Financial Climate

In today's episode, climate economist and lawyer Danny Cullenward discusses Making Climate Policy Work, a book he wrote with coauthor David Victor.  He talks about how structural political forces so often prevent cap-and-trade programs from working in practice the way they're supposed to in theory. He explains how industrial policy, usually thought of as less efficient than tradeable pollution permits, is often much more impactful in the real world.  He also talks about the many problems with carbon offsets--in both compliance and voluntary markets.

Cullenward is a Research Fellow with the Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy at American University.  He co-founded the nonprofit organization Carbon Plan and serves as vice chair of California’s Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee.

Resources discussed in or related to this episode:

• Making Climate Policy Work, By Danny Cullenward and David G. Victor
• Bloomberg article: This Timber Company Sold Millions of Dollars of Useless Carbon Offsets
• Guardian article: Revealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest certifier are worthless, analysis shows
• https://carbonplan.org/
• https://frontierclimate.com/
• How Solar Energy Became Cheap: A Model for Low-Carbon Innovation, By Gregory F. Nemet 
• Follow Danny Cullenward on Twitter

Today’s guest is Franz Hochstrasser, CEO of Raise Green. Raise Green is an SEC and FINRA-registered online marketplace through which individuals and institutions can invest in startups and other private companies pursuing climate solutions. It serves as a vehicle for for-profit enterprises with a climate focus to raise money from small (as well as larger) investors.

Note: Neither this podcast nor the host provide financial advice. Do your own diligence on financial decisions!

Mentioned in this episode:

• Greentown labs: https://greentownlabs.com/
• Connecticut Green Bank: https://www.ctgreenbank.com/
• The Clean Fight Energy Accelerator Startup Program: https://www.thecleanfight.com/
• Raise Green: https://www.raisegreen.com/
• Raise Green’s crowdfunding site: https://wefunder.com/raisegreen/

Bryan Garcia talks about how Connecticut Green Bank has devised innovative financing tools to bring clean energy solutions to businesses and households. He explains how its programs have been designed to include people in lower-income and minority communities. We also talk about how green banks are evolving and expanding nationally, and how the tens of billions in new federal appropriations for green banks may be deployed.

Mentioned in this episode:

• https://www.ctgreenbank.com/
• https://www.posigen.com/
• https://cbey.yale.edu/
• https://www.raisegreen.com/
• https://coalitionforgreencapital.com/

Sylvia Leyva Martinez, an expert on utility-scale solar at Wood Mackenzie, talks about the challenges and complexities of the solar industry’s current astronomical growth.

Henry Sanderson discusses his book Volt Rush: The Winners and Losers in the Race to Go Green.

Uday Varadarajan of RMI talks about the challenges and opportunities of shutting down America’s remaining coal-fired power plants.

Sam Van den plas, Policy Director of the European NGO Carbon Market Watch discusses the European Emission Trading System’s successes, failures, and challenges.

Katherine Blunt discusses her book, California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric–and What It Means for America's Power Grid.

Join host Alex Roth every two weeks for conversations with the most insightful investors, innovators, and experts at the frontier of climate and finance.