In this episode, we speak with Jonathan Webb, Founder and CEO of AppHarvest.

AppHarvest, which went public in 2021, is building some of the largest indoor farms in the world, combining conventional agricultural techniques with today’s technology to grow non-GMO, chemical-free produce to be sold to the top 25 U.S. grocers. The company’s first controlled-environment agriculture facility, opened in 2020 in Morehead, Ky., spans 60 acres. It uses 90% less water than a typical farm because of a sophisticated circular irrigation system and 10-acre rainwater retention pond.

In conversation with Gil and Chad, Jonathan talked about the unique aspects of AppHarvest’s business, his personal journey in starting the company, the parallels of ag-tech with the solar revolution, the specific advantages of Controlled Environment Agriculture, what it’s like to experience rapid growth while maintaining a culture of excellence, how ESG drives their business, and much more. We hope you enjoy this spirited conversation with a passionate climate solutions entrepreneur as much as we did.

Bio

Jonathan Webb LinkedIn

Jonathan Webb Twitter

AppHarvest Twitter

AppHarvest Website

AppHarvest 2020 ESG Report

Article: Is This Giant Greenhouse in Kentucky the Future of Farming? (Rolling Stone, August 22, 2021)

Article: Martha Stewart’s recipes using AppHarvest tomatoes

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at [email protected].

In this episode, we speak with Michael Eckhart, former Global Head of Environmental Finance at Citigroup, founding chairman and former president of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), and co-author of the Green Bond Principles. Michael now serves as a board member for Hannon Armstrong and as an adjunct and visiting professor at Columbia University and the University of Maryland, respectively. 

Michael discusses the history of the global clean energy financing space, the benefits of financing—rather than funding—renewable energy, what the Green Bond Principles offer the market, how today’s clean energy financing models evolved, and more. 

Links:

Michael Eckhart Bio

American Council on Renewable Energy

ACORE Finance Forum

International Capital Market Association Green Bond Principles

International Solar Energy Society

Episode recorded August 25, 2021 

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at [email protected].

Sara Kane is the co-leader of the Power and Renewables Practice at CAC Specialty, an integrated specialty insurance brokerage business. She has focused on assessing, pricing, and insuring against climate risk for more than a decade. In this episode, Sara and Chad Reed discuss the impact of the increasing number and severity of catastrophic weather events on renewable energy projects as well as the sobering findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recent Sixth Assessment Report, the promise of professional career growth from crisis situations, the difference gender diversity makes in the workplace, and much more.

Links:

Sara Kane LinkedIn

CAC Specialty Natural Resources Practice Group

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (August 2021)

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2021)

Insurance Insider: Maturing renewable energy market balances growth with sustainable pricing (August 2021)

Episode recorded August 17, 2021

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at [email protected].

In this episode, we speak with Alice Hill, senior fellow for energy and the environment at the Council on Foreign Relations, and author of the upcoming book, The Fight for Climate After COVID-19. As a former federal prosecutor, judge, special assistant to President Barack Obama, and senior director for resilience policy on the National Security Council, Alice has a unique and powerful perspective on the risks, consequences, and responses associated with climate change. In conversation with Gil and Hilary, she discusses her journey in becoming an expert on catastrophic risk and climate resilience, which countries are doing well on climate adaptation, and where the U.S. government is falling short. Additionally, Alice talks about what the pandemic can teach us about fighting climate change, how the democratization of data could improve climate security for the world’s most vulnerable populations, how she finds joy in her work, and more. 

Episode recorded July 13, 2021 

Links: 

Alice Hill on Twitter

OpEd: Climate adaptation: The gaping hole in American environmental policy (Alice Hill and Chris Field, The Hill, April 15, 2021)

Article: COVID’s lesson for climate research: go local (Alice C. Hill, Nature, June 29, 2021)

Book: The Fight for Climate after COVID-19” (Alice C. Hill, released August 4, 2021)

Book: Building a Resilient Tomorrow (Alice C. Hill and Leonardo Martinez-Diaz, 2019)

Show contributors: Gil Jenkins, Hilary Langer, Alice Hill

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at [email protected].

In this episode, we speak with Nancy Floyd, the founder and managing director of the venture capital firm Nth Power and a new member of Hannon Armstrong’s Board of Directors. Throughout the conversation, Nancy offers several insights on the past, present, and future of the clean energy venture space. She also provides plainspoken advice on effective board service, what makes a good pitch, and a good business plan from the perspective of someone who reads thousands a year. Additionally, Nancy talked with Gil about her time in the political spotlight, how the traits she developed in competitive ski racing and tennis help her in the venture world, and much more. We hope you enjoy this conversation with one of the true pioneers of climate tech investing.

Links: 

Nancy Floyd on LinkedIn

2008 Democratic National Convention speech by Nancy Floyd 

Hannon Armstrong Appoints Clarence D. Armbrister and Nancy C. Floyd to Board of Directors 

What Do Venture Capitalists Need to Hear from Scientists? A Conversation with Nancy Floyd, the Founder of Nth Power 

Episode recorded June 2, 2021. 

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at [email protected].

Starbucks Chief Sustainability Officer Michael Kobori has been corporate sustainability changemaker for over two decades. From his time at Levi’s to his current role at Starbucks, Michael has been at the forefront of a movement that has evolved from a narrower focus on Corporate Social Responsibility to a broader conception of Stakeholder Capitalism. In this episode, Michael joined us to talk about how the intrapreneurship he exercised at Levi’s progressed and broadened its concept of sustainability. Chad and Michael also discuss the carbon footprint of coffee, how to discern greenwashers from true climate leaders, the role of business in combatting systemic racism, and how lessons from the Boy Scouts inform Starbucks’ recent commitment to become resource positive.

Links:

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-kobori-7a04b26/

Twitter
@koborigrillscsr

Sustainability at Starbucks
https://www.starbucks.com/responsibility

Starbucks Borrow a Cup Program
https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2021/seattle-starbucks-stores-go-even-greener-this-earth-month-with-new-borrow-a-cup-program/

Transform to Net Zero
https://transformtonetzero.org/

All We Can Save
https://www.amazon.com/All-We-Can-Save-Solutions/dp/0593237064

Utopia Theater Project
http://www.utopiatheatreproject.com/

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at [email protected].

In this episode, we speak with Erin Burns (Executive Director) and Giana Amador (Co-Founder and Policy Director) of Carbon180, a new breed of climate-focused NGO on a mission to fundamentally rethink carbon. Chad and Gil talked to Erin and Giana about how their early years in rural West Virginia and the Central Valley of California drove their passionate interest in climate policy. We also discussed how Carbon180 has pivoted as an organization over the last six years, the most promising carbon removal technologies (including direct air capture, soil sequestration, and carbon tech), and the essential role of policy in driving solutions in the future. Finally, Erin and Giana give their takes on the most overused energy jargon we should retire and share what "climate positive" means to each of them.

Links:

Official Bios 
https://carbon180.org/team

Twitter
@erinmburns, @GianaAmador, and @carbon_180

Carbon180 Newsletter
https://carbon180.org/subscribe

Direct Air Capture Fact Sheet 
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b9362d89d5abb8c51d474f8/t/60022bcabbe04a3784a73d25/1610755025490/Carbon180+FactSheet+DirectAirCapture+2021.pdf

Soil Carbon Storage Fact Sheet
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b9362d89d5abb8c51d474f8/t/5e55a0e096f3913deb5e31ca/1582670065496/Carbon180+FactSheet+SoilCarbon+R3.pdf

Enhancing and expanding the 45Q tax credit for direct air capture: How 45Q can catalyze equitable DAC development and deployment
https://carbon180.medium.com/enhancing-and-expanding-the-45q-tax-credit-for-direct-air-capture-85f0f00c98c

Paving the Way for Low-Carbon Concrete: Recommendations for a Federal Procurement Strategy
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b9362d89d5abb8c51d474f8/t/5fd95907de113c3cc0f144af/1608079634052/Paving+the+Way+for+Low-Carbon+Concrete

The Atlantic: Why Celebrities Are Agog Over This Tiny Climate Think Tank 
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/03/the-deluge-of-nft-money-is-going-to-a-tiny-think-tank-climate/618380/

Episode recorded April 21, 2021. 

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at [email protected].

Blue Forest Co-Founder and CEO Zach Knight joined us to talk about the Forest Resilience Bond – an innovative public-private partnership focused on deploying private capital to fund proactive forest management practices that reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and generate other ecosystem services and community benefits. We also spoke with Zach about his transition from Wall Street to conservation finance, the role of policy in scaling solutions, and the long-term perspective children can open our eyes to.

Links:

Official Bio
www.blueforest.org/meet-the-team

The Forest Resilience Bond
www.blueforest.org/forest-resilience-bond

The Yuba Project
www.blueforest.org/the-yuba-project

Episode recorded April 13, 2021.  

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at [email protected].

For our inaugural episode, HASI Chairman and CEO Jeff Eckel joined us to talk about his experience growing up in deindustrializing Ohio, how he became committed to sustainability, his early start, and his eventual return to HASI, and his reflections on the company’s 2013 initial public offering. We also talked to Jeff about the case for carbon dividends, his views on the ESG movement, and how 2020 changed him as a leader.

Episode recorded February 11, 2021. 

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at [email protected].

With the climate crisis igniting around us, it’s easy to let defeatism and complacency creep in. But there is so much to be hopeful for. And we know that hope breeds action, the action we need to sustain change. That’s why we’re starting Climate Positive. As investors in climate solutions, we only make investments that improve our climate future. Of course, Climate Positive means so much more than that. 

Join us, Chad Reed, Hilary Langer, and Gil Jenkins, as we talk with the business leaders, scientists, authors, advocates, and policymakers who are committed to making a difference in the climate fight. We’ll unpack their personal journeys and accomplishments and get their perspectives on emerging energy and environmental trends with the goal of driving all of us toward a more just and sustainable future.

Email your thoughts to [email protected] or tweet us at @ClimatePosiPod.

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at [email protected].