Climate Money Watchdog

• Natural Gas is Worse than Coal - Dr. Robert Howarth

  While the fossil fuel industry continues to promote "natural gas" as a relatively "clean" energy source, Dr. Robert Howarth has argued since since his seminal report in 2011 that methane (which makes up roughly 5% of "natural gas") poses a greater threat to humankind than "dirty" options like coal and oil. This is particularly true of methane produced through hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") Join us for a conversation about what we've now known for more than a decade, and how much more convinced Dr. Howarth is now that we should not be fracking for gas, nor otherwise be using methane as an energy source.Dr. Howarth is the David R. Atkinson Professor of Ecology & Environmental Biology in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University. He’s an Earth systems scientist, ecosystem biologist, and biogeochemist. He has worked extensively on environmental issues related to human-induced changes in the sulfur, nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon cycles, the impacts of global climate change, the interaction of energy systems and the environment, and implementation of 100% renewable energy policies. He is the Founding Editor of the journal Biogeochemistry.Currently, Howarth serves as one of 22 members of the Climate Action Council, the group charged by law with implementing the aggressive climate goals of New York’s Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act of 2019, often referred to as CLCPA. Howarth has published more than 200 research papers, and these have been cited in other peer-reviewed articles more than 70,000 times, making Howarth one of the ten most cited aquatic scientists in the world. In 2011, Time Magazine named Howarth as one of 50 “People Who Matter” for his research on the greenhouse gas footprint of shale gas produced from hydraulic fracturing, better known as “fracking”.Topics Discussed Include:Why methane is such a concern with regard to climate changeWhy methane emissions are greater than predicted by the gas industryWhy Dr. Howarth believes methane is worse for the climate than coalHow some methane leaks are accidental while others are routine, and therefore can't be eliminatedHow OGI thermal cameras are able to see methane and other greenhouse gassesFurther ReadingDr. Howarth maintains a web site featuring many of the works he's published over the years, including the April 2011 paper on methane leaks from gas fracking.Support the showVisit us at climatemoneywatchdog.org!

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• A Law Firm Just for Whistleblowers - Poppy Alexander

  ​We’re delighted to welcome back Poppy Alexander, a founding partner at the law firm Whistleblower Partners, a law firm dedicated to representing whistleblowers reporting fraud and misconduct in:HealthcareProcurementSecurities and CommoditiesTaxesMoney Laundering and Sanctions EvasionCustomsEnvironmental RemediationVehicle SafetyPoppy represents whistleblowers and government entities in qui tam lawsuits, as well as under the various agency whistleblower programs including those administered by the Internal Revenue Service, Securities and Exchange Commission, FinCEN, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Department of Transportation.  Poppy’s practice focuses on issues of international corruption and financial misconduct, with a specialty in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and money laundering cases.  She writes and speaks regularly about emerging topics in financial fraud, including sanctions violations, SPACs, and cryptocurrency.​We last spoke with Poppy back in July of 2022 when she had already established an impressive track record representing whistleblowers at Constantine Cannon. She graduated from Harvard Law School in 2012. She was the co-editor-in-chief of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and an active participant in the Human Rights Clinic, working on issues related to corporate accountability for human rights violations in Africa and military abuses in Southeast Asia. She was awarded the Dean’s Award for Community Leadership in recognition for her contributions to the school community. Poppy has been named to the Super Lawyers Rising Stars list every year since 2016. Prior to law school, Poppy worked on election reform issues before beginning graduate work at the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied political and critical theory.We’ve invited Poppy to talk about her new work, and her new firm, Whisteblower Partners.​Topics Discussed Include:Poppy’s new law firm, Whistleblower Partners. Why Poppy left her old firm to establish this new legal partnership in March 2024.  She describes a comprehensive approach to whistleblowers and not just file cases.The laws Whistleblower Partners uses in environmental cases and how they have changed since the episode we published in July 2023. Qui tam False Claims Act, SEC, IRS, Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), and various wildlife protection laws.Examples of Whistleblower Partners victories.Pitfalls of whistleblowing and filing lawsuits and administrative tips programs. Further Reading / Topics Discussed in this Episode:Mighty Earth  vs. JBS in protecting the Brazilian rainforestThe Securities and Exchange Commission’s 90th birthdaySupport the showVisit us at climatemoneywatchdog.org!

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• 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 petitionsSupport the showVisit us at climatemoneywatchdog.org!

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• 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 organizationSupport the showVisit us at climatemoneywatchdog.org!

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• 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 ProgramsSupport the showVisit us at climatemoneywatchdog.org!

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