In this episode of We Are the Government, host Dipka Hesse speaks with David Nemtzow, a longtime clean energy technology and energy efficiency expert whose leadership at the U.S. Department of Energy has left an indelible footprint in the American clean energy sector.

David left the DOE in April 2025 after a decade in the federal government. During his tenure as a career civil servant, he managed the Virtual Power Plant program in the Department’s Loan Program Office and ran the Department’s Building Technologies Office, which aimed to make U.S. buildings more energy efficient.

David discusses how energy efficiency and clean energy policy move from ideas to execution inside the government. He shares his experience as a civil servant and the delicate dance that is working with political appointees from the Obama, Biden and Trump administrations.

David discusses his experience leading the Alliance to Save Energy in a much more cordial Washington of the 1990s, and he brings a twist of color to the conversation sharing his experience as a political appointee in Australia. Spoiler alert: America and Australia’s federal system work very differently.

#WeAreTheGovernment #EnergyPolicy #CleanEnergy #EnergyEfficiency #PolicyImplementation #PublicService #GovernmentInnovation

In this second episode of We Are The Government, host Dipka Hesse sits down with Clarence Edwards, a D.C. insider who served as a political appointee in the Clinton administration before he joined the U.S. Energy Department years later as a career civil servant. 

Clarence’s experience, knowledge and unshakeable nature powered his ascent into his current role as Executive Director of the U.S. office of E3G, an international think tank that operates at the intersection of environmental issues, geopolitics and international economics.

Clarence is optimistic with a uniquely bipartisan posture as he reflects on how his early political work, international interests, and unexpected opportunities led him into public service—and how those experiences continue to shape his perspective on policymaking.

Clarence shares stories from his time as a special assistant at the U.S. Information Agency and the U.S. State Department during the Clinton administration when the White House was shrinking the federal workforce through a plan called Reinventing Government.

Clarence returned to the federal government years later as a career civil servant at the Department of Energy.

With three decades in Washington, Clarence shares insight into the appropriations process, its evolution, the inner workings of federal budgeting and the relationship between political appointees and career civil servants.

Clarence speaks to the value of staying nonpartisan and why he remains cautiously optimistic about America’s democratic future despite the current climate of political polarity on steroids.

#PublicService #FederalGovernment #CivilServants #PolicyAndPolitics #StateDepartment #EnergyDepartment #ClintonAdministration #CongressionalRelations #PublicDiplomacy #GovernmentLeadership #Democracy #Appropriations #GovernmentShutdown #Trump #E3G

Join host Dipka Hesse for the premiere episode of We Are the Government, a podcast celebrating federal workers and their contributions to America's 250-year history. 

In this episode, we sit down with Howie Simanoff, an auditor for the U.S. Capitol Police in its Office of the Inspector General. Howie shares what led him into the federal government after a 25-year career as an auditor for U.S. accounting giant KPMG where he was also a federal contractor for 15 years. In a twist, Howie was laid off from KPMG just before he could collect his pension. He delves into his empathy toward many long-time civil servants now forced to leave their posts as the federal government shrinks.

Howie discusses what it's like to be a "cop" looking for waste, fraud and abuse but also efficiencies and effectiveness inside the operations of the Capitol Police long before the development of the Department of Government Efficiency.

Topics Covered: Federal workforce reductions, Capitol Police careers, Inspector General audits, KPMG contractor experience, government efficiency, financial statement audits, federal hiring process, Washington DC government jobs, DOGE impact on federal workers, career transitions from private sector to government, the life of a civil servants

About your host: Dipka Bhambhani Hesse is an award-winning Washington, DC-based reporter who distills global energy policy and illustrates its impact on the business of energy and innovation. She has been writing for Forbes since 2018. Dipka started her energy career as a daily reporter 20 years ago where she covered the federal government. That work invited global opportunities in energy public affairs, advance operations and executive support, including as a speechwriter for the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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This podcast is produced as a time capsule for America's 250th anniversary, preserving the stories and contributions of those who have helped build our Republic.

• Host: Dipka Hesse 
• X: @DBHesse
• LinkedIn: ⁠linkedin.com/dipkabhambhani⁠
• YouTube: @theenergyodyssey 

Thank you to our great team who helped make this inaugural episode possible. A special thanks to David Padrusch and Mathew John for their support, without which this wouldn’t be possible.

• Guest: Howie Simanoff, Auditor, U.S. Capitol Police, Office of the Inspector General
• Executive Producer: Richard Taliaferro (⁠https://www.richardtaliaferro.com⁠)
• Graphic Artist: David Zerba (⁠[email protected]⁠)