Climate Money Watchdog

​We’re delighted to welcome back Poppy Alexander, a founding partner at the law firm Whistleblower Partners, a law firm dedicated to representing whistleblowers reporting fraud and misconduct in:

• Healthcare
• Procurement
• Securities and Commodities
• Taxes
• Money Laundering and Sanctions Evasion
• Customs
• Environmental Remediation
• Vehicle Safety

Poppy represents whistleblowers and government entities in qui tam lawsuits, as well as under the various agency whistleblower programs including those administered by the Internal Revenue Service, Securities and Exchange Commission, FinCEN, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Department of Transportation.  Poppy’s practice focuses on issues of international corruption and financial misconduct, with a specialty in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and money laundering cases.  She writes and speaks regularly about emerging topics in financial fraud, including sanctions violations, SPACs, and cryptocurrency.
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We last spoke with Poppy back in July of 2022 when she had already established an impressive track record representing whistleblowers at Constantine Cannon. She graduated from Harvard Law School in 2012. She was the co-editor-in-chief of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and an active participant in the Human Rights Clinic, working on issues related to corporate accountability for human rights violations in Africa and military abuses in Southeast Asia. She was awarded the Dean’s Award for Community Leadership in recognition for her contributions to the school community. Poppy has been named to the Super Lawyers Rising Stars list every year since 2016. Prior to law school, Poppy worked on election reform issues before beginning graduate work at the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied political and critical theory.

We’ve invited Poppy to talk about her new work, and her new firm, Whisteblower Partners.
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Topics Discussed Include:

• Poppy’s new law firm, Whistleblower Partners. Why Poppy left her old firm to establish this new legal partnership in March 2024.  She describes a comprehensive approach to whistleblowers and not just file cases.
• The laws Whistleblower Partners uses in environmental cases and how they have changed since the episode we published in July 2023. Qui tam False Claims Act, SEC, IRS, Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), and various wildlife protection laws.
• Examples of Whistleblower Partners victories.
• Pitfalls of whistleblowing and filing lawsuits and administrative tips programs.

 
Further Reading / Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• Mighty Earth  vs. JBS in protecting the Brazilian rainforest
• The Securities and Exchange Commission’s 90th birthday

Support the show

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We’re pleased to have as our guest Melissa Valliant, Director of Communications for Beyond Plastics, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending plastic polution. She grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and graduated from Syracuse University with a plan to pursue magazine journalism. Somewhere along the way, she became hooked on environmental conservation and discovered a love for leveraging her communications abilities to make the world a better place. Melissa had her first letter to the editor published in a kids' science magazine at the age of 11 and has since been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, among others. Prior to her role at Beyond Plastics, she managed communications for Oceana's plastics campaign and worked for the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

Topics Discussed Include:

• How environmental and health problems are connected with micro plastic and nano plastic particles and why scientists are alarmed.
• Why only 9 percent of plastic waste recycled.
• How the plastics lobby/greenwashing industries that were against abatement and reform.
• How the Fossil Fuel believes they can make up for future oil market loss with plastics production.
• How plastic manufacturing is highly polluting, where in the country we produce it, and impacts on local communities.
• What is currently being done to reform and what ultimately needs to be done to start to fix the problem.

Further Reading / Topics Discussed in this Episode:

·      Consider the positive and aspects of “The crying Indian” commercial on American society.

·      How do prominent projects such as “Mr. Trash Wheel” encourage plastics removal/recycling versus reduction of plastics production affect public perception?

·      Media Briefing on Polution in Port Arthur, TX

·      Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act

·      The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act

·      Beyond Plastics Affiliates

·      Beyond Plastics petitions

Support the show

Visit us at climatemoneywatchdog.org!

Doug founded Earth Track to more effectively integrate information on energy subsidies. For the past three decades, he has written extensively on natural resource subsidies for organizations such as the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Stockholm Environment Institute.  He has analyzed scores of government programs and made important developments in subsidy valuation techniques.  He has provided input on subsidy reform legislation, served as a peer reviewer on subsidy papers from all over the world, and has published his own work in major journals and as book chapters.  In recent years, his work has focused on subsidies to fossil fuels, nuclear power, and the impact of multi-sector natural resource subsidies on biodiversity and critical habitats.

Working collaboratively with other organizations, Earth Track focuses on ways to more effectively align the incentives of key stakeholder groups and to leverage market forces to help address complex environmental challenges.

He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BA in economics from Wesleyan University.

Topics Discussed Include:

•  Government subsidies - why they are important to think about as we try to decarbonize our economy.  
• How oil and gas subsides work in general and why they are outdated and harmful to climate goals. 
• How taxpayers’ subsidies distort the market for oil and gas produced in Permian Basin.
• The role of different levels of government in supporting oil and gas and whether there are specific challenges trying to reform state-level policies.
• How some subsides were passed in the 1920s when oil extraction was a new industry and haven’t been changed to match the times.
• How three quarters of the subsides support exploration and production, potentially creating a disincentive to phasing out fossil fuel energy.
• How transparency of information on costs and how is paid is often lacking
• Particularly egregious subsidies in the federal realm, in Texas, and New Mexico.
• Examples of federal and state regulations and environmental exemptions that allow the fossil fuel production pollution to walk away from their production pollution and how that is affecting the Permian Basin’s environment for the people.

Further Reading: 

·      The High Cost Well subsidy

·      The Good Jobs First organization

Support the show

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Matt Renner serves as Vice President of Seneca Environmental, a tribally owned and controlled Earth-healing solutions company focused on helping commercial customers achieve ambitious climate goals while supporting the long-term well-being of the Seneca Nation and other Indigenous people. His work focuses on partnership development and customer acquisition to create unprecedented collaboration and profitably accelerate climate action. 

Matt has worked as a nonprofit executive in clean energy, climate policy, and journalism for over a decade, focusing on the near-term social and economic impacts of climate change. He was the head of Climate Mobilization and now serves on their board of directors. He began his career as an investigative reporter and later became the Executive Director of the World Business Academy to focus on the transition to a climate-constrained economic paradigm.

Matt has a BA degree in Political Science and Government from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Topics Discussed Include:

·      How Seneca Environmental is set up and its main goals.

·      Why the Seneca Nation set up a specific section to invest in clean climate change solutions.

·      How Seneca Environmental made the 2023 Time100 List and what Matt has done to make Seneca Environmental unique.

·      An outline of the work Renner has done for the Native American community and for corporate businesses on producing clean energy.

·      Why Seneca Environmental’s business model is working for both the Native American community and corporate businesses.

·      How Seneca Environmental’s model and efforts can be replicated with other tribes and businesses to help the clean energy movement going forward.

Further Reading:

·      The Seneca Environmental web site

·      Video overview of the Seneca Nation

·      Federal Tax Credits for Businesses

·      Department of Energy Loan Programs

Support the show

Visit us at climatemoneywatchdog.org!

Our guest tonight is Paul Blackburn of Pipeline Fighters’ Hub. Paul provides legal services on pipeline and renewable energy matters. He has worked on crude oil pipeline issues since 2008, and has experience in renewable energy policy and development. Paul represented nonprofit clients in the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission hearing on the Keystone XL Pipeline, and in the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission hearing on expansion of Line 67, another Enbridge pipeline. He has provided policy analysis and strategic advice on a variety of pipeline matters and authored reports on pipeline safety and oil spill response.

Paul started his legal career in Washington, DC, at the law firm of Van Ness Feldman, where he assisted clients in renewable energy and coal-fired power plant development, a variety of regulatory, legislative, and litigation matters, and Native American commercial law.  After leaving private practice, he began a career in the nonprofit sector, including employment by the Sierra Club, the National Environmental Trust, and Oceana in organizing and media.  He also has experience in community wind and solar energy development.  Paul holds a B.A. in Biology from Macalester College and a J.D. from Boston College Law School.

In this episode we discuss topics including:

·      An overview of the Q45 Carbon sequestration tax credit program

·      Who benefits from the Q45 Tax Credit Program?

·      How Fossil Fuel companies take advantage of the Q45 program and use it to continue to justify producing more fossil fuel

·      Problems with the reporting system for 45Q to the EPA and IRS

For more information, see:

·      The Pipeline Fighters Hub web site

·      The Congressional Research Service’s page on the Q45 program

Support the show

Visit us at climatemoneywatchdog.org!

Our guest this episode is Erandi Trevino of Public Citizen, Houston. Erandi grew up in Houston and has been concerned about the pollution in her neighborhood since she was a young child.

Before joining Public Citizen in Houston as a Climate Policy and Outreach Specialist, she was an Advocacy Fellow with the Fulbright Association in Washington, DC, where she worked on education policy, nutrition, and financial regulations. During her time in DC, Erandi also volunteered for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.

Earlier in her career, Erandi assisted the Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations in New York. She has a law degree from Fordham University and degrees in International Relations and Latin American studies from Seton Hall University. Following her graduation there, she received a Fulbright Grant to teach English in Belo Horizonte, Brazil where she became fluent in Portuguese.

In this episode we discuss the following topics:

• The coalition of companies and other institutions that are partners with this new project called the HyVelocity Hub and their claims to be able to build an “ecosystem” from the existing hydrogen and pipeline industry in Houston to make clean hydrogen.
• HyVelocity Hub claims that they will be able use carbon capture to make “clean” hydrogen (called blue hydrogen) using existing hydrogen production plants.
• How credible is Houston’s Clean Hydrogen Roadmap in general?
• Is HyVelocity’s goal of achieving 2kg CO2 / kg of H2 is realistic?
• RMI currently estimates 20 kg CO2 / kg H2 with Texas’s current fossil-heavy power grid.
• How credible is HyVelocity’s vision “to serve disadvantaged communities by providing jobs and higher labor standards, reducing local pollution, and supporting and complying with the Justice40 initiative?
• Who are the powerful investors in this endeavor and how are they affecting the plans for these plants? Are they listening to local concerns or just greenwashing their environmental challenges?
• What is Public Citizen doing as a local activist to get some oversight on this HyVelocity Hub project?

Resources:

Center for Houston's Future

Houston Healthy Port Communities Coalition

Environmental Defense Fund - Better Hubs - Expring Decarbonizing Industry

Greater Houston Port Bureau's Project 11

On Breath Partnership's "What is Port Houston's Project 11?" 

Erandi's Contact Information

Support the show

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We’re excited to welcome back Mark Z. Jacobson, who joined us last year to talk about a study he co-authored called “Low-Cost Solutions to Global Warming, Air Pollution, and Energy Insecurity for 145 Countries”. He is a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Atmosphere/Energy program at Stanford University, as well as a Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Precourt Institute for energy, and also the Co-Founder of The Solutions Project, 100.org and the 100% Clean, Renewable Energy movement.

We've asked Mark back to see what progress the country has made with his prediction that the US and the world can change to clean energy and meet CO2 goals by only using WWS (wind, water and solar) i.e. clean non burning energy without using coal, gas, nuclear, and carbon capture. Mark released a book in February of this year, entitled No Miracles Needed: How Today’s Technology Can Save Our Climate and Clean Our Air. His book brings up more questions about the government and the some climate experts are promoting, such as carbon capture, instead of considering the potential of just using WWS. 

Topics covered include:

• How does the time taken to construct different types of power plants effect their impact  in light of the short timetable on lowering CO2 and other greenhouse gases pollution?
• How does the amount of waste heat  released by fossil fuel compare to that released by renewables? For example,  about 65 to 67 percent of energy in oil and coal is released as waste heat, 40 to 60 percent of natural gas energy is also waste heat, 74 percent of biomass is waste heat and 65 percent of the energy in uranium is waste heat.
• According to Jacobson, “By 2021, the cost of a system consisting of wind, solar, and batteries was already less than that consisting of natural gas. For example, even in 2019, a Florida utility replaced two natural gas plants with a combined solar-battery system because of the lower cost of the later.” How do economics affect transition to renewable energy sources? 
• What are the best and quickest energy source for commercial and military planes and cargo ships?
• Is the U.S. grid ready for 100 percent clean electricity?
• What has been the reaction to Jacobson's proposed  WWS solution?

Support the show

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In this episode we welcome Peter McKillop, the founder and CEO of our new partner, Climate & Capital Media.

Peter is the founder of Climate & Capital Media. Climate & Capital Media is a mission-driven information platform exploring the business and finance of climate change.

Climate & Capital delivers original reporting, intelligence and insight from our global network of journalists, researchers, and investors with a focus on climate-related businesses, technology, and public policy, particularly for the emerging generation of economic leaders who will shape tomorrow’s global agenda.

Prior to Climate & Capital, Peter McKillop was a Managing Director at BlackRock, where he was responsible for leading the firm’s strategic communications and messaging for its iShares ETF and Indexing business. He has also held senior communication leadership positions at J.P. Morgan, KKR, UBS, and Bank of America. Before entering the financial communications field, Peter was a senior correspondent and bureau chief for Newsweek in New York, Tokyo, and Hong Kong.

Our discussion ranges across the following topics, among others:

·      Why it’s especially important and vital to have good oversight over the hundreds of billions of dollars of climate money about to be spent?

·      Our goals for this new oversight collaboration between Climate Money Watchdog and Climate & Capital Media

·      How the climate community will react to the idea of needing oversight unemployment money and the need to police itself.

·      What we should do as climate money watchers when the climate deniers try to use spending failure and scandals to discredit all climate work.

·      How important sources, especially inside sources within the climate effort are to finding out what is going wrong

·      Why we are concerned about whistleblowers in the past who have dumped un-vetted, un-redacted into the public arena. How practices of people like Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning can hurt the communities they’re trying to help.

·      As a long-time journalists, what concerns us now about the state of journalism, it's sustainability, and its ability to do oversight.

Support the show

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Michelle Solomon is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Electricity program at Energy Innovation, working to accelerate the transition to a clean, affordable, and equitable electricity sector in the United States. We’ve invited her to talk about their recent publication of the third edition of their report - Coal Cost Crossover – which argues that over 90% of coal-fired power plants in the U.S. could be replaced by renewable energy generation at a net cost savings.

Prior to joining Energy Innovation, Michelle earned her Ph.D. in materials science and engineering at Stanford University, where she studied nanoparticles with applications in purifying chemicals for use in medicine and the environment. During graduate school, she also pursued an interest in energy policy and spent a summer working on electric vehicle policy at the California Energy Commission. After graduating, she transitioned full-time into policy as a Congressional Science and Engineering Fellow. As a fellow, she had the chance to work on energy and environment policy for Senator Ed Markey, focusing on a wide range of issues spanning environmental justice to electric vehicle charging.

Michelle holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. from Stanford University in materials science and engineering. She also completed her B.S. in physics at Boston College.

Further Reading:

·      Coal Cost Crossover 3.0: Local Renewables Plus Storage Create New Opportunities for Customer Savings and Community Reinvestment

·      Coal Cost Crossover Interactive data visualization

Support the show

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In this climate fight will Big Fossil Fuel, it is hard and rare to have a clear-cut victory. The last time we did a podcast episode with Mike on 7/12/22, his group was fighting to prevent a closing coal-based power plant in Farmington, New Mexico from reinventing itself to keep open using the questionable technology of Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS). This was described a June 29, 2022 High Country News article. A company named Enchant led this effort with the backing of financial groups to force this unproven technology through to keep the highly polluting plant open. Once they could not raise enough money privately, they were trying to get federal money to keep the plant going. However, this did not work out and the activists like Mike kept pushing to stop it. Last month, Enchant abandoned its efforts. We wanted to have Mike back on the program to explain what led to the closing of this plant for good and to explore and celebrate the loss of one less coal power plant.

Mike points out that this project was billed as a “demonstration project”, intended to show the potential of carbon capture and sequestration as an approach to combatting climate change. Back in December of 2021, the General Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report titled, “Carbon Capture and Storage: Actions Needed to Improve DOE Management of Demonstration Projects” which showed essentially no success among demonstration projects. Of eight projects, for which we, as taxpayers, paid $684 million, only one achieved operational status. That one plant operated for only three years, closing due to economic infeasibility.

Eisenfeld questioned when DOE and companies promoting these projects will be held accountable for this poor track record. Within the aforementioned report, DOE was described as addressing this by creating a dedicated Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations. After waiting nearly a year, the Biden administration appointed David Crane, the CEO of NRG, the company in charge of Petra Nova, one of the failed carbon capture projects described in the GAO report.

Climate Money Watchdog will be following up on this and other appointments relevant to environmental spending.

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