How much should a kilowatt-hour of electricity cost? Should everyone pay the same rate or should some people pay more than others? For a better understanding of energy pricing in California, Tony Van Witsen of ESAL spoke to Mohit Chhabra, the senior scientist for climate and clean energy with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Ravi Mikkelsen is the co-founder of ATMOS Financial, an organization which builds banking solutions that allow customers to have a direct impact on the transition to a clean economy. He spoke with ESAL about how using his technical engineering degree to tackle climate change in the financial sector.
ESAL spoke with Kendra Zamzow, an environmental chemist in Chickaloon, Alaska who provides scientific input to mining approval decisions on behalf of community groups and tribes throughout the country. The conversation covered the scientific and engineering issues associated with mining and how regulators learn about and use that information.
Aimee Bailey's interest in climate change took her from a Ph.D. in condensed matter physics to the local energy utility sector. She now leads a portfolio of electrification initiatives as the director of decarbonization and grid innovation at Silicon Valley Clean Energy.
Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Healthy Energy (PSE) generates original research on energy production and clean energy transitions with a focus on environmental justice. ESAL spoke with PSE's Elena Krieger to see how they empower community stakeholders to use science and data to create evidence-based policy.
Ken Alston brought his experience working at the Department of Energy and Obama administration to New Energy Nexus, where he focuses on supporting entrepreneurs and international startups. The organization’s ambitious platform includes elevating 100,000 startups by 2030 in a quest to reach 100% clean energy.
The CivicSpark fellowship program has engaged over 200 fellows and some 35,000 California residents on projects concerning sea level rise, affordable housing, climate action planning, and sustainable transportation. Scheuer told ESAL about the program’s new “resilience” focus as they prepare to select their latest cohort of fellows.
In the second part of this month's "Postcard", Arti Garg describes a follow-up discussion she had with her city's economic development manager after offering public comments at a city council committee meeting. She wrote a one-page summary proposing that the city prioritize cleantech hardware in its development plan.
In this month's "Postcard", Rachna Handa describes how she attended a public workshop for her county's community choice energy aggregator. She walked away from this all-day public forum and panel discussion motivated and energized to take part in local decision-making.
