021 Brian Ettling: How to be a Climate Champion

In this Tiny Climate Challenge episode, our Guest Expert Brian Ettling talks about his commitment to caring for our environment as a former National Park Ranger and current climate activist for Climate Reality Project, Citizens Climate Lobby, and Renew Oregon. He reminds us that we can all make a difference in the world by the way we vote, the products we buy, and the attitudes that we share with each other.

His Tiny Climate Challenge for all of us is to get out into nature, initiate climate conversations with everyone we meet, and take daily actions to solve our climate crisis. 

Guest Expert Bio

Brian Ettling is originally from St. Louis MO and currently lives in Portland OR with his wife Tanya. For 25 years he was a seasonal park ranger at Crater Lake National Park, Oregon and Everglades National Park, FL. While working in the national parks, he saw the negative impacts of climate change. In 2012, this inspired Brian to speak out and organize for climate action by getting trained as a Climate Reality Leader and volunteering with Citizens' Climate Lobby (CCL). Since 2010, Brian has given over 200 climate change talks as a park ranger, Toastmaster, Climate Reality Leader, and CCL volunteer, speaking in over 10 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and Ottawa Canada. He has also traveled to Washington D.C. 8 times in the past 5 years to lobby Congressional offices to pass federal carbon pricing legislation. Even more, he went to Salem OR numerous times in the past couple of years to urge state legislators to pass state-level pricing pollution legislation to reduce the threat of climate change. While Brian is deeply troubled by climate change, he has created space for fun by proclaiming himself as "The Climate Change Comedian", creating humorous short YouTube videos with his wife and parents, which led to an appearance on Comedy Central's Tosh.o in August 2016. 

Links mentioned

• Climate Change Comedian
• Crater Lake National Park
• Everglades National Park
• Climate Reality Project
• Citizens Climate Lobby
• Renew Oregon
• The Ezra Klein Show 
• National Park Patch Lady
• Katherine Hayhoe
• .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}