studies.

His scientific research revolves around climate feedbacks, in particular how water vapor and clouds act to amplify warming from the carbon dioxide that humans emit. He is also interested in the intersection of climate change and human society, with the goal of helping us better cope with the impacts of climate change. This includes work quantifying climate extremes and how climate change can alter them, as well as analyzing how climate change will stress crucial energy, water, and other infrastructure and human systems.

During the last year of the Clinton Administration, he served as a Senior Policy Analyst in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Based on his research and policy experience, he has authored two books on climate change: The science and politics of global climate change: A guide to the debate (Cambridge University Press, 3rd ed. 2019, co-written with Edward Parson), and Introduction to modern climate change (Cambridge University Press, 3rd ed. 2021). This latter book won the 2014 American Meteorological Society Louis J. Battan Author's Award. Prior to his work on climate, his research focused on stratospheric photochemistry. He authored the book The chemistry and physics of stratospheric ozone (Academic Press, 2000) about his work on that subject.

Link to DoE "A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate"
https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-07/DOE_Critical_Review_of_Impacts_of_GHG_Emissions_on_the_US_Climate_July_2025.pdf

Andrew Dessler & Robert Kopp's "Climate Experts’ Review of the DOE Climate Working Group Report"
https://essopenarchive.org/users/260056/articles/1330312-climate-experts-review-of-the-doe-climate-working-group-report

Andrew's Texas A&M page: https://artsci.tamu.edu/atmos-science/contact/profiles/andrew-dessler.html

Andrew's personal website (with info on his books): https://www.andrewdessler.com

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Dan Miller has been giving talks around the world on the need for urgent climate action for over 20 years. He is co-founder of The Roda Group, a climate-tech venture capital group, and he serves as an advisor for other climate funds and climate-focused non-profit groups. He started Climate Chat in 2021 on Clubhouse and added YouTube in 2023.

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Leon Simons is a climate scientist based in the Netherlands. He was a co-author with James Hansen on the 2023 "Global Warming in the Pipeline" paper that discussed the recent acceleration in global warming. Leon's work has focused recently on changes in aerosol emissions from ships and the impact of those changes on climate change. You can access Leon's research writings here:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Leon-Simons

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