Crafting Landmark Climate Legislation with Russell Kenneth DeGraff

Russell Kenneth DeGraff spent 18 years as a staffer on Capitol Hill, including 12 years as the Chief Climate and Technology Advisor to Nancy Pelosi, notably during her second term as Speaker of the House. He was, as they say in the room where it happened when negotiating the landmark climate legislation of the last few years, including the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act. This is a special conversation going deep into the backstory of how things work in Washington and how these once-in-a-generation climate policies came to be realized. 

In this episode, we cover: 

• Russell's background and path to Capitol Hill
• His roles in congressional offices, including work with Congressman Mike Doyle and Speaker Nancy Pelosi
• The challenges of passing legislation in a closely divided Senate
• Negotiating and passing major climate policies like the Inflation Reduction Act, and the role of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
• A case study on negotiating solar canals
• Dynamics of working with key senators, such as Joe Manchin
• Russell's current work with Stanford and Harvard
• Reflections on January 6, the political climate, and the 2024 presidential election
• Advice for getting involved in electoral efforts to support climate action
• Risks of losing recently passed climate policies if Democrats lose control of Congress
• Why climate change is inherently a political issue

Episode recorded on Aug 6, 2024 (Published on Oct 7, 2024)

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant