36 episodes

Climate Money Watchdog is a nonpartisan independent watchdog that investigates and exposes waste, corruption, abuse of power with a focus on government expenditures related to climate change mitigation and environmental remediation. When the government and private organizations fail the public or silence those who report wrongdoing, we will be there as an open or anonymous place for them to help expose the corruption and maleficence. We champion reforms to achieve more effective, ethical, and accountable federal, state, and local government that safeguards constitutional principles and fiscal responsibility for climate and environmental spending.

Climate Money Watchdog Dina Rasor & Greg Williams

    • Government
    • 5.0 • 2 Ratings

Climate Money Watchdog is a nonpartisan independent watchdog that investigates and exposes waste, corruption, abuse of power with a focus on government expenditures related to climate change mitigation and environmental remediation. When the government and private organizations fail the public or silence those who report wrongdoing, we will be there as an open or anonymous place for them to help expose the corruption and maleficence. We champion reforms to achieve more effective, ethical, and accountable federal, state, and local government that safeguards constitutional principles and fiscal responsibility for climate and environmental spending.

    How The Plastics Industry is Tied to Fossil Fuels – Melissa Valliant

    How The Plastics Industry is Tied to Fossil Fuels – Melissa Valliant

    We’re pleased to have as our guest Melissa Valliant, Director of Communications for Beyond Plastics, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending plastic polution. She grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and graduated from Syracuse University with a plan to pursue magazine journalism. Somewhere along the way, she became hooked on environmental conservation and discovered a love for leveraging her communications abilities to make the world a better place. Melissa had her first letter to the editor published in a kids' science magazine at the age of 11 and has since been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, among others. Prior to her role at Beyond Plastics, she managed communications for Oceana's plastics campaign and worked for the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
    Topics Discussed Include:
    How environmental and health problems are connected with micro plastic and nano plastic particles and why scientists are alarmed.Why only 9 percent of plastic waste recycled.How the plastics lobby/greenwashing industries that were against abatement and reform.How the Fossil Fuel believes they can make up for future oil market loss with plastics production.How plastic manufacturing is highly polluting, where in the country we produce it, and impacts on local communities.What is currently being done to reform and what ultimately needs to be done to start to fix the problem.Further Reading / Topics Discussed in this Episode:
    ·      Consider the positive and aspects of “The crying Indian” commercial on American society.
    ·      How do prominent projects such as “Mr. Trash Wheel” encourage plastics removal/recycling versus reduction of plastics production affect public perception?
    ·      Media Briefing on Polution in Port Arthur, TX
    ·      Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act
    ·      The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act
    ·      Beyond Plastics Affiliates
    ·      Beyond Plastics petitions
    Support the showVisit us at climatemoneywatchdog.org!

    • 1 hr 2 min
    How Fossil Fuel Subsidies Affect the Environment - Doug Koplow

    How Fossil Fuel Subsidies Affect the Environment - Doug Koplow

    Doug founded Earth Track to more effectively integrate information on energy subsidies. For the past three decades, he has written extensively on natural resource subsidies for organizations such as the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Stockholm Environment Institute.  He has analyzed scores of government programs and made important developments in subsidy valuation techniques.  He has provided input on subsidy reform legislation, served as a peer reviewer on subsidy papers from all over the world, and has published his own work in major journals and as book chapters.  In recent years, his work has focused on subsidies to fossil fuels, nuclear power, and the impact of multi-sector natural resource subsidies on biodiversity and critical habitats.
    Working collaboratively with other organizations, Earth Track focuses on ways to more effectively align the incentives of key stakeholder groups and to leverage market forces to help address complex environmental challenges.
    He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BA in economics from Wesleyan University.
    Topics Discussed Include:
     Government subsidies - why they are important to think about as we try to decarbonize our economy.  How oil and gas subsides work in general and why they are outdated and harmful to climate goals. How taxpayers’ subsidies distort the market for oil and gas produced in Permian Basin.The role of different levels of government in supporting oil and gas and whether there are specific challenges trying to reform state-level policies.How some subsides were passed in the 1920s when oil extraction was a new industry and haven’t been changed to match the times.How three quarters of the subsides support exploration and production, potentially creating a disincentive to phasing out fossil fuel energy.How transparency of information on costs and how is paid is often lackingParticularly egregious subsidies in the federal realm, in Texas, and New Mexico.Examples of federal and state regulations and environmental exemptions that allow the fossil fuel production pollution to walk away from their production pollution and how that is affecting the Permian Basin’s environment for the people.Further Reading: 
    ·      The High Cost Well subsidy
    ·      The Good Jobs First organization
    Support the showVisit us at climatemoneywatchdog.org!

    • 47 min
    Developing Clean Energy Solutions for the Seneca Nation - Matt Renner

    Developing Clean Energy Solutions for the Seneca Nation - Matt Renner

    Matt Renner serves as Vice President of Seneca Environmental, a tribally owned and controlled Earth-healing solutions company focused on helping commercial customers achieve ambitious climate goals while supporting the long-term well-being of the Seneca Nation and other Indigenous people. His work focuses on partnership development and customer acquisition to create unprecedented collaboration and profitably accelerate climate action. 
    Matt has worked as a nonprofit executive in clean energy, climate policy, and journalism for over a decade, focusing on the near-term social and economic impacts of climate change. He was the head of Climate Mobilization and now serves on their board of directors. He began his career as an investigative reporter and later became the Executive Director of the World Business Academy to focus on the transition to a climate-constrained economic paradigm.
    Matt has a BA degree in Political Science and Government from the University of California, Berkeley. 
    Topics Discussed Include:
    ·      How Seneca Environmental is set up and its main goals.
    ·      Why the Seneca Nation set up a specific section to invest in clean climate change solutions.
    ·      How Seneca Environmental made the 2023 Time100 List and what Matt has done to make Seneca Environmental unique.
    ·      An outline of the work Renner has done for the Native American community and for corporate businesses on producing clean energy.
    ·      Why Seneca Environmental’s business model is working for both the Native American community and corporate businesses.
    ·      How Seneca Environmental’s model and efforts can be replicated with other tribes and businesses to help the clean energy movement going forward.
    Further Reading:
    ·      The Seneca Environmental web site
    ·      Video overview of the Seneca Nation
    ·      Federal Tax Credits for Businesses
    ·      Department of Energy Loan Programs
    Support the showVisit us at climatemoneywatchdog.org!

    • 53 min
    Problems with Q45 Tax Credits for Carbon – Paul Blackburn

    Problems with Q45 Tax Credits for Carbon – Paul Blackburn

    Our guest tonight is Paul Blackburn of Pipeline Fighters’ Hub. Paul provides legal services on pipeline and renewable energy matters. He has worked on crude oil pipeline issues since 2008, and has experience in renewable energy policy and development. Paul represented nonprofit clients in the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission hearing on the Keystone XL Pipeline, and in the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission hearing on expansion of Line 67, another Enbridge pipeline. He has provided policy analysis and strategic advice on a variety of pipeline matters and authored reports on pipeline safety and oil spill response.
    Paul started his legal career in Washington, DC, at the law firm of Van Ness Feldman, where he assisted clients in renewable energy and coal-fired power plant development, a variety of regulatory, legislative, and litigation matters, and Native American commercial law.  After leaving private practice, he began a career in the nonprofit sector, including employment by the Sierra Club, the National Environmental Trust, and Oceana in organizing and media.  He also has experience in community wind and solar energy development.  Paul holds a B.A. in Biology from Macalester College and a J.D. from Boston College Law School.
    In this episode we discuss topics including:
    ·      An overview of the Q45 Carbon sequestration tax credit program
    ·      Who benefits from the Q45 Tax Credit Program?
    ·      How Fossil Fuel companies take advantage of the Q45 program and use it to continue to justify producing more fossil fuel
    ·      Problems with the reporting system for 45Q to the EPA and IRS
    For more information, see:
    ·      The Pipeline Fighters Hub web site
    ·      The Congressional Research Service’s page on the Q45 program
    Support the showVisit us at climatemoneywatchdog.org!

    • 53 min
    Standing Up for Communities in Houston – Erandi Trevino

    Standing Up for Communities in Houston – Erandi Trevino

    Our guest this episode is Erandi Trevino of Public Citizen, Houston. Erandi grew up in Houston and has been concerned about the pollution in her neighborhood since she was a young child.
    Before joining Public Citizen in Houston as a Climate Policy and Outreach Specialist, she was an Advocacy Fellow with the Fulbright Association in Washington, DC, where she worked on education policy, nutrition, and financial regulations. During her time in DC, Erandi also volunteered for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.
    Earlier in her career, Erandi assisted the Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations in New York. She has a law degree from Fordham University and degrees in International Relations and Latin American studies from Seton Hall University. Following her graduation there, she received a Fulbright Grant to teach English in Belo Horizonte, Brazil where she became fluent in Portuguese.
    In this episode we discuss the following topics:
    The coalition of companies and other institutions that are partners with this new project called the HyVelocity Hub and their claims to be able to build an “ecosystem” from the existing hydrogen and pipeline industry in Houston to make clean hydrogen.HyVelocity Hub claims that they will be able use carbon capture to make “clean” hydrogen (called blue hydrogen) using existing hydrogen production plants.How credible is Houston’s Clean Hydrogen Roadmap in general?Is HyVelocity’s goal of achieving 2kg CO2 / kg of H2 is realistic?RMI currently estimates 20 kg CO2 / kg H2 with Texas’s current fossil-heavy power grid.How credible is HyVelocity’s vision “to serve disadvantaged communities by providing jobs and higher labor standards, reducing local pollution, and supporting and complying with the Justice40 initiative?Who are the powerful investors in this endeavor and how are they affecting the plans for these plants? Are they listening to local concerns or just greenwashing their environmental challenges?What is Public Citizen doing as a local activist to get some oversight on this HyVelocity Hub project?Resources:
    Center for Houston's Future
    Houston Healthy Port Communities Coalition
    Environmental Defense Fund - Better Hubs - Expring Decarbonizing Industry
    Greater Houston Port Bureau's Project 11
    On Breath Partnership's "What is Port Houston's Project 11?" 
    Erandi's Contact Information
    Support the showVisit us at climatemoneywatchdog.org!

    • 52 min
    How Today’s Technology Can Save Our Climate and Clean Our Air: Mark Z. Jacobson

    How Today’s Technology Can Save Our Climate and Clean Our Air: Mark Z. Jacobson

    We’re excited to welcome back Mark Z. Jacobson, who joined us last year to talk about a study he co-authored called “Low-Cost Solutions to Global Warming, Air Pollution, and Energy Insecurity for 145 Countries”. He is a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Atmosphere/Energy program at Stanford University, as well as a Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Precourt Institute for energy, and also the Co-Founder of The Solutions Project, 100.org and the 100% Clean, Renewable Energy movement.

    We've asked Mark back to see what progress the country has made with his prediction that the US and the world can change to clean energy and meet CO2 goals by only using WWS (wind, water and solar) i.e. clean non burning energy without using coal, gas, nuclear, and carbon capture. Mark released a book in February of this year, entitled No Miracles Needed: How Today’s Technology Can Save Our Climate and Clean Our Air. His book brings up more questions about the government and the some climate experts are promoting, such as carbon capture, instead of considering the potential of just using WWS. 

    Topics covered include:


    How does the time taken to construct different types of power plants effect their impact  in light of the short timetable on lowering CO2 and other greenhouse gases pollution?How does the amount of waste heat  released by fossil fuel compare to that released by renewables? For example,  about 65 to 67 percent of energy in oil and coal is released as waste heat, 40 to 60 percent of natural gas energy is also waste heat, 74 percent of biomass is waste heat and 65 percent of the energy in uranium is waste heat.According to Jacobson, “By 2021, the cost of a system consisting of wind, solar, and batteries was already less than that consisting of natural gas. For example, even in 2019, a Florida utility replaced two natural gas plants with a combined solar-battery system because of the lower cost of the later.” How do economics affect transition to renewable energy sources? What are the best and quickest energy source for commercial and military planes and cargo ships?Is the U.S. grid ready for 100 percent clean electricity?What has been the reaction to Jacobson's proposed  WWS solution?Support the showVisit us at climatemoneywatchdog.org!

    • 50 min

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