The Green Blueprint

Western states are experiencing a megadrought. Water levels at Lake Mead and Lake Powell are falling hundreds of feet, and shortages on the Colorado River mean that Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico are facing cuts to their water use. But these aren't the only reserves that are under threat – hundreds of feet underground, the drought is impacting our water security in ways we can't even see. The Ogallala Aquifer is the biggest aquifer in America, and one of the largest in the world. In addition to providing drinking water for almost two million people, the aquifer supports about $35 billion in agricultural production every year. But the aquifer is drying up in many regions – and that’s creating new conflicts over water rights.This week, Melodie Edwards, host of the podcast The Modern West, brings us to the front lines of the Western water wars. We go to Laramie County, Wyoming, where a group of ranchers are fighting permits for high capacity wells – and changing the state’s water law in the process.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.  

Just a few weeks ago, the Biden administration’s historic climate package looked like it was on the brink of ruin after Senator Joe Manchin walked away from negotiations for a second time. But behind the scenes, backdoor negotiations were underway. At the end of last month, Manchin and Schumer announced they had made a deal – and on Sunday, the Senate passed major climate legislation for the first time in American history.  The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 has over $360 billion for energy and climate provisions. It’s a historic opportunity to supercharge clean energy and give the country a fighting chance at slashing emissions in time to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. So what’s in the bill? And what comes next?Guest: Katherine Hamilton is chair of 38 North Solutions.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 feature an interview from our friends at Columbia Energy Exchange.Europe’s gas crisis has entered a scary new phase. Last week, the biggest pipeline carrying Russian gas into Germany was closed for maintenance. And many in Europe fear the Russians will keep Nord Stream 1 closed indefinitely – putting further pressure on gas supply in the colder months.Europeans are burning more coal, scrambling for new sources of gas, and committing to lots of renewable energy in a frantic attempt to slash reliance on Russian fossil fuels. But there are real questions about how quickly those solutions will shift the balance of power. Meanwhile, gas prices are soaring in markets around the world – leading to fears about recession and long-lasting economic impacts. What are the possible scenarios that could play out?This week, Columbia Energy Exchange host Jason Bordoff sits down with Anne-Sophie Corbeau and Dr. Tatiana Mitrova to explain the state of gas markets. Anne-Sophie Corbeau is a Global Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs; Dr. Tatiana Mitrova is a Research Fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy. 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.  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.

Last Tuesday, the thermometer at London's Heathrow airport clocked in at 104 degrees Fahrenheit, or 40.2 degrees Celsius. The airport runway melted. More than a dozen wildfires broke out across London, while tens of thousands evacuated from wildfires in Spain, France, and Portugal. And a lot of meteorologists didn't quite believe it – including Axios' Andrew Freedman.“A high of 104 degrees has always been this limit that no meteorologist ever thought would be crossed in their lifetime in the UK,” says Freedman.Europe isn't ready for heat like this. And new research shows western Europe is seeing a 3 to 4 times increase in heat waves compared to anywhere else in the northern midlatitudes. And none of this would be possible without climate change.This week, we're talking about the extreme heat that gripped Europe – how climate scientists understand it, and the best ways to convey this new reality.Guest: Andrew Freedman, a climate and energy reporter at Axios. Read his coverage of the heat wave.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.

On the Carbon Copy podcast this week:The hits to President Biden's climate ambitions keep on coming. Two years ago, Biden put forward a $2 trillion climate plan. After Democrats failed to move a bill forward last year, that package was whittled down to $300 billion.This spring was supposed to be the moment that package passed. And then spring turned into summer. Now, as lawmakers prepare to clear out and head off for their August break, it looks like the passage of a climate bill of any size is unlikely — thanks to West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (D).Senator Manchin has nearly killed his party's chance of doing something big on climate. The window of opportunity for legislation is closing — and it could bring a painful end to Biden's stalled agenda. What options are left?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.

In the global north, 15% of the earth’s surface is covered in permafrost. Permafrost is a frozen layer of rocks, soil, ice and partially decomposed plants – and it's a massive carbon sink.Permafrost contains 1.5 trillion tons of carbon. That's twice the amount currently in our atmosphere. And, no surprise, climate change is melting it at an accelerated rate.The decline of permafrost is bad for the atmosphere and for Arctic communities. And because it’s historically been so difficult to predict, the climate impact is not being considered by policymakers.New research could change our understanding of the problem. This week, we’ll talk with a scientist who’s trying to fill the gaps in our knowledge about the climate impact of permafrost. Guest: Dr. Sue Natali, an arctic ecologist who leads the Woodwell Climate Arctic Program. Read about her Permafrost Pathways research.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 term of art for climate goals in the utility business is "net-zero." It's an accounting term. It means on balance, an electric utility is removing as much carbon from the atmosphere as it's adding.But how do you get to actual zero emissions? To eliminate them from the grid entirely?That is what the Sacramento Municipal Utility District – known as SMUD – is trying to do by 2030. But it can’t hit that target without the help of customers.So what would the customer-empowered energy transition look like? In this episode, produced in collaboration with Oracle Energy and Water, we're exploring how technology advancements and the urgency of climate change are putting customers at the center of decarbonization.Stephen Lacey sat down with SMUD CEO Paul Lau and Oracle’s Matt O'Keefe to talk about the trend.To learn more about Oracle’s vision, visit go.oracle.com/energyofeveryone.

This week, we’re offering up an episode of Post Script Media's new podcast, Hot Buttons.Your Instagram and TikTok feed are probably littered with feel-good ads for clothes and shoes made from recycled bottles. But they aren’t the solution you think. In this episode, co-hosts Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe and Shilla Kim-Parker dig into the greenwashing behind clothes made from plastic.If you like what you hear, subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts.Hot Buttons is a production of Post Script Media. The show is hosted by Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker. Follow the show on Twitter.

It was a particularly busy – and consequential – June for the Supreme Court. In a 6-3 ruling, the Court decided that the Environmental Protection Agency has overstepped its authority in regulating heat trapping gasses from power plants.This is an odd case involving an interpretation of a 1970s law that set the foundation for a climate regulation that doesn't even exist. In this episode, we’ll look at what led to the Supreme Court to take up the case.Now that the high court has restricted how America's environmental cop can enforce climate pollution rules, how severe are the consequences? And where can federal agencies continue to make progress?Guest: Niina Farah, Climate Law and Policy Reporter @ E&E news. 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.

Heat pumps are the hot new thing in climate tech right now. The fastest way we can slash emissions out of the economy is to electrify as much as possible. And the fastest way to electrify is to deploy heat pumps.If we want to decarbonize our homes quickly, we need to start replacing existing HVAC systems. A good place to start: installing heat pumps instead of conventional central air conditioners.Turns out, the cost of making a two-way heat pump instead of an air conditioning unit is only a few hundred dollars per unit. What if the government incentivized manufacturers to make the switch?Every minute, 12 central air conditioning units are installed or swapped out at homes across America. That's 18,000 per week. Turning those one-way AC units into two-way heat pumps could help electrify millions of homes every year. A new federal bill could be the answer. Guests: Nate “the house whisperer” Adams, CEO of HVAC 2.0.  Alexander Gard-Murray, a Political Economist at Brown University's Climate Solutions Lab.  The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media.The Carbon Copy is supported by Nextracker. Nextracker’s technology platform has delivered more than 50 gigawatts of zero-emission solar power plants across the globe. Nextracker is developing a data-driven framework to become the most sustainable solar tracker company in the world – with a focus on a truly transparent supply chain. Visit nextracker.com/sustainability to learn more.The Carbon Copy is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more.