Mark Chambers uses his train commute for reading fiction, specifically space operas, a sci-fi subgenre. By the time he arrives at his Brooklyn office, where he’s executive director of Terreform ONE, a nonprofit ecological design and research laboratory, he’s ready to tackle what lies ahead for humanity. “We do a lot of work around the speculative futures for cities and urban dwellers and how we can have a livable future that’s in concert with ecosystems and other species that also want to inhabit that future,” he explains.
In practice, this can look like designing a building façade that’s a haven for monarch butterflies and allows for resuscitating their migration pattern. It can also mean developing a “cricket shelter”—an 8- to 12-foot orb where they can “live wonderful lives and natural deaths” that then facilitates grinding them into protein powder. “We envision a future where you’re going to need a lot more available protein that’s not animal based,” Mark says.
His office is also keenly interested in kelp lately, trying to harness scientific advancements in the ability to encode data in the RNA of living systems, particularly plant life. They speculate that kelp forests could even one day replace large energy-sucking, polluting data centers. Whether this ultimately happens is uncertain, but the endeavor is “a design provocation … to challenge the innovation community, the design community, and the environmental community to be able to think this through.”
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Read on to learn about Mark’s unique career trajectory, his thoughts on the role of joy in climate action, and his time working for President Biden.
How did you wind up in this role?
I went to undergrad for architecture. Toward the end, I began a master’s degree in public policy and management. I really wanted to design, but I realized that for good design to take place, someone had to create the environment for that to happen. That created a really strong attraction for me toward public policy. I believe very much in service—and public policy is that at its core. I did time in design, but then I started working for local government. I was the Chief Sustainability Officer for DC, working for several mayors during my tenure. I left DC to come to New York, where I was the Chief Sustainability Officer for Mayor de Blasio.
What drew you to cities?
I think cities are where it is. You could be as high minded as you want about climate, but you still got to get the trash picked up. It was great to be able to be creative but also oriented around service delivery. Another thing about public service is that you can be correct, but then you have to defend that correctness in, like, a rec center basement when you’sre getting yelled at. You know, do you have the courage of your convictions or not?
Working in municipal government, did you discover effective ways to get more people interested in and active on climate issues?
So much of the work I’ve done in city governance has to do with unlocking the ability for everyone to contribute to and see themselves in climate action. And much of our work around climate was unsuccessful because we failed to paint a clear picture of a joyful future that’s inclusive of everyone, that people want to be a part of. We couched a lot of this in defense of the present and what you need to do now—why it’s like this or like Armageddon. And that doesn’t build a durable majority for climate action. You don’t find a way or an inroad for people to see themselves in that future. I think narratively we made some mistakes.
Can you say more about joy?
It’s so important for people to understand that you have a role to play in this, not necessarily by shifting what you’re doing toward some particular climate outcome, but by recognizing that a joyful future is what we’re trying to get toward. So, what are you doing that helps that, and how does that align with things that are also less damaging to the places that you want to experience that joy in—and the people you want to experience it with?
Wow. Like beaches feel joyful, but do some people not mind plastic everywhere when they visit them?
It’s not so much that there are systems that have put plastic in the ocean and we need to push back against them. We do. But the experiential component for most people is, “I am not enjoying this beach because it is no longer providing that joy. So I’m willing to do something to effectuate that outcome, to make it joyful again.” I don’t need you to be a tree hugger like I am. I just need for you to recognize that you want your beach to be clean so you can enjoy it. So like, don’t resist when we do things that help or when I provide clear ways that you can help that are not requiring you to also make an earth first climate sign and come to a protest.
Can you share a career high?
There’s certain things that I’ve been able to accomplish over my career that I think really unlocked a lot for other people. I don’t want to make this like a random résumé thing, but I negotiated the first and largest—at the time—power purchase agreement for DC. In 2015, I think. Basically, we as a DC government bought a wind farm in southwestern Pennsylvania. All of a sudden it created a banner of pride for the city. It changed the view that people had around what city government can do.
And also you worked for President Biden…
Yes. I was in at inauguration. I was the Senior Director for Building Emissions and Community Resilience—responsible for the White House Climate Team’s posture on the built environment. So, how are we using the auspices of federal government dollars as well as resources and policy to unlock the ability for cities and towns to be able to decarbonize their built environment?
A lot was accomplished on climate during that time.
Things like the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund through EPA, like $27 billion that was so amazingly crafted in terms ushering in a clean energy economy and centering and empowering communities. There were so many different ways that would impact people’s lives, but the money was rolling out weeks before the [Trump] inauguration. You got four years, you got to get it out early. We’ve learned there’s no longer enough time to assume the luxury of time.