Everybody in the Pool E128: How to Win the Climate Communications War with Josh Garrett
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Mar 26, 2026 Josh Garrett, CEO and co-founder of Redwood Climate Communications, is a climate messaging veteran who advises climate tech startups and nonprofits. He discusses crafting simple, repeatable stories, word swaps that broaden appeal, how fossil messaging shaped the debate, leading with co-benefits like health and affordability, and practical local actions such as showing up at zoning meetings.
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How Biodiesel Sparked A Climate Comms Career
- Josh Garrett discovered biodiesel while working at a heating oil buyers collective in NYC and learned it cut emissions by ~80% compared with petroleum heating oil.
- That early exposure led him to dive into other ready-to-deploy clean energy technologies and pivot his communications career toward climate.
Nonprofit Audiences Often Preach To The Choir
- Working at large environmental nonprofits often means speaking mainly to people who already care, limiting impact on new audiences.
- Josh shifted into PR to reach investors, consumers, and regulators who could change adoption, funding, and policy outcomes.
Build PR Around Specific Client Needs
- Tailor PR to a client's specific needs instead of applying a one-size-fits-all agency model that does everything constantly.
- Start with core messaging and add services like media relations only as required for stage and goals.
