Climate Papa

Ben and Erika Reinhardt hop on post-bedtime to trade stories about their 5 and 2.5 year olds and make bathtub greenhouse gas analogies. Erika has made it her, and Spark Climate’s, mission to find and invest in the solutions we are likely or possibly going to need in the future that are, today, woefully behind. This has led to a focus on methane–currently responsible for 0.5°C of warming. Despite methane being a leading cause (and the biggest lever) to impact near-term warming, we don’t have a plan for eliminating enteric methane or any options for atmospheric methane removal. They talk about the problems with units and goals that only optimize for 2100, the need for non-profits to stand up systems that correct for market failures, and why it’s important to get to the ground truth on the state of climate solutions. Erika reflects on why it might be that both her and her partner, Peter, are drawn towards these frontier problems–and how it feels for their kids to comprehend their parents’ role in “getting rid of bad gasses.” Erika co-founded Spark, and leads the organization. Her background is in leading product engineering groups at high-growth software companies, with an impact orientation. Previously, she started and co-led U.S. Digital Response's work to provide local election offices across the country the products and technical expertise they needed to run a smooth election, led the Payments Experience engineering group at Stripe, served as the Director of Engineering at OpenAI, and was the Director of Product Engineering at Planet Labs after being an early engineer there. Erika studied computer science, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering at MIT. She lives in San Francisco with her young family. For future episodes, subscribe in your podcast app and here for broader Climate Papa updates. Referenced in the episode: Spark Climate Erika’s personal climate action plan Reading list on near-term warming Tracking Clean Energy Progress 2023 – Analysis - IEA Chompers | Gimlet Get connected: Erika - Twitter Ben - ⁠Climate Papa⁠ Feedback? Guest suggestions? Email ⁠ben@climatepapa.com⁠ Music: Slynk & Lazy Syrup Orchestra - Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix)

Jessyn Farrell, Director of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability and Environment, sits down in her living room to chat with Ben about all of Seattle’s decarbonization plans. But first, two of Jessyn’s kids express their lukewarm feelings about podcasting and begrudgingly kick off the show. They cover Jessyn’s love of cities, transit, and orca whales. This opens up into a broad conversation covering all of the things we need to do to decarbonize Seattle and the amazing future that’s in reach if we push to quickly upgrade our homes, neighborhoods, and city. They cover why the local health impacts are just as key to focus on as the global ones, and the fundamental importance of this being an urgent, equitable, and just transition away from fossil-fuels. They highlight potential product collaboration for folks in the tech industry listening: Giving cities insight into transportation data to help make improved planning decisions. Effectively distributing incentives, especially to SMB drayage truck drivers. Moving to a more effective, scaled decarbonization effort for homes*. Building financing products for residential decarbonization upgrades and giving additional visibility for home fossil-fuel consumption. Jessyn wraps up reflecting on the awareness her kids have about her work on climate. Prior to her role leading Seattle’s OSE, Jessyn served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives representing the 46th district from 2013 to 2017 and was a major transit advocate as Executive Director of the Transportation Choices Coalition. *As mentioned in the episode, Ben will be sharing more about a proposal for building a “decarbonization factory” for the hundreds of thousands of homes. To see the proposal when it is shared subscribe to Climate Papa updates. Referenced in the episode: Seattle’s Office of Sustainability & Environment New Building Performance Standards Clean Heat Upgrade Program The “Electric Bank Account” from Rewiring America Low pollution neighborhoods Get connected: Jessyn - OSE Ben - ⁠Climate Papa⁠ Feedback? Guest suggestions? Email ⁠ben@climatepapa.com⁠ Special thanks to Anna Shwab Eidelson for editing assistance. Music: Slynk & Lazy Syrup Orchestra - Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix)

Ben catches up with long-time friend Noaa. They quickly establish that Ben would not be a very effective sports podcaster. They dive into Noaa’s transition from building cloud data platforms to building energy marketplaces and explore the challenge and importance of measuring impact in climate companies. Halfway through, Noaa flips the script and pushes Ben on what he’s doing with his career. They end up reflecting on climate anxiety, the existential, and the need to surrender to the present while staying focused on the work ahead. Referenced in the episode: Guide to Software in Climate Tech Delta Air Lines faces lawsuit over $1bn carbon neutrality claim ⁠Speed & Scale⁠ Catalyst Podcast No Rules Rules Drawing Lines in the Climate Sand Climate Shocks Are Making Parts of America Uninsurable. It Just Got Worse. Get connected: Noaa - LinkedIn, InRange Ben - ⁠Climate Papa⁠ Feedback? Guest suggestions? Email ⁠ben@climatepapa.com⁠ Special thanks to Arthur Shwab & Anna Shwab Eidelson for editing assistance. Music: Slynk & Lazy Syrup Orchestra - Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix)

Ben realizes Father’s Day is coming and that he didn’t want any of the stereotypical Father’s Day gifts. The team at Rewiring America agrees. It turns out a lot of dads would actually prefer we focus on improving our climate outcomes, address wildfire smoke, electrify our homes, and much, much more. 20 dads and kids send in their Father’s Day wishes. We stitch them together into this special edition of Climate Papa. To see the full video and more information about the #ElectrifyFathersDay campaign go to climatepapa.com/fathers-day Music: ⁠Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix) ⁠ Get connected:  Ben - ⁠Climate Papa⁠ Feedback? Guest suggestions? Email ⁠ben@climatepapa.com⁠ Special thanks to Ian M, Joel, Bradley, Matt, Dimitry, Aaron, Ian W, Haggai, George, Marc, Dave, Bruce, Jeremy, The Cook Family, Alex, Arthur, and the crew of kids for sending in their Father’s Day wants. Thanks to Rewiring America for collaborating on this campaign.

Ben dives in with Julia, a psychotherapist, and Asa’s mom (Asa was the 7-year-old star of Episode #4). After a false start leads to a parenting reflection, they dive into the psychology of thinking and working on climate change. As wide ranging as the conversation was with Asa on the external world, Julia and Ben explore the internal. They hit on fundamental tensions–how do we engage without being overwhelmed, how do we trade off our basic desires with long term planning, and do we focus on me and mine vs. the collective good. As is often the source of truth in parenting and life, they find that Daniel Tiger is full of deep wisdom that you can be and feel more than one thing at the same time. They discuss the importance of building up internal scaffolding to be able to ride the complex waves of engaging with climate change. Referenced in the episode: ⁠Personal Infrastructure vs. Behavior (A Matter of Degrees)⁠ ⁠The Opposite of Spoiled⁠ Rewiring America ⁠The Uninhabitable Earth⁠ ⁠Speed & Scale⁠ ⁠Daniel Tiger - Mixed Feelings⁠ Julia’s leisure picks: Top Chef Great British Bake Off ⁠Alone⁠ Music Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix)  Get connected:  Ben - Climate Papa Julia - Send Ben a message to pass along. Feedback? Guest suggestions? Email ben@climatepapa.com Special thanks to Julia for recording a second session and to Arthur Shwab for editing assistance.

Ben dives deep with 7-year-old, Asa, on all things climate. In a wide ranging conversation they cover the basics of climate change, the work of Rewiring America, Indigenous practices, regenerative farming, and how to MacGyver hydropower and wind power. The deepest insights come in exploring what we leave for future generations and the role kids can play in impacting policy and those around them. They leave grown-ups with some recommendations and Asa inspires Ben to match his donation. Referenced in the episode: Rewiring America Camp Casey Asa’s Recommendations Magic School Bus Rides Again Dancing with the Birds Giving Thanks a Native American Good Morning Story Music: Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix)  Get connected:  Ben - Climate Papa Asa - Send Ben a message to pass along! Feedback? Guest suggestions? Email ben@climatepapa.com

Ben urgently calls on Bill Clerico, founder of Convective Capital, to help make sense of the wildfires and smoke pillaging the East Coast. Meanwhile, Bill is out visiting Boston with his one year old and navigating the AQI. After tackling flying with babies, they explore the relationship between wildfires, climate change, and the tools needed to improve our collective resilience. They also talk about the move from fintech into firetech and how more product builders can make similar moves. They end exploring a few product ideas to accelerate our resilience and how fires touch everything from utilities to tourism. Referenced in the episode: Bill’s Tweet of AQI projections Acquired episode on Berkshire Hathaway Part II Our Kettle Wildfires.org Music Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix)  Get connected:  Ben - Climate Papa Bill - Twitter / Convective CapitalFeedback? Guest suggestions? Email ben@climatepapa.com

Ben chats with Dan Lindquist, a fellow papa and product leader, about what motivates them to work on climate, how to pick your lane among the many interesting avenues in the space, the role of software as a friction reducer, and the uniquely collaborative and open dynamic in the budding climate tech community. They explore use of generative AI, large language models, and probabilistic and non-probabilistic products in the climate space.  They also talk about kids as barnacle and the trade off between spending time with your kids vs time working on the problem that matters for their future.  Referenced in the episode: Anish’s post on AI to Unlock Probabilistic Products Explain Paper Ben Thompson on Bing AI Speed and Scale Music Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix)  Get connected:  Ben Eidelson on LinkedIn and Climate Papa Dan Lindquist on LinkedIn  Feedback? Guest suggestions? Email ben@climatepapa.com  

Welcome to Climate Papa! Ben and Arthur verbally process the impetus for this podcast and what motivates their work on climate (hint: it’s their kids and it isn’t), and set an intention for the creative act of this project. They also talk about Barbies, getting screamed at by our kids above 93 decibels, throwing pottery, and meditating to Rick Rubin.  Reading  The Creative Act by Rick RubinThe Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi Music: Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix) Special thanks to Ben Gilbert, from Acquired for the podcast mentorship. Connect with us: Ben Arthur Feedback? Guest suggestions? Email ben@climatepapa.com