This was written by Dominique Browning, Moms’ Co-Founder and Director, and Isabel González Whitaker, our Associate Vice President for Public Engagement, both of whom worked closely with Joe over the years.
Moms Clean Air Force was deeply saddened by the news of Joe Romm’s passing earlier this week. Joe was an integral part of our organization from our launch. He got us immediately—got our mission and unique approach to climate advocacy rooted in our love of our children, and he reached out to be of service. Our conversations with him helped hone our messaging, helped us think about how to reach the largest possible audience with language that anyone could relate to, while remaining scientifically accurate. And he got our sense of urgency, and why we wanted to connect the everyday-life impacts of a dangerously warming climate to protecting our loved ones.
And no wonder: He was a devoted father who wanted to leave the world a better place for his daughter. His brilliance as a physicist was matched by his exceptional abilities as a communicator. For Moms Clean Air Force, he wrote articles that reached the widest audiences possible knowing that linking climate messaging to Taylor Swift or the Super Bowl would penetrate hearts and minds more than a pedantic data recap ever could. In fact, those articles—along with his “Elon Ate My Cat” essay about electric vehicles—are some of the most popular articles on our web site.
Joe was generous with introductions, ideas, opportunities; he was creative and his quirky approaches to talking about science were truly thought-provoking. He had a quick wit and was a patient teacher, especially with complicated issues (hydrogen energy tech, for starters).
And there was rarely a conversation where Taylor Swift, whom he argued was the Shakespeare of our day, didn’t come up for her ability to simplify concepts and deliver with panache. In that spirit, with thanks to Taylor Swift for inspiration, all of us at Moms Clean Air Force salute Joe—and tell him that we had the time of our lives fighting dragons with you.