Colorado Energy Leaders Podcast
By Jordan Cox
Colorado occupies a unique place in the clean energy transition. It both relies on fossil fuels for large sections of its economy, but also has the social will to transition to clean energy. This podcast seeks to interview Colorado's energy leaders as we navigate this transition, believing that Colorado has something special to offer in the clean energy dialogue.
Colorado Energy Leaders PodcastFeb 04, 2022
Coal at Sunset Podcast with the Institute for Science and Policy
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/
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards with John Kellogg
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
What is a PUC with Jeff Ackermann
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
Let's Talk about Climate Change with Dr. Ted Scambos
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/
Ariana Gonzalez of the Natural Resource Defense Council and Amelia Myers of the Sierra Club
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
Bicycle Colorado
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 and the Conservative Case for Nuclear
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 and the Progressive Case for Nuclear Energy
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
Introduction to the Case for Nuclear
Doug Campbell of Solid Power
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
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
Paul Scharfenberger of the Colorado Clean Energy Fund
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 of Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Colorado Energy Office, and Guzman Energy
Bryan Hannegan of Holy Cross Energy
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:
Tim Hade of Scale Microgrid Solutions
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:
Mike Kruger of the Colorado Solar and Storage Association
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:
Mike can be found on twitter @mikekruger
Julia Pyper on the Media and Clean Energy
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 and the Colorado Energy Office
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.
Governor Bill Ritter and the Center for the New Energy Economy
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.