EcoRight Speaks

Our favorite and most prolific writer is coming back into the fold. After two years on the editorial board of the Miami Herald , EcoRight favorite Mary Anna Mancuso (victim of a massive downsizing, like so many journalists today) will be picking her opinion-writing pen back up.  In this episode, we talk about what Mary Anna learned over the last two years, what’s going on in the state of Florida,...

George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication Postdoctoral Fellow Doran Tucker knows a thing or two about communicating climate risk. An undergraduate degree in international affairs at Penn State sparked his interest in how investments in military infrastructure (for example, remote sensing) can become tools we use in everyday life (GPS).  From this inquiry, Tucker went on...

The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) made a historic investment in protecting and maintaining popular federal lands in part by establishing the Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) to address billions of dollars in overdue maintenance needs. From 2021-2025, the LRF provided more than $9 billion to tackle priority repairs in national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, BLM areas and more. Unfortunately, t...

National Clean Energy Week 2026 is here and we're excited to welcome Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES) Founding President James Dozier to set the stage for this year's event. Dozier shares more about the week-long celebration of clean energy innovation with conversations to help solve the world’s most pressing challenges in nuclear, solar, wind, wave, hydropower, geothermal,...

Despite different upbringings, the hosts of the " We've Got To Talk " podcast, Jolene Conway (a self-identified conservative from Pleasantville, Iowa) and Nicole Fonarow (a self-professed liberal from San Francisco) became fast friends at the University of Iowa. And they're tighter than ever 40 years later.  Living in a world that often seems intent on drawing lines in the sand and...

The power grid is old and it is being asked to do things it wasn’t built to do. Luckily, there are a lot of smart people on the task of updating the grid. Pat Wood is one of those people. Co-chair of The Pew Charitable Trusts Distributed Energy Resources Initiative Advisory Council, Wood has spent three decades building more competitive, resilient energy systems — first as a regulator in the state...

How do we keep the lights on during extreme weather such as Winter Storm Yuri, the Texas ice storm of five years ago? This week's two guests lived through the debilitating storm and hope to never repeat that experience, NextGen Energy founder Kimberly Johnston and Vice President of Public Partnerships Shannon Fitzgerald O’Shea.  A community energy infrastructure company focused on catalyzing p...

AI is changing the shape and scope of the world as we know it. While many talk about the negatives of AI, including the energy demands, the Climate Leadership Council’s Greg Bertelsen sees an opportunity to take advantage of the largest investments being made probably in our lifetimes.  Clean energy and renewables can attract significant investment to fuel AI needs, potentially making AI a force f...

Host Chelsea Henderson was recently asked to join the steering committee of the Thriving Economy Project, a coalition of members of Congress, former senior congressional aides, officials from multiple presidential administrations and leading energy and environmental policy experts. The group is collaborating on a new policy blueprint aimed at strengthening economic competitiveness, creating jobs,...

American Action Forum's Shuting Pomerleau explains what the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is and how it works. 

After joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in 2021 before leaving in 2023, the state of Virginia recently re-entered the environmental pact. In this episode, Shuting Pomerleau of the American Action Forum shares research that shows the pressure Virginia is putting on itself and the utility sector, pressure borne by ratepayers, by rejoining the carbon pricing pact, while also adher...

Economist Nat Keohane from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions on some of the keys to finding a durable policy solution to climate change.

In this kickoff episode of season 13, longtime policy expert and economist Nat Keohane (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions) talks about achieving bipartisan consensus on clean energy policies from the ground up, building support with corporate America that has reverberating impacts in local communities and their economies. In particular, the American Southeast is thriving and has the potentia...

Host Chelsea Henderson dishes on two of her most memorable interviews and topics from season 12 of the " EcoRight Speaks ."

Like we do at the conclusion of every season of the "EcoRight Speaks," we look back on guests from the season and highlight some of the interviews, moments and topics along the way. Host Chelsea Henderson walks us through season 12 and some of the fun we experienced. In this episode, you'll hear clips from authors Bob Eccles and Norm Leo , Alliance for Market Solutions' Alex Flint...

Former Congressman Carlos Curbelo said on this week's episode of the "EcoRight Speaks" that versatility and markets are the best way to make our energy demands more efficient.

Former Congressman Carlos Curbelo needs no introduction. Both during his rigorous days on Capitol Hill, pushing for bipartisan consensus on climate change and now in the private sector, providing strategic advice on how to move forward on the key issues of the day, he sits at the core of the EcoRight.  In this episode, we touch on how geopolitics impacts us here at home and how allowing the market...

The Nature Conservancy's Senior Policy Advisor for Freshwater Jim Howe, explains the Sustainable Rivers Program and its benefits for Americans nationwide.

A federal program that returns $12 for every $1 spent and reduces flood risk nationwide could soon be history. The Sustainable Rivers Program is a partnership between The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  Its reach has grown from eight rivers in 2002 to 65 today, influencing nearly 15,000 miles of waterways and more than 100 dams and reservoirs around the country. But this...

Carbon policy strategist  Danny Richter shared some new details on the EU's implementation of its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

What do carbon pricing advocates think and talk about when carbon pricing proposals are not on the table, at least here in the United States? Carbon policy strategist and friend of the podcast Danny Richter, founder of Richter Capitol Hill Strategies , is here to break down the various policies that he and other carbon pricing peers are monitoring and advocating for during this time when direct cl...

Matt Glazewski explains the Washington Climate Corps Network and more about their work.

Community engagement is at the heart of whether a successful transition to a clean energy economy is possible and in Washington State, Matt Glazewski is working on just that. Glazewski is the Executive Director of the Washington Climate Corps Network , a network of organizations, young adults, veterans, and professionals working together to build a climate-resilient Washington. He is committed to...

Jamie Beard shares more about Project InnerSpace and one of the biggest benefits to geothermal energy.

Leveraging the expertise of the oil and gas industry to scale geothermal energy, Project InnerSpace (opposite of outer space) is poised to rapidly provide the world with unprecedented levels of clean, geothermal power. If we drill for geothermal energy at the rate we currently drill for oil and gas, by 2050, up to 77 percent of global demand for electricity and over 100 percent of global demand fo...