Political Climate Latitude Media

Among members of Congress, few have approached climate change with the experience and diligence of Democratic California Representative Scott Peters. 
Peters spent decades as an environmental lawyer and Environmental Protection Agency economist prior to becoming a US Representative. Now in his sixth term, Peters has put clean energy at the top of his priority list.
In today’s episode, Representative Peters joins hosts Julia Pyper and Emily Domenech to explore a range of topics: from the Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down the Chevron doctrine, to his unexpectedly fruitful relationship with Republican Representative Bruce Westerman and how he believes a second Trump term could impact US energy policy.
Peters, who serves on the House Energy & Commerce and Budget Committee, also digs into the details of his recent energy and climate related bills.

The Fix Our Forests Act

The Advanced Reactor Fee Reduction Act

The SPEED and Reliability Act, which seeks to expedite the permitting process for new transmission lines

The PROVE IT Act, which seeks to study the carbon footprint of twenty-odd industrial imports.


Subscribe to Latitude Media’s newsletter to get weekly updates on tech, markets, policy, and deals across clean energy and climate tech.
Political Climate is co-produced by Boundary Stone Partners, a leading bipartisan climate change strategic advisory and government affairs firm. Their mission-driven approach combines innovative solutions with expertise in technology, finance, policy, federal funding, and advocacy. Learn more and get in touch today at BoundaryStone.com.
Concerned about how the 2024 election might impact the programs, policies, and incentives that matter most to you? Let Boundary Stone Partners' Climate24 service help you navigate the political landscape with their policy navigator tool, resources, and bespoke services. Learn more at BoundaryStone.com/Climate24.

The past month proved to be a dramatic one for America’s long-stagnant nuclear sector.
First, on June 10, TerraPower – the company co-founded by Bill Gates – broke ground on the Western Hemisphere’s first advanced nuclear facility, in Wyoming. A week later, the Senate passed the ADVANCE Act on a vote of 88-2. (The House already passed the bill by similar margins in February.) If signed into law, ADVANCE will streamline permitting and funding policies for future nuclear projects. 
In today’s episode, the hosts are joined by Boundary Stone co-founder Jeff Navin – who also serves as TerraPower’s Director of External Affairs – to explore the momentum behind nuclear’s resurgence. Later in the show, Jeff takes us behind the scenes of TerraPower’s Natrium project to highlight its challenges, and its promise.
The episode kicks off with a discussion of both the recent Presidential debate and the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the wide-reaching Chevron doctrine, which gave federal agencies like the EPA the room to implement ambiguous laws as they saw fit. In Chevron’s absence, those decisions will be left to Congress and the judiciary.
Subscribe to Latitude Media’s newsletter to get weekly updates on tech, markets, policy, and deals across clean energy and climate tech.
And listen to Climate One, a weekly podcast hosted by journalists Greg Dalton and Ariana Brocious featuring discussions with climate advocacy experts on various aspects impacting climate change, from AI to inflation. You can find Climate One on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Among Republicans in Congress, few, if any, have wielded as much influence on climate and clean energy as Louisiana Representative Garret Graves. 
In the past few years, Graves served as the ranking member on the House Select Committee on Climate and ran the Republican Task Force on Energy, Climate, and Conservation. He also played a central role in last year’s debt ceiling negotiations, which included a bipartisan deal on infrastructure permitting reform that the Biden administration later revised, to many lawmakers’ chagrin.
In this special episode of Political Climate, Graves sits down with co-host Emily Domenech in his Washington office to dig into Congress’ record on climate, as well as his own. In the interview, Graves champions natural gas, calls for an emotion-free approach to lowering emissions, reflects on the impacts of climate change on his home state, and considers the future of U.S. energy policy, among other topics.
Later in the show, all three hosts gather to discuss Graves’ comments, find consensus, and highlight areas of disagreement. (On June 14, after both Emily’s interview and the hosts’ discussion, Graves announced that he will not seek re-election this November.)
Subscribe to Latitude Media’s newsletter to get weekly updates on tech, markets, policy, and deals across clean energy and climate tech.
And listen to Climate One, a weekly podcast hosted by journalists Greg Dalton and Ariana Brocious featuring discussions with climate advocacy experts on various aspects impacting climate change, from AI to inflation. You can find Climate One on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

In recent weeks, carbon management has found itself in the spotlight – for reasons both encouraging and concerning for its proponents.
On May 28th, the DOE unveiled the semifinalists for a new funding competition for carbon removal and storage companies, as well as a plan to buy over $30 million in carbon credits from the eventual winners. The same day, President Biden also revealed new policies that aim to guide and bolster the larger voluntary carbon credit market.
These moves follow Biden’s much larger investments in carbon removal last year: $1.2 billion to fund two direct-air capture facilities in Texas and Louisiana, as well as nearly a billion to fund carbon storage and transport. 
It’s not all good news for the sector, however. The week before the DOE’s announcement, on May 23, the trade group Edison Electric Institute joined a coalition of utilities providers to sue the EPA over new federal requirements to use carbon capture technologies in their power plants. The plaintiffs argue that the tech isn’t ready for wide-scale deployment.
In today’s episode, we’ll consider whether these various forms of carbon management – from removal to capture and storage – are on a pathway to scalability, and whether industry resistance will slow their advancement.
The show wraps up with the hosts’ rapid-fire hot takes in “The Mark-up.” 
Subscribe to Latitude Media’s newsletter to get weekly updates on tech, markets, policy, and deals across clean energy and climate tech.
And listen to Climate One, a weekly podcast hosted by journalists Greg Dalton and Ariana Brocious featuring discussions with climate advocacy experts on various aspects impacting climate change, from AI to inflation. You can find Climate One on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

On the heels of a climate and energy rules blitz, President Biden has announced a plan to quadruple existing tariffs on Chinese EVs – from 25 all the way up to 100 percent – and dramatically hike tariffs on Chinese solar cells, batteries, and critical minerals as well.
While these numbers look huge on paper, loopholes and caveats in the policy will likely dilute their impact.
On this episode of Political Climate, hosts Julia Pyper, Brandon Hurlbut, and Emily Domenech debate whether the tariffs will boost American EV and solar production, or if they add up to little more than political posturing.
Then they zoom out to consider a series of new polls showing that despite the President’s wide-ranging efforts – and $1.6 trillion of funds in the IRA – a plurality of voters appear unaware of Biden’s efforts to fight climate change. 
The show wraps up with some rapid fire hot takes in our new segment “The Mark-up.” 
Subscribe to Latitude Media’s newsletter to get weekly updates on tech, markets, policy, and deals across clean energy and climate tech.

With six months to go until the election, President Biden has unveiled a far-reaching rules package that tackles everything from power plant emissions and air toxins, to boosting the EV industry and upgrading transmission lines. 
Despite their promise, many of these rules will face long rollouts and fierce legal challenges.
On this episode of Political Climate, hosts Julia Pyper, Brandon Hurlbut, and Emily Domenech explore and debate the pathways to implementing these policies.
Then they zero in on one rule in particular: an effort to streamline permitting for new clean energy projects. While the policy aims to cut down the enormous existing backlog – 2.6 terrawatts’ worth, twice the capacity of the entire U.S. grid today – critics argue it could actually slow down the permitting process for clean energy and other infrastructure projects alike.
The show wraps up with some rapid fire hot takes in our new segment “The Mark-up.” 
Subscribe to Latitude Media’s newsletter to get weekly updates on tech, markets, policy, and deals across clean energy and climate tech.