Perspectives on Sustainable Development

Send us Fan Mail Yes, we did a 90 minute Season finale. You will thank me later. I dedicated this episode to my mom, Lois Whitehead, who sadly passed away earlier this year from leukemia. During her professional career, for a time, she worked for a nonprofit in Trenton, NJ that addressed food insecurity issues and helped people get back on their feet. She taught me a great deal in 41 years, but th...

Send us Fan Mail No matter what your climate goals look like, where your project is located, or who is in office at the time, your project will not happen if the financing is not in order. Projects have to make money, and have to usually incur levels of risk through development. Whether a clean energy startup or billion dollar offshore wind developer, there is great opportunity right now, but also...

Send us Fan Mail One of the topics that I have been asked about most over the last few years from community members is how they can get their own community air monitoring. Many are concerned over possible contamination in their air, and want to see improvements. As we often say, their lived experiences are the ultimate screening tool. They know if there's a problem. There is a direct link bet...

Send us Fan Mail Anyone who has listened to past episodes likely knows that I am an offshore wind (OSW) energy advocate. I am a renewable energy advocate, and I am an advocate for smart answers to complex problems. There is no better example than the need to urgently modernize our transmission systems. My guests for this week, are Theodore Paradise (Energy Partner at K & L Gates) and Dane Pehr...

Send us Fan Mail Environmental Justice communities are diverse collections of perspectives, concerns, and drivers. No two are identical, but there are some common themes that most share. Love of their culture, protection of their communities and children, and concern that our planning systems have not historically taken their views into equal account when making decisions that would affect the com...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode Chris was joined by Rebecca Karp (CEO and Founder) and Ali-Sutherland Brown (Principal) from Karp Strategies.  Chris recalls, "I first met Rebecca through the offshore wind space a few years ago when we were both presenting at the International Partnering Forum (IPF) event in Atlantic City, NJ. I was immediately struck by her expertise, her ability to connect...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode Chris was joined by Sarah Henderson (Scientific Director, British Columbia Centers for Disease Control) and Christine Wiedinmyer (Associate Director of Science at Cires at the University of Colorado Boulder). Chris went heavy on the graphics and visuals during his intro this time because wildfire is such a visceral issue. Annual acreage burned is rising each year,...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode, Chris was joined by two colleagues to continue a discussion that the three of them started over breakfast in Minneapolis earlier this year. Michael Jung, Government Affairs & Public Policy at Modern Hydrogen, and Madeline Urbish, Orsted Head of Public Affairs for the Americas Region, both live these issues every day. Our climate is changing, impacts are stack...

Send us Fan Mail The Supreme Court in the US (SCOTUS) ended their last term with an absolute flurry of important environmental cases that focused on the role of administrative law in managing these issues. I nearly became an environmental layer eons ago before I went into consulting. I work with them often and was fortunate this episode to sit down with two of the best, J. Michael Showalter (Partn...

Send us Fan Mail ESG is a hot button issue for some, but executives see it as a risk mitigation and environmental stewardship question. Cut back all of the noise and fundamental questions remain on how climate change impacts will affect business and its relationship with local communities. Few are more well-versed in these issues than Matthew Sekol (Microsoft) and Christine Uri (ESG for In-House C...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode Chris was joined by Department of Energy expert Kelly Crawford and Dr. Tony Reames (University of Michigan and formerly of DOE). Kelly and Tony are pretty much as good as it gets on energy justice topics, and their decades of experience and passion for the issues shine through in this episode. We discuss new DOE programs, climate adaptation and mitigation, and ene...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode Chris was joined by Eugene McGrane (Executive Managing Director, Cushman & Wakefield) and John Thomas (President, The Mount Group and the CDRA) to discuss building decarbonization and sustainability in the construction industry. We started there but the discussion took a turn and then focused on how to effectively complete major projects in complex regulatory...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode Chris was joined by Jeremy Orr (Director of Litigation and Advocacy Partnerships, Earthjustice) and Sean Moriarty (Director of Strategic Regulatory Affairs, Archer Public Affairs).  Both men are leaders in their states on EJ and environmental topics, and helped advance critical legislation that is now shaping the discussion.  Our discussion touched on a lot of iss...

Send us Fan Mail Chris Whitehead sits down with Rebecca Bratspies, a professor at CUNY School of Law where she runs the Center for Urban Environmental Reform, and Thomas Abdallah, the Vice President of Environmental Services at MTA Construction and Development Agency. Their work surrounding sustainable transportation development is crucial to the larger conversation as a large percentage of greenh...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode we are joined by Abby Watson (President and Co-Founder of The Groundwire Group) and Professor Raphael Heffron (University of Pau and Adour Countries (France)) to discuss energy justice. Abby and Raphael are well-known for their innovative thought leadership on energy issues.  Our discussion started around objective realities of cost and reliability always coming f...

Send us Fan Mail In our first two episodes we covered climate change and environmental justice issues. I hope they filled you with a sense of wanting to do something about it. The "doing something about it" on a policy end takes time, and having a sound economic model (or models) included is imperative.  Join us for a fun discussion with Dr. Ken Richards of the University of Indiana and...

Send us Fan Mail Environmental justice work has become my passion. After working technically in air quality for over 16 years, and projecting the potential impact of the New Jersey EJ Law, I began to see EJ issues almost everywhere I looked. The data is clear and so is the lived experiences of citizens living in overburdened communities, which act as a clear indicator of potential problems in thos...

Send us Fan Mail Chris Whitehead sits down with Andy Bochman, Senior Grid Strategist from Idaho National Labs and Marisol Maddox (Sr Artic Analyst from the Woodrow Wilson Institute. Topics covered: Climate change tipping points, health impacts, climate justice, national security and supply chain implications, and infrastructure. Andy and Marisol's tips for other opportunities tp learn more on...

Send us Fan Mail Hosted by Chris Whitehead. Climate change and environmental justice are two of the largest drivers in environmental regulation and sustainable development. This podcast will bring together subject matter experts on major topics to discuss these issues and how we potentially avoid major problems going forward. The first episode will be released on April 15 with further episodes fol...