Future in Bloom

Most climate solutions don’t fail because the science is wrong. They fail because the market around them doesn’t get built. So, who is building more markets, and how? In this episode of Future in Bloom, Steph sits down with Brandon Middaugh, General Manager of Microsoft’s Sustainable Markets and Climate Innovation Fund, for a conversation about climate investing and community-first AI. From...

7 out of 10 Americans don’t want a data center in their backyard, and it’s hard to blame them. But we’re also seeing backlash increase against clean energy infrastructure, which is definitely hurting our ability to transition off of fossil fuels. Columbia’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law found 498 contested renewable energy projects in 2025, a 32% increase from the prior year. They also found...

Jeff Coleman woke up one morning and realized he was running a different kind of company than he started. What began as a software platform to help homeowners access clean energy incentives became a product with a much harder problem to tackle: a fintech company speeding up the rebate turnaround between utilities, governments, and contractors. In this conversation, Eli’s founder shares the t...

On this episode of Future in Bloom, Steph Speirs speaks with Etosha Cave, co-founder and Chief Science Advisor at Twelve. Twelve is discovering new ways to recycle CO2 and transform it into the things we use in our everyday lives. Etosha discusses her journey from grad school, realizing nature doesn’t treat CO2 as waste, so why should we? She dives deep into the story of how she helped build a com...

In this episode of Future in Bloom, host Steph talks with Dr. Lea Winter, a chemical and environmental engineering professor at Yale, to explore how we can redesign the basic chemistry of our economy and actually reuse CO2. Lea breaks down why carbon isn’t just a pollutant to get rid of but an essential building block of our everyday lives. Her lab is developing ways to take CO2 from the atmospher...

What if the best thing a foundation could do was plan its own ending? In this episode of Future in Bloom, Steph Speirs sits down with Santhosh Ramdoss, President & CEO of Gary Community Ventures, to explore a radical idea that could reshape philanthropy: Impermanence. By 2035, Gary will have spent every dollar of its assets in service of Colorado kids and families, which intentionally departs...

What if one of the most powerful climate solutions wasn’t something we needed to build, but something the Earth has been doing for billions of years? In this episode, Steph Speirs sits down with Dr. Noah Planavsky, a geochemist at Yale University and one of the world’s experts on enhanced rock weathering. They explore how crushing silicate rocks like basalt and spreading them on farmla...

Charles Hua, founder of Powerlines and former US Department of Energy strategist, makes the case that America’s energy affordability crisis is a regulatory problem. With 80 million Americans struggling to pay their utility bills, and rates rising at the fastest pace in a generation, Charles points out the real power to control consumer prices resides with Public Utilities Commissioners, roug...

Aliya Haq has been involved in the environmental movement since she was eight years old, protesting an incinerator in her rural hometown. Over 25 years she’s led policy at Greenpeace, Breakthrough Energy, and now the Clean Economy Project. In this conversation, she tells Steph Speirs why the old playbook of “stop bad things” no longer meets the moment, and what it takes to actually bui...

The aviation sector has an emissions problem. Convincing people to fly less won’t cut it: The answer is fundamentally reinventing the fuel itself. In this episode of Future in Bloom, host Steph Speirs sits down with Dr. Staff Sheehan, a computer scientist-turned-chemist and five-time entrepreneur, to unpack sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs). Staff breaks down what’s blocking cheap, abundant, clean...

Matt Traldi, co-founder of Greenlight America, joins Steph Speirs to unpack the “hidden” political friction points stalling the U.S. energy transition. From the permitting bottleneck to why wind and solar are losing by forfeit in local council rooms, Matt breaks down how the next generation of energy is being held back by zoning laws rather than technology. Learn why showing up to a si...

Arvin Ganesan, CEO of Fourth Power, joins Steph Speirs to unpack what’s really happening at the intersection of extreme heat, carbon blocks, and the future of long-duration energy storage. From the “25% demand surge” hitting the U.S. grid to why traditional lithium-ion isn’t enough for our wind and solar future, Arvin breaks down the massive technological friction points holding...

Antoine Vagneur-Jones, Head of Trade & Supply Chains at Bloomberg NEF, joins Steph Speirs to unpack what’s really happening at the intersection of tariffs, critical minerals, and the clean energy transition. From the “3x price gap” hitting U.S. solar modules to why the “New Oil” narrative is questionable, Antoine breaks down the massive geopolitical friction poin...

Lisbeth Kaufman, AWS Head of Climate Tech Startups and former founder, joins Steph Speirs to discuss how the world’s largest cloud provider is accelerating the next generation of environmental giants. From “building a star on Earth” with fusion energy to AI-powered robots eliminating pesticides, Elizabeth breaks down the massive $7 billion resource engine helping startups scale past th...

The “Green Premium” is officially dead. If you think a great invention is enough to save the planet—and a business—think again. In this eye-opening breakdown, Sophie Purdom (General Partner at Planeteer Capital) pulls back the curtain on the brutal reality of climate tech. While there’s an $82 billion “gold mine” of dry powder waiting, most founders are looking in the wrong...

In this keynote panel from the Yale Clean Energy Conference, we go beyond the surface of “green tech” to discuss the brutal realities of financing the energy transition. As policy support for clean energy wavers in America, we share how we navigate the shift from software-enabled “asset-light” technologies to the capital-intensive infrastructure needed to transform global i...

Dawn Owens, Fervo Energy’s Head of Project Development and Commercial Markets and VP, sits down with Steph Speirs to discuss enhanced geothermal energy. Enhanced geothermal is a 24/7 clean energy solution that’s rapidly becoming cheaper than fossil fuels and can provide stable power to the grid without raising your electricity bill. Dawn breaks down the biggest myths, from induced eart...

What happens when the next generation of clean energy lands in a small rural town? After suffering from economic “boom and bust” cycles of mining, railroad, and hog production, Milford, Utah was ready for change. This documentary explores how Fervo Energy’s cutting-edge geothermal project is breathing new life into the community, providing 24/7 green power, stable clean energy ca...

Why are clean energy projects being banned across America? The answer isn’t technology, it’s trust. In this panel from the Aspen Institute’s Clean Econ: Revival In The West, we uncover the unscalable secret to success: enduring community trust. Learn how the same expertise used in oil and gas is delivering zero-emissions, 24/7 geothermal power, and why local relationships are the...

Intelligent solutions for a thriving world — Subscribe to Our Substack: /@futureinbloom — Future in Bloom bridges climate tech and human nature. Hosted by clean energy entrepreneur Steph Speirs, Future in Bloom brings together innovators, scientists, and investors working on the world’s most promising planetary solutions. Adapted from the Yale School of Management course “Climate Tech...