Cooperation for Clean Air

Sam Bowers F22 has hopped across the Atlantic Ocean more than once. After completing his undergraduate studies in international development in Canada, he returned to the United Kingdom to complete a term with the International Citizenship Service. He proceeded to work for a startup with an international focus but felt his attention pulled by significant current events: Brexit and climate change.

“My mother is Dutch, and she ended up leaving the U.K, as a result of Brexit,” he said. “That was a political awakening.”

“I've also been concerned about climate change for years,” he added. “I reached an inflection point where I thought, ‘I need to do something else — not just sit on the sidelines, but spend my time in a more useful way.”

A Cycle of Innovation

Looking to pivot, Bowers found Fletcher’s Master of Arts in Transatlantic Affairs (MATA) and began his studies at the College of Europe. He had spent a few years living and working in North America and felt he needed to understand the European Union better to begin imagining climate solutions.

“I saw the E.U. as this unique political entity that can have a significant impact on climate policy, both in Europe and beyond,” said Bowers.

The MATA is a joint degree program, combining study at both institutions and an internship. The degree’s structure furnished Bowers with the cross-cultural perspective he was seeking. 

“Although I was only at Fletcher for one semester, it was very enriching,” said Bowers. “I certainly wouldn't have the job I have now if I hadn't done the Fletcher portion of the degree. I use concepts that I was taught in my job now — what more could you ask for from a master's program?”

Bowers said Dean Kelly Sims Gallagher’s course “Innovation Policy for Sustainable Prosperity” was particularly important in illuminating the pathways that lead to technological breakthroughs.

“That course is about innovation theory,” said Bowers. “How you scale technologies from ideas to widespread use, and all the different policies that you need in place along the way. Things like the iPhone don't happen by accident; they happen because of decades of technological innovation, often supported by the government.”

A final project for the course led Bowers to his work today at Clean Air Task Force. As he was researching carbon capture and storage technologies and comparing different innovation policies in the United States and E.U., he came across a job posting there. The organization was growing quickly, and his past startup experience combined with this coursework to prepare him for the interview.

While working on U.S. policy on Clean Air Task Force’s carbon capture program, Bowers is inspired by how the organization leverages the insight from research and analysis to advocate for real and measurable change.

“I focus on a climate technology called ‘carbon capture and storage,’ which includes direct air capture,” said Bowers. “The U.S. is a leader in scaling this technology from small pilot projects to massive infrastructure projects. They're doing that in a way that follows this innovation cycle.”

“In my work now, we analyze policies through these analytical lenses, and that helps us identify policy gaps,” he said. “Once you've identified policy gaps, you can work to close those gaps. But you can only do that once you've got the analytical framework to understand how it works.”

Supercharging Transatlantic Cooperation

Working at the crossroads of innovation and advocacy, Bowers has found that the cross-cultural perspective he sought with the MATA is essential to moving the needle on climate.

“Climate is a global problem, but solving the climate requires global agreements, national and sub-national policies, and ultimately buy-in from local communities to host the infrastructure we all benefit from,” he said. “It's very important that you're able to zoom in.”

Bowers works with both researchers and advocates in the E.U. and in the U.S. He finds that the regions’ different strengths can be generative, and highlighting what is working well on one side of the Atlantic can spur the other to take action.  

“Two and a half years into this job, I think I have a better understanding of what cooperation can mean,” he added. “It doesn't necessarily mean you have a policy fix on the global level. We bring legislators from California or Texas to projects in Europe and show them what’s working here.”

“We're getting decision makers at the sub-national level, which is where climate policy happens because that's where infrastructure is built,” he added. “To see something with their own eyes and understand how it works — that's super important because policy is made by humans.”

Read more about Fletcher’s Master of Arts in Transatlantic Affairs degree program.