The most surprising truth is that we know the solution to climate change and have known it for a long time. But we are being distracted by sexy strategies like hydrogen energy and carbon offsets that offer little hope of much help for decades. We are diverting billions of dollars from the real alternative energy solutions of wind, solar and electric battery technology.

Dr. Joseph Romm has a Ph.D. in physics from MIT and is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media. In the 90s, Romm helped oversee the U.S. Department of Energy’s work on climate solutions, ultimately serving as Acting Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

In 2009, Time named him “Hero of the Environment″ and Rolling Stone included him in their list of 100 “People Who Are Changing America.” An author of ten books, CNN host Van Jones has called Romm “the communicator’s communicator.” This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.