Billionaire, climate activist and businessman Tom Steyer discussed the future of green energy at a Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs event on Friday.
The conversation — moderated by Mark Blyth, director of the Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance — took place after Steyer spoke as the keynote speaker for the Future of Sustainable Investing conference earlier that morning.
Steyer founded and managed the hedge fund Farallon Capital Management for over two decades before leaving in 2012 to focus on climate advocacy. Since then, he has co-founded climate investment firm Galvanize Climate Solutions, lobbied for clean energy initiatives and run for president in 2020.
During the talk, Steyer focused on economic solutions to the climate crisis — namely, renewable energy.
“People are going to go with what’s cheaper, faster and better,” Steyer said during the talk. He argued that renewable energy already fits that bill — even if other politicians suggest otherwise.
In Texas, for example, state legislators have supported bills that favor fossil fuel production over renewable energy development, he said. But despite the adverse legislation, Texas remains the largest generator of wind energy in the country, making up around 30% of all wind energy produced in the United States in 2024.
“Politicians can talk, they can try and change policies,” Steyer added. But there continues to be a strong demand for renewable energy, and people “are going to (keep using) the things that make sense for them,” he said.
If the U.S. does not invest in renewable energy sources, Steyer believes that the rest of the world will take the lead. He specifically pointed to China, which he described as a leader in the global renewable energy market.
In an interview with The Herald, Mathias Lund Larsen, a postdoctoral fellow at the Watson Institute’s China Initiative who attended the talk, said he disagreed with Steyer’s assertion that Republican lawmakers are acting contrary to their economic interests by promoting fossil fuel.
Instead, he believes that investments in renewable energy might create unwanted competition for the U.S. with China — something these lawmakers might want to avoid.
Blyth said he invited Steyer to speak at the event because he wanted to bring in an expert to refute the notion that green energy isn’t profitable — especially in light of the Trump administration’s recent rollbacks on environmental and climate policy.
Kim Cobb, director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, introduced Steyer as a “force of nature” in her opening remarks, describing him as “somebody who has taken all of their chips and gone all in on climate.”
“I appreciated that he led with optimism, rather than existential fear,” attendee Sophia Kremer ’25 said. “I’m interested in how he plans to encourage investors to join his approach through policy.”
“Renewables are going to be cheaper. (Electric vehicles) are going to be cheaper. They’re going to be better,” Steyer said near the end of his talk. “The world is going to decarbonize. We’re on that track.”
