Age of Adoption

This episode of Raising Your Antenna features David Kim, former U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Administrator under President Obama and California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) Secretary under Gov. Newsom, to discuss the ways in which industry can help unlock billions of dollars in local transportation investments and help build a more equitable mobility system. 

Secretary Kim is a globally recognized leader in transportation policy. As CalSTA Secretary, Kim focused on advancing safe, accessible low-carbon multimodal transportation systems. His agency developed the state’s Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure, an aggressive framework to overhaul transportation planning and project selection by aligning transportation investments with climate, health and equity goals. As Deputy Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Kim drove key  initiatives to improve safety, mobility and encourage innovation for our Nation’s highways, bridges and tunnels. 

Now as Senior Vice President and Principal at WSP, Secretary Kim focuses on collaborating with senior transportation executives in the public and private sector to support transportation projects under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. He also guides the delivery of transportation capital projects, including strategic planning and policy, environmental process, funding and finance, and capital delivery. 

Join the conversation where Keith and Secretary Kim cover:

• How recent landmark legislation can build a more sustainable and equitable transportation future–and how cleantech innovators stands to unlock it
• Engaging key state and municipal stakeholders–from transit agencies to public utilities commissions–on local infrastructure investments 
• The future of electric vehicles and how the federal government can support a national charging system 
• The tech innovations that could reshape the long-haul trucking industry, increase efficiency and improve the driver experience

The BlackBerry is now just a distant memory to some, and a fruit to others (ehm, Gen Z) but in 2022, it represented the cutting edge technology that brought AI to your fingertips, one keyboard “click-click” at a time. What does the BlackBerry phone have to do in the context of climate action? New, disruptive technologies are analogous to the type of transformative change Utilidata is leading when it comes to equity, affordability and reliability in America’s energy system. And, Utilitdata’s President and Chief Operating Officer Jess Melanson isn’t shy about drawing the comparison in this edition of Raising Your Antenna. 

Today, the U.S. experiences more blackouts than any other developed country, and the electrical grid loses power 285 percent more often than in 1984 when data collection efforts on blackouts began. True grid transformation therefore means doing more than simply monitoring the sustained outages utilities currently track. It requires the integration of new technologies that leverage data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning at the grid edge for a more reliable and flexible power system. 

Join Keith and Jess as they dive into the needed acceleration of grid edge technologies in light of landmark federal investments, including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Join the discussion on:

• Why BlackBerries have more in common with new grid technologies than you think
• Transformative AI solutions to help meet energy system demand and a growing network of advanced distributed energy resources 
• How a decentralized grid is critical for the U.S. to meet promise of the Inflation Reduction Act 
• Ushering in a new era of collaboration amongst investor-owned utilities, developers, regulators and climate tech innovators

Follow Utilidata here and subscribe to Raising Your Antenna to listen to the rest of our Inflation Reduction Act series.

This week on Raising Your Antenna, we welcome Mayor of Truckee, CA and Head of Market Strategy for Resource Innovations Courtney Henderson, alongside her colleague Kelly Helfrich, Vice President of Resource Innovations’ Electric Vehicle Practice. Resource Innovations is a women-led and controlled organization making clean energy more accessible and affordable for everyone. 

Both Mayor Henderson and Kelly have committed to careers in sustainability to ensure solutions are accessible and equitable – both in the public and private sectors. This work, however, is not without its challenges. 

Tune in for the discussion where we cover: 

• The rollout of electric vehicles at scale and the transformative market technologies needed to get there
• The development of an intelligent transportation-electrification ecosystem
• Mobility justice and the transition to sustainable energy and transportation solutions in light of the Inflation Reduction Act
• Marketing and communication challenges as we move forward in the energy transition to an Age of Climate Tech Adoption

Follow Resource Innovations here and listen to the rest of our series on the Inflation Reduction Act by subscribing to Raising Your Antenna.

On this episode of Raising Your Antenna, we are thrilled to welcome former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Neil Chatterjee for an insightful discussion on grid transformation and regulatory innovation in light of the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Chairman Chatterjee formerly served as Commissioner and Chairman of FERC, where he championed several strategic initiatives, including streamlining and improving FERC’s liquified natural gas application review and approval process, bolstering power grid reliability and resilience, and boosting renewable resources’ ability to compete in regional power markets and for the reduction of carbon emissions. 

Prior to his time at the Commission, Chairman Chatterjee worked as a policy reformer who broke down market barriers for the entrance of new energy technologies - particularly low-carbon energy systems. He formerly served as  Policy Advisor to Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), where he aided in the passage of major energy, highway and agriculture legislation. His background also includes roles at National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA),  the Republican Conference, and the House Ways & Means Committee. 

Today, Chairman Chatterjee serves as  Senior Advisor to Hogan Lovells in Washington, DC and as a  Senior Policy Advisor for the Climate Leadership Council. 

Join the discussion with Chairman Chatterjee where we’ll cover: 

• Bolstering grid reliability and resiliency in light of IRA investment and the impact on the U.S. energy system
• Removing market barriers for the entrance of new clean energy technologies 
• Building a future of nonpartisan energy policies to move the United States and global climate action forward 

Follow Chairman Chatterjee here on Twitter.

We hope you enjoy this episode of Raising Your Antenna. Be sure to subscribe to listen to more episodes in our series, The Inflation Reduction Act in the Age of Climate Tech Adoption.

Cities aren’t going anywhere. Half of the world’s population currently resides within them and if their unwavering strength during a global pandemic says anything, they are certainly here to stay. But cities also account for about 75% of global CO2 emissions, and the sustainability and public health challenges they present are substantial. On this episode of Raising Your Antenna, our host, Keith Zakheim and guest, Miguel Gamiño, Jr. will discuss the role public-private partnerships play in making communities more sustainable and equitable in light of the recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Miguel Gamiño, Jr. has spent his career leveraging technology to solve large-scale challenges in both the public and private sectors. This extends from his time at Mastercard as the EVP of Enterprise Partnerships and the Head of Global Cities and City Possible, to serving the public as the Chief Technology Officer of New York City, Chief Information and Innovation Officer of El Paso, Texas, and Chief Information Officer and Executive Director of the Department of Technology for the City and County of San Francisco.

Now, Miguel is the Chief Experience Officer and Founding Partner of Simplicity, an app that takes an entire city (residents, management, police, groups, and more) and unites it. The app allows citizens to get factual and trustworthy information from their local government right from their phones. From an initial seed investment in August 2021, the company now has 50 cities using Simplicity across the United States. 

Join the discussion with Miguel Gamiño, Jr. where we'll cover:

• Redefining public-private partnerships in the Age of Climate Tech Adoption
• Urban connectivity through technology & innovation
• The ways in which the Inflation Reduction Act can lead to more equitable cities

Sit back–maybe take notes–and enjoy as we bring you the second episode of our 6-part series, “The Inflation Reduction Act in the Age of Climate Tech Adoption” on Raising Your Antenna: “A New Era of Public-Private Partnerships under the IRA.”

Subscribe to Raising Your Antenna to listen to the full series and if you're interested in more content relating to climate tech, urban planning, smart cities and more, subscribe to our newsletter.

This episode is the first of a 6-part series, The Inflation Reduction Act in the Age of Climate Adoption, released in light of the Inflation Reduction Act and its impact on climate tech innovation, emerging technologies, and a just transition. 

I was honored to have Hawai’i State Senator Chris Lee as my first guest on the series. Senator Lee is a globally-recognized leader on climate policy, grid modernization and environmental justice. He is the author of first-of-its-kind legislation to establish the nation’s first 100% renewable energy mandate and to promote economy-wide neutrality by 2045. Senator Lee is also a fierce advocate for removing market barriers for the entrance of new energy technologies, and will play a significant role in Hawai'i’s continued environmental leadership in light of the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Join the discussion with Hawai’i State Senator Chris Lee where we’ll cover:

• How he became a global climate ‘powerhouse’
• Lessons learned from his experience tackling decarbonization at megascale
• How legislative bodies can inspire the transformation of utilities
• The impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on disadvantaged communities on the frontlines of climate change

Finally, make sure to subscribe to Raising Your Antenna to listen to the full series. You can also subscribe to our newsletter for the latest industry news and insights through the lens of our communications and marketing experts.

On this episode of Raising Your Antenna, I had the pleasure of engaging with Rich Kenny, Nurse Intrapreneur at SAS. We talked about curiosity. Namely, the value of being curious in the workplace, and how it is a trait that both predicts high performers as well as successful enterprises.

Rich is an incredibly insightful guest, and the research done by SAS is of value to anyone who is shaping the workplace of today.

Tune in as we discuss:

• What curiosity really means, and how it impacts employee engagement and retention
• How companies can build cultures that foster curiosity
• Common mistakes that stifle curiosity, and key best practices to encourage this valuable skill

Learn more about why curiosity is increasingly sought by employers to address some of the biggest challenges facing organizations today – from improving employee retention and job satisfaction to creating more innovative, collaborative and productive workplaces in the SAS Curiosity@Work Report, which surveyed nearly 2,000 managers globally and analyzed data from LinkedIn over the last year. The report can be found here: https://bit.ly/3SViX6R

I’m not sure that the climate change and sustainability community would include issues related to the pandemic, biodiversity, health equity, and modern slavery in their definition of ESG. Yet, today on RYA, we address all of these issues with our guests Chris Kline (Global Senior Principal for Sustainability and ESG at Cardno), Natalie Egnot (Epidemiologist at Cardno Chemrisk), and Seth Yoskowitz (Interim CEO, International Development at Cardno).

For those who are not familiar, Cardno is a global infrastructure, environmental, and social development company operating in more than 100 countries. It is a truly remarkable organization that partners with governments, NGOs, and corporations to address most, if not all, of the vexing environmental, health, and social challenges that persist globally. 

You will learn a lot on this episode, including: whether solar panels contribute to noise pollution. Spoiler alert: they do not.

Tune in as we discuss:

• The impact of climate change on the developing world, and the measures being taken to stave off those outcomes
• How Cardno is addressing all three ESG categories
• The definition of modern slavery, and how Cardno helps its corporate clients address this crisis

Having Joel Makower appear on your podcast is, in the clean tech world, akin to Oprah landing Harry and Meghan. Like Harry and Meghan, Joel is a celebrity in our world, everyone wants to hear what he has to say and he provides salacious details about the royal family. Okay, maybe not the royal stuff. But the rest is true. As the founder and Chairman of GreenBiz — a media and events company that lives, works and leads at the intersection of the business, technology and sustainability — Joel is privy to the discussions, debates, policies and business outcomes that are driving our clean energy economy. 

Today on RYA, Joel and I explore how the business community is attacking climate change, how the investment community really sees ESG as an opportunity for both good and profit, the strength of commitment towards a net-zero future, and of particular interest to me, the failure of corporate America to properly market their sustainability wins.

Tune in as we discuss:

• Joel’s career journey
• The threats posted to the business community by extreme weather events
• The global “net-zero” goal for 2050, and how seriously companies are taking it
• "Credible greening" and the ESG scorecards of the future

When we imagine what our energy transformation will look like, we tend to focus on the shiny new toys — solar panels, electric vehicles, Tesla powerwalls, and Nest Thermostats. While those products are necessary for a carbon net-zero future, they are in no way sufficient. Today on RYA, I chat with Benjamin Birnbaum, partner at Keyframe and co-founder of TeraWatt Infrastructure. Ben is consumed with the energy transition technologies that we don’t see, but are critical to fighting global warming and climate change. 

In this episode, Ben and I take a deep dive into real estate’s disconnect between the boardroom and boiler room. We also explore how New York City’s Local Law 97 addresses this challenge with a pathbreaking effort to spur the transformation of New York City real estate to cap carbon emissions. 

Tune in as we discuss:

• Ben’s career journey
• The challenges cities must address in order to meet net-zero emissions goals 
• The true costs and challenges of electrifying transportation, and why Ben and his partners started TeraWatt Infrastructure
• Biden’s ambitious infrastructure plans
• Keyframe’s new approach for funding the cleantech revolution