A Pop Star’s Wonky Climate Campaign

Permits for wind and solar projects are separate from oil and gas permits, so each potential development would still need to go through some reviews. Still, Met believes his plan would streamline the process. And last week, the Bureau of Land Management issued an encouraging response, suggesting the whole thing might just work.

“Once the BLM has authorized a certain use of the public lands — such as by issuing a lease for oil, gas, or geothermal development — the agency may authorize additional uses of that land if it determines that those additional uses are compatible with the existing authorized use,” Tracy Stone-Manning, director of the Bureau of Land Management, wrote to Curtis and Levin. “The B.L.M. recognizes the potential value of co-locating renewable energy projects with existing fossil fuel resource development.”

A winding path to climate activism

When Met was in high school in New York City, he went to a talk by Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland, and came away inspired to work on human rights issues. “That was the moment where I was, like, this is what I want to do,” Met said.

As an undergrad at Columbia University, he studied with the economist Jeffrey Sachs, who was working on the Millennium Development Goals, and became more interested in climate issues. He then got a Master’s degree at New York University in constitutional religious law. “I really liked being in school,” he said.

All the while, AJR was taking off. The brothers began by busking in New York City, moved on to playing parties at Columbia, cracked the club scene, and released their first major-label album in 2015. Soon, they were touring the world, where Met began to witness the effects of climate change in Europe, Asia and beyond.