This Thanksgiving, NBC LA’s Robert Kovacik has a lot of assignments to be thankful for. He was the station’s man at the 2012 London Summer Olympics and just this week, sat down with Jane Fonda on a Sunday and Robert Redford on a Monday.

The Redford chat was to mark the official launch of a new $10 million-endowed climate conservancy at Pitzer College in Claremont bearing the actor’s name. The Santa Monica native suggests that no one in LA seems “too happy” driving around our concreted city.

The Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability opens on the heels of a very symptomatic climate change event – Hurricane Sandy. Ergo, the world needs a bold new generation of climate scientists trained at Pitzer and elsewhere now more than ever.