We'd love if you'd leave us a 5 ⭐ rating & review and it's never been easier: www.ratethispodcast.com/suncast
6 Powerful Cleantech Podcasters On Biden, Ukraine And Energy Transformation
When you put people with deep perspectives together, you get a vivid mosaic — and you have a lot of fun. That's how my friend Mike Casey explains the quarterly podcasts we've been co-hosting with top experts in the cleantech sector, and I agree.
Mike is president and founder of Tigercomm, a cleantech public relations, marketing communications and public affairs firm, and host of ScalingClean, a podcast and blog that aim to advance the clean economy.
Today we're sharing our fifth quarterly podcaster's roundtable, which offers a rich, one-hour discussion of energy trends, developments, challenges and opportunities. We’re joined by some impressive industry voices.
Emily Chasan, director of communications at Generate Capital, a San Francisco-based diversified, sustainable infrastructure company. She's also a co-host on Wood Mackenzie's Energy Gang podcast, a bi-weekly digest on energy, cleantech and the environment.
Gil Jenkins, vice president of corporate communications and public affairs at Hannon Armstrong. He's co-host of its Climate Positive podcast, which features conversations with people driving our climate-positive future.
Tim Montague, a solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage executive, speaker, trainer and consultant. He's co-host of Clean Power Hour, a weekly news roundup of the latest solar, wind, storage and energy transition news.
Bill Nussey, CEO and founder of the Freeing Energy Project, which aims to accelerate the shift to cleaner, cheaper energy through books, articles and a top 10 energy podcast, also called Freeing Energy.
And Josh Porter, an arborist turned renewable energies enthusiast. He's the principal consultant at SolarCoaster Consulting and co-host of The Solar Coaster, a renewable energy-themed talk show broadcast every Friday from Maui, Hawaii.
We cover a lot of ground in the episode, from thoughts on the ongoing war in Ukraine and escalating attacks by pro-fossil fuel pundits. But we start with our views on the possible direction of the Biden Administration's imperiled climate agenda.
Democrats haven't passed Biden's broad climate package because of Republican opposition in the Senate and lack of support from their own Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia. Manchin said he wouldn't vote for any climate or clean energy programs because of fears of worsening inflation.
Biden recently announced a "climate plan" to address the effects of global warming but stopped short of declaring a broader climate emergency. In many ways, he's left with an executive order, and I wonder how much teeth it has, especially if the White House changes hands in two years. But I think Biden can move the needle on trade policy to benefit the steel and glass industries, which are really important for solar and the broader economy around batteries and electric vehicles.
And I'm hearing some positive signs about proposed legislation to incentivize local manufacturing, which will ultimately impact our industry in the long term.
As Gil noted, "we are depleted but not defeated" and added there is still talk of a last-ditch Hail Mary effort. Some potential new executive orders could be impactful, and we've already got two or three very robust climate executive orders to work with, particularly in federal procurement.
Emily said state initiatives could offset federal setbacks. "California and New York have very aggressive goals, and a lot of states are copying their policies. I think that's going to be the demand driver right now, though it's a shame not to have more coordinated possibilities," she said.
Josh suggested it was a great time to learn more about the multilevel process behind climate legislation, as articulated in a book by his friend Patrick M. Regan, The Politics of Global Climate Change. "I've been trying to read through this to understand better how decisions are made at various levels — federal, state or international," he said.
Tim argued Americans generally want energy transition, even those unconcerned about climate change. "They're starting to understand the value of electrification of transportation, as gas and energy prices are going up," he said. "The economies of wind, solar and energy storage are winning the day."
Bill agreed, noting it's important to remain optimistic. "There's something everybody's forgetting. All this stuff we're talking about with clean energy is technology. And everyone forgets that this isn't like finding a better way to get coal out of the ground or some new nuclear reaction.
"This is like your iPhone. And the thing that everyone's missing is that in two years, it's going to be 20% cheaper, and in 10 years, it's going to be 50% cheaper. And that is an economic juggernaut. Policies, politics and lobbying are all going to fade away because there are a lot of things you can debate about in America, whether you're red or you're blue. But there's one thing you can't tell any American, which is I'm going to make you pay a whole bunch of extra money."
As Mike said, our guests' informed, divergent opinions come together to create a fascinating mosaic. I hope you'll listen to the full podcast to hear the story in total, with insights on Ukraine and other compelling issues.
Is it better to use the stick of shame on greenwashing sustainability goals or praise those doing well? What are the biggest obstacles to electric vehicle electrification facing fleet operators? How is inflation affecting supply chain instability? And how can idled oil and gas pipelines "pick the lock on the whole transmission conundrum?"
You'll even hear musings on our crystal ball question: The change, trend or development few people are currently seeing that could turn out to be impressively consequential.
For example, what do we think about transactive energy — the idea that we as consumers can take back electric power, as Bill Nussey often says? I believe it is the most powerful transformative thing happening in clean energy.
Tune in! And if you know (or are) a cleantech podcaster who should be on our third quarter Podcaster's Roundtable in September, please get in touch with me. We'd love to invite more experts to the show.
Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!
SUNGROW focuses on integrated energy storage system solutions, including PCS, lithium-ion batteries and energy management system. Pleae visit https://www.mysuncast.com/sungrow
ABOUT THE HOST OF SUNCAST:
Nico Johnson is the creator and host of SunCast, consistently rated a top solar podcast in the clean energy sector. The content of the show is geared towards listeners looking for insights on where the markets are headed, how to position themselves or their companies, and what today's market leaders do to stay ahead of the pack.
Nico is an Investor, Executive Coach, and 15-year veteran of the solar industry, having led development in the US and Latin America for global companies like Trina Solar and Conergy.
You can connect with Nico Johnson on Twitter, LinkedIn or email.
If you’ve been second-guessing your work decisions or maybe trying to reconsider how you "fit" in the renewable energy industry -> grab 20 minutes on Nico's calendar and discuss whether having him as Your personal coach might be the right next step.