The Green Blueprint

New York has a puzzle that it needs to solve – fast. In less than a decade, the state is aiming to radically increase renewable electricity generation, all while helping New Yorkers electrify their homes and businesses. The state's ambitious policy plan for 70% renewables by 2050 will succeed or fail based on how it can develop the supporting infrastructure, like transmission, ports, and batteries.So how will the nuts and bolts of New York's energy transition play out? This week, we have a panel from our recent live event with Canary Media addressing exactly that question, featuring leading reporters covering decarbonization and energy markets in New York: Canary Media journalist Maria Gallucci; The City journalist Samantha Maldonado; and Politico journalist Marie French.This episode is brought to you by Rise Light & Power, the owner of Ravenswood Generating, New York City’s largest power plant. By repurposing existing infrastructure and replacing fossil fuel generation in the heart of New York City, Renewable Ravenswood makes it easier and more cost effective to meet New York’s ambitious climate goals. Learn more. We’re also brought to you by, Sealed. Sealed uses air sealing and insulation to keep the outside out. They can also upgrade your heating system. If you don't save energy with Sealed, they don't get paid. Learn more.

Michael Grunwald is an energy and climate journalist who lives in south Florida. He loves Florida. But he also loves to poke fun at Florida's poor planning. In 2017, he wrote a piece for POLITICO about Cape Coral -- the boomtown built on swampland that is uniquely vulnerable to hurricanes.Cape Coral is a city of 200,000 people in Southwest Florida. It's basically a wetland, nestled next to Fort Myers – one of the fastest growing areas in the country.Construction of Cape Coral started in the late 1950s. It was the vision of two brothers who got wealthy peddling baldness tonic from wool grease. They knew how to sell anything, including a city built on water.And then, in late September, Hurricane Ian rolled in. The near-category 5 hurricane knocked out the city's water supply, electricity, and left most houses underwater. Mike wrote an update to that piece, reminding readers about the “fantasy” propping up Southwest Florida.This week, We talk with Mike Grunwald about Florida's unwillingness to plan for climate change – and what a nearby solar-powered city that weathered Hurricane Ian tells us about what's possible.

This week, producer Alexandria Herr takes a trip to Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and gets a peek into the future. What is now an empty stretch of concrete sandwiched between a Costco and the Upper New York Harbor will soon be transformed into a hub of green industry: a facility to assemble offshore wind turbines. Norwegian energy giant Equinor has designated the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal as the future hub of its offshore wind operations. Community leaders in Sunset Park, a neighborhood that has long faced a multitude of environmental justice issues, are hoping that the project will bring workforce development and green energy jobs to the community. Canary journalist Maria Gallucci brings us her reporting on the project in Sunset Park, and how it might be a model for how communities facing environmental justice issues can lead the green industries of the future. You can read her story here.The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media.

In mid-September, the outdoor clothing company Patagonia posted a 10-second video on Instagram featuring Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard. The camera zooms in on Chouinard writing one sentence in a notebook: "Earth is now our only shareholder.”It was an understated clip unveiling an unprecedented move: Chouinard is giving away his company to an entity that will steer all profits into climate solutions.The move will funnel $100 million a year into climate-positive investments, make Patagonia a powerful force in climate philanthropy, and establish a new model for corporate sustainability.This week: we explore corporate sustainability from the perspective of the fashion industry, featuring the co-hosts of Hot Buttons.We'll start with a conversation on Patagonia's move to turn the company into a corporate vehicle for climate solutions. And then, we’ll dig deeper into fashion law. Is better labeling the key to cleaning up one of the dirtiest industries on earth?Don’t miss our live episode of Climavores in New York City on October 20! Sign up here for a night of live audio and networking with top voices in climate journalism.

Don’t miss our live episode of Climavores in New York City on October 20! Sign up here for a night of live audio and networking with top voices in climate journalism.On September 18, almost exactly five years after Hurricane Maria wiped out Puerto Rico's electric grid, Hurricane Fiona once again pushed the island’s electric system to failure.Earlier this year, we brought Canary Media reporter Maria Gallucci on the show to talk about Puerto Rico’s grid failures in the months and years after Hurricane Maria – and the boom in grassroots solar projects as a response. She’s been reporting on Fiona's aftermath. Sadly, it's a similar story to Hurricane Maria. Nearly two weeks after the storm, one third of the island's residents still don't have access to power, and many are still lacking water. But the storyline has changed for some. There are now tens of thousands more solar and battery systems on the island. And there were communities that kept the lights on. This week, we're talking about Fiona's impact on Puerto Rico's grid system – why it’s still broken, and how solar and batteries could help fix it.Guest: Maria Galluci, a reporter at Canary Media. You can read her latest reporting here.The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media.The Carbon Copy is supported by GridX. GridX provides invaluable business insight that improves the uptake of the programs, products and services needed to decarbonize. Delivering on our clean energy future is complex. GridX exists to simplify the journey. Learn more.The Carbon Copy is brought to you by KORE Power. KORE Power is the leading U.S.-based developer of battery cell technology for the clean energy industry. KORE Power is proud to offer a functional solution to real-world problems and fulfill market demand to deliver a zero-carbon future. Learn more at www.korepower.com.  

Don’t miss our live episode of Climavores in New York City on October 20! Sign up here for a night of live audio and networking with top voices in climate journalism. One third of the world is currently facing water stress. The horn of Africa is in the middle of a devastating drought, putting millions at risk of famine. In China, low water levels are causing cuts to hydropower in Sichuan Province. Two thirds of Europe is currently under some kind of drought warning, making it the worst in 500 years in that region.Drought will only become more severe in some regions as the climate continues to warm. The United Nations estimates that drought frequency has increased by a third already since the year 2000. Ongoing drought has dire implications for everything ranging from food security to manufacturing, energy production, and health. This week, we’re bringing you a story about the unexpected consequence of drought – how it's revealing secrets previously lost beneath the waterline. Falling water levels are reshaping landscapes around the world. As rivers and reservoirs recede, historical relics are coming to the surface. This week, we speak to reporter Dharna Noor about the dinosaur tracks, historical artifacts, and even human remains that are being unveiled as the drought progresses. Dharna Noor is a reporter and digital producer at the Boston Globe. You can read her article here.The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media.The Carbon Copy is supported by GridX. GridX provides invaluable business insight that improves the uptake of the programs, products and services needed to decarbonize. Delivering on our clean energy future is complex. GridX exists to simplify the journey. Learn more.The Carbon Copy is brought to you by KORE Power. KORE Power is the leading U.S.-based developer of battery cell technology for the clean energy industry. KORE Power is proud to offer a functional solution to real-world problems and fulfill market demand to deliver a zero-carbon future. Learn more at www.korepower.com. 

Don’t miss our live episode of Climavores in New York City on October 20! Sign up here for a night of live audio and networking with top voices in climate journalism. This week, we’re featuring an episode of Climavores. Climavores is a show for eaters who are trying to navigate the complex relationship between healthy food and a healthy planet. Journalists Tamar Haspel and Mike Grunwald are trying to figure it out, too.Each week, Tamar and Mike explore the complicated, confusing, and surprising relationship between food and the environment. Climavores cuts through hype and ideology, explore the stories behind our perceptions of food, and empower listeners to make food choices that are actually good for the planet.We are featuring a live episode of Climavores in New York City on October 20. Tamar and Mike will be joined by reporters from Canary Media, POLITICO, and Post Script Media for a night of live audio and networking. Come ask a question!

Years back, a major municipal utility in the U.S. rolled out a new time-of-use rate for commercial customers. At first, everything seemed fine. Then, customers in one category suddenly began seeing a huge spike in their bills: churches.“They were getting hit with a demand charge and their bills were four, five times what they” had previously been, explains GridX CEO Chris Black.The price of electricity used to be static. Today, rates are a real-time tool to manage demand on a grid that is being transformed by renewables, batteries and electric cars — and increasingly stressed by extreme weather events.Nearly 70% of the country has some kind of time-of-use rate in place. But only 7% of customers are actively taking advantage of them. Why is that? And as time-of-use rates expand, how do we avoid the "tax on God" conundrum?“We have to get it right. We have to figure out how to make all of this more accessible...and better for consumers,” says Black.In this episode, Chris Black makes the case that dynamic rate design is one of the most important tools for decarbonizing the grid.This episode was produced in partnership with GridX. Delivering on the clean energy future is complex. GridX exists to simplify the journey. Learn more.

Over Labor Day weekend, California was blanketed by a record-breaking heatwave. Fresno reached 113 degrees Fahrenheit, Sacramento, 114 degrees Fahrenheit. The state asked residents to cut their power use, and only narrowly avoided blackouts.  Heatwaves are the deadliest weather event in the United States every year. Extreme heat is an environmental justice issue, as it affects low-income and communities of color disproportionately. This week on the show, producer Alexandria Herr took a deep dive to try to understand how heat waves become so deadly, and how cities can protect people from the heat.She spoke to Dr. Erik Klinenberg, a sociologist whose work on the 1995 heat wave in Chicago helped understand how heat waves cause cities to break down. When he looked at that heat wave, he found a mystery: a handful of neighborhoods, with the same demographics, but with vastly different mortality rates from the heat. The answer to that mystery is key to understanding how heat waves become so deadly – and those lessons are being used by people working to protect communities from extreme heat today. Guests: Dr. Erik Klinenberg is a professor of sociology at New York University and the author of Heat Wave.     Sonal Jessel is the Director of Policy at WEACT. You can read their audit of New York City cooling centers here. Danielle Renwick is the editor of Nexus Media News. You can read her work on how U.S. cities are preparing for extreme heat here. The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media.The Carbon Copy is supported by GridX. GridX provides invaluable business insight that improves the uptake of the programs, products and services needed to decarbonize. Delivering on our clean energy future is complex. GridX exists to simplify the journey. Learn more.The Carbon Copy is brought to you by KORE Power. KORE Power is the leading U.S.-based developer of battery cell technology for the clean energy industry. KORE Power is proud to offer a functional solution to real-world problems and fulfill market demand to deliver a zero-carbon future. Learn more at www.korepower.com.  

This week, we’re presenting an episode of The Big Switch, a narrative show from Columbia University about how to decarbonize the economy. Steel goes into pretty much everything around us – from buildings and bridges to the furniture in our homes. And decarbonizing the steel industry is essential because we need steel to decarbonize the world. Think about it. Solar panels, electric vehicles, even our power grid; steel goes into everything we need to fight climate change.But there’s a problem. Steel manufacturing uses a lot of fossil fuels. It’s responsible for 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.In this episode, Dr. Melissa Lott breaks down the race to green, zero-carbon steel. It’s a competition among four key technologies: recycling, carbon capture and storage (CCS), electrolysis, and — everyone’s current favorite — hydrogen. Or, as we call it in this episode, the Usain Bolt of technology.The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media.The Carbon Copy is supported by GridX. GridX provides invaluable business insight that improves the uptake of the programs, products and services needed to decarbonize. Delivering on our clean energy future is complex. GridX exists to simplify the journey. Learn more.The Carbon Copy is brought to you by KORE Power. KORE Power is the leading U.S.-based developer of battery cell technology for the clean energy industry. KORE Power is proud to offer a functional solution to real-world problems and fulfill market demand to deliver a zero-carbon future. Learn more at www.korepower.com.