Colorado Energy Leaders Podcast

The Institute for Science and Policy is a project of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The institute recently released a podcast called 'Coal at Sunset'. I was fascinated by this podcast and appreciative of the work of the institute of bringing out the human elements, and potential impacts, of climate change policy. On this episode, Kristan Uhlenbrock the Institute's director, and Trent Knoss the managing editor, join me to discuss the coal at sunset podcast. Check out the institute and the podcast at the links below: https://institute.dmns.org/about/the-team/ https://coalatsunset.org/episodes/

John Kellogg is a Senior Partner at the Moye White Law firm located in Denver, CO. He, and others at his firm, have worked on industry-based sustainability accounting standards. In this episode, John and I discuss what these are, why they are important, and where past efforts have fallen down on ESG standards more broadly. Moye White Law Firm Blog https://www.moyewhite.com/news-insights/blog/november-2021/moye-white-leads-the-way-regarding-sustainability https://www.thealliancecenter.org/blog/2021/11/05/moye-white-sustainability-analytics/ Australian Carbon Unit https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/auscon/pages/19412/attachments/original/1632186925/ACF-Aust-Institute_integrity-avoided_deforestation_report.pdf?1632186925 Sustainability Accounting Standards Board https://www.sasb.org

The former chair of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, Jeff Ackermann, and I, discuss the role of the PUC in energy and its potentially expanded role in decarbonization. Links from the episode include: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/CODORA/bulletins/21b7b35 https://www.fortnightly.com/fortnightly/2021/01/parting-thoughts-regulatory-leader https://cnee.colostate.edu/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-ackermann-346571a/

As a start of season 3 of the Colorado Energy Leaders podcast, I wanted to get climate change right. For 2021, I want climate change to be a reoccurring theme. In this episode Dr. Ted Scambos, an awarded global authority on the measurement of ice mass joins the podcast to help me understand some of the basics of this complex topic. Additionally, we discuss how to construct a more rigorous cost-benefit analysis of climate action and inaction without slipping into doomsday nihilism. Links to the show include: https://thwaitesglacier.org https://nsidc.org https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/national/climate-environment/climate-change-colorado-utah-hot-spot/

Representatives from the Sierra Club and NRDC join me to discuss the recently released Colorado Decarbonization Roadmap Draft. We discuss some of the details of the plan, how the Sierra Club and NRDC produced their own models of the Colorado economy, and the purpose of decarbonization plans. The links to the decarbonization plan and twitter accounts from the episode are: https://energyoffice.colorado.gov/climate-energy/ghg-pollution-reduction-roadmap @AGonzalez_NRDC https://twitter.com/AGonzalez_NRDC?s=20 @AnnaMcDevitt1 https://twitter.com/AnnaMcDevitt1?s=20

Maureen ‘Mo' McCanna, the Director of Education and Safety, and Jack Todd, the Director of Communications for Bicycle Colorado join me to discuss bikes, education, and energy! You can find more info about Bicycle Colorado at their website: https://www.bicyclecolorado.org The Denver Blueprint I referenced in the episode can be found here: https://frontiergroup.org/blogs/blog/fg/denver-paved-over-paradise-and-put-parking-lot

Rich Powell of ClearPath joins me to discuss the conservative case for nuclear. For this episode, numbers I cite from the EIA can be found here: https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/pdf/electricity_generation.pdf https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2019/10/f67/Internal%20Revenue%20Code%20Tax%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf https://sequestration.mit.edu/pdf/David_and_Herzog.pdf

Suzy Hobbs Baker of the Fastest Path to Zero and the Good Energy Collective joins me in part 2 of this 3 part series to discuss why and how she hopes for nuclear energy to be a part of progressive policies. Polling data can be found at: https://news.gallup.com/poll/248048/years-three-mile-island-americans-split-nuclear-power.aspx https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/4/23/18507297/nuclear-energy-renewables-voters-poll https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/436003-americans-in-new-poll-equally-divided-on-nuclear-power

This episode introduces both the progressive and conservative case for nuclear episodes. Although nuclear energy likely won't be that important for Colorado, I think it's such a fascinating proxy conversation for other struggles within the clean energy community. I hope you like this and the following episodes.

Solid Power is a Colorado born and based battery technology company. It is pioneering novel solid-state batteries to help power a clean energy future. In this episode with its CEO and co-founder, Doug Campbell, we talk about the company's technology, and some of the alternatives to battery technology that may get us to decarbonization faster. Solid Power website: https://solidpowerbattery.com/ World Economic Forum Study on Electric Vehicles https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/battery-batteries-electric-cars-carbon-sustainable-power-energy/#:~:text=Battery%20production%20uses%20a%20lot%20of%20energy%2C%20from,power%20it%2C%20and%20consequently%20the%20more%20carbon%20produced. An New York Times article on Car-Free Cities https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/opinion/sunday/ban-cars-manhattan-cities.html Estimates of Space Occupied by Vehicles in Cities https://www.vox.com/a/new-economy-future/cars-cities-technologies

I love clean banks, and I've wanted to talk to someone about them on the podcast! Fortunately, Colorado has a green bank, and its Executive Director Paul Scharfenberger was willing to come on the podcast and talk about them with me. In this episode we talk finance, Colorado clean energy, and even a touch of nuclear. Because of course we did! Links to the Colorado Clean Energy Fund and numbers quoted in this episode are below: Colorado Clean Energy Fund https://www.cocleanenergyfund.com/ American Green Bank Consortium https://greenbankconsortium.org/annual-industry-report Vogtle 3 and 4 Costs https://www.powermag.com/cost-overruns-at-vogtle-expected-to-soar/

Kathleen Staks has had a career in conservation law, natural resources, and energy to name a few. I was very excited to have her on the Colorado Energy Leader's Podcast. Kathleen has worked in the executive branche of the Colorado government going between private industry and the legislature, and has spent significant time working with fossil companies to advance clean energy and realistic extraction regulation in the state. On this episode, Kathleen sat though my questioning on mineral rights and helped me to understand some ideas of how we can move past them.

Bryan Hannegan, president and CEO of Holy Cross Energy joins me to discuss the advantages and challenges of smaller utilities, rural electric cooperatives, and community choice aggregates in the clean energy transition. Find Bryan on twitter at: https://twitter.com/bjhanneg?s=20 Find more information about Holy Cross Energy at: https://www.holycross.com/

Tim Hade is a co-founder of Scale Microgrid Solutions, a company focused on deploying microgrids for large customers using a unique business model. On this episode we talk about his unique background and how to navigate the energy industry with people who might not share your same values. We also talk about the business models and trends of microgrids. Find Scale Microgrid Solutions online: https://scalemicrogridsolutions.com/ Tim Hade is on twitter at @timothyhade The Pew research that I referenced in this episode can be found here: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/21/how-americans-see-climate-change-and-the-environment-in-7-charts/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/02/24/plurality-of-americans-support-current-level-of-defense-spending/

Mike Kruger, CEO of the Colorado Solar and Storage Association, or COSSA, joined me to discuss plans for states to support clean energy. Specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic, there are low-cost options for states to continue to support economic activity in clean energy while also protecting workers. Mike recently published an article outlining these options in Utility Dive that can be found here: https://www.utilitydive.com/news/a-playbook-to-jumpstart-clean-energy-across-all-50-states/575452/ You can find out more about COSSA at the website: https://cossa.co/ Mike can be found on twitter @mikekruger

Julia Pyper is an incredible reporter in the energy space. Although she isn't from Colorado, she was willing to discuss some of the nuances of a clean energy transition that could affect our state.

Will Toor is the head of the Colorado Energy office and has been leading the relationship between the Colorado Legislature and Governor Polis. Will joins me today to discuss what the state energy office is doing to promote clean energy, and what are some of the next steps in a state whose largest utility has already committed to carbon free electricity by 2050.

Former Governor Bill Ritter joins me to talk about Energy Issues facing Colorado, the Center for the New Energy Economy, and where his focus is on decarbonisation.