1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,680 The solutions are there to help people save money, but there is 2 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:06,160 a disconnect. I don't think that the average 3 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:10,480 person or even the average member of Congress understands 4 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:13,800 the technological advancements on clean energy. 5 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:17,440 One of my colleagues, Jared Huffman, who's a ranking member 6 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:20,000 on the Natural Resources Committee, the other day in 7 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:24,240 committee, actually entered into the record a battery because so 8 00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:27,920 much of the discussion is divorced from the fact that 9 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:31,360 clean energy technologies, now we can store that energy and get 10 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:37,640 it onto the grid. Energy. 11 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:40,480 Isn't just an industry, it's. How the world works. 12 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:42,720 I'm Jigger. Shaw, a clean energy 13 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,160 entrepreneur. And I'm Jamie Nolan, a Clean 14 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:48,520 energy Communications executive. Welcome to Energy Empire. 15 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:53,040 Hey Jigger, I am really excited about today's guest. 16 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:56,040 Well, you know. It's one of those things where. 17 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:59,400 We're heading right into summer and when you're heading into. 18 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:03,120 Summer, what you think about is the representative from Florida? 19 00:01:04,599 --> 00:01:07,160 Absolutely. I mean, I wouldn't describe 20 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:11,200 myself as a single issue voter, but I very much so am like a 21 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,480 climate and environment voter first. 22 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:16,800 I would say that that is like the weightiest thing for me. 23 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:20,000 And so because of that, the members of Congress who have 24 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:22,920 done the most on climate and clean energy like it. 25 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:24,760 They've got a little bit of rock star status. 26 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,160 And so I was nervous going into today's recording with 27 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:31,800 Representative Kathy Castor from Florida's 14th District. 28 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,800 She represents the Tampa Bay area because I've just been 29 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:39,080 following her work and, you know, read so many interviews 30 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:42,400 with her and, and just, she's just been a very effective 31 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:44,360 advocate for the issues that matter to us. 32 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,720 So this is our first episode featuring a member of Congress, 33 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,200 and I'm so glad it was her. Well, it's one of those things 34 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,160 where, I mean, you know, we're obviously good friends with, you 35 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,480 know, Sean Caston and other representatives in the house. 36 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,600 But the thing about Kathy Castor is that she's in her 20th year. 37 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,160 And she's, you know, she was really close to Speaker Nancy 38 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:07,960 Pelosi. And so as a result, she ran the 39 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:11,200 Select Committee in the House. And if you remember back then, 40 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:15,560 it was really politically charged, right, because AOC and 41 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:18,960 Senator Markey came out with a Green New Deal and. 42 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:22,200 There was like this protest. You remember Sunrise Movement? 43 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:25,920 Like locked themselves into. Speaker Pelosi's office. 44 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:28,400 And said you will do something on climate or else. 45 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:31,640 And you know, she really. Trusted Representative Castor. 46 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,880 To run that process for her and so. 47 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,480 Part of. This is also just a recognition 48 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:41,920 not just of her expertise around climate issues and her passion 49 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:45,800 for them. But also her the respect she has 50 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:47,680 from. Leadership and her as a. 51 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:52,400 Her ability to actually shape something that leadership will 52 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:54,280 get. Behind and actually turn into a 53 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:57,560 law and in this case right. She did all of that work. 54 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:02,480 So that in 2021, when you know, you and I went back in and we 55 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:04,800 went into the Department of Energy, there was. 56 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:07,160 Actually a body of work. That the. 57 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker of the House pushed. Through which became the 58 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:13,280 Inflation Reduction Act. Yes, and we're so thankful for 59 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:16,360 that and all of her hard work on this issue, very hard fought 60 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:20,240 wins over decades. One thing that I think is that 61 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:22,720 is really interesting about speaking to her as a 62 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:26,200 representative from Florida at this moment is just like the 63 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:30,080 disconnect between what her work at the federal level and then 64 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:33,080 what's happening at the state level in Florida. 65 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:35,040 I mean, that must be so frustrating for her. 66 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:39,360 You know, of course there's, you know, monopolistic utilities 67 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,080 there that are. It's like the grid, mostly on 68 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:46,520 gas, not on renewables, And they have incredible solar resources. 69 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,400 While also. As you know, Florida Republicans 70 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:53,600 are famously against oil drilling off of their own coast, 71 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:57,080 while they're famously for oil drilling off of Santa Barbara. 72 00:03:57,400 --> 00:03:59,160 Of course, because that makes so much sense. 73 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:02,400 Yeah. You know, the other thing is 74 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,720 that I am excited because I'm going to the reindustrialized 75 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:10,440 conference June 16th and 17th in Detroit, which is the center 76 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:13,640 right group of people who want to do big things in the United 77 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:16,120 States and build manufacturing facilities and others, right. 78 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:18,519 And so part of what excites me about. 79 00:04:18,519 --> 00:04:21,040 Her work? Is I think it's actually 80 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:25,000 resonating a lot with folks who want to build big things in this 81 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,280 country because they recognize that she's critical to 82 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:31,120 permitting reform and critical to a lot of the other things 83 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:34,680 that they need to be able to get the permission to move faster. 84 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,000 Well, I can't wait to hear more about that conference. 85 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:39,760 Maybe you need to. We need to rustle up some guests 86 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:41,240 and see who you can talk to while you're there. 87 00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:50,000 It'll be awesome. Energy Empire is powered by. 88 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,920 Octopus Energy. I hear it at every. 89 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:57,080 Conference, we need more generation, more transmission. 90 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,960 You're saying we don't? We do, but we're ignoring 91 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:04,320 something faster. Sitting in people's homes and EV 92 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:10,400 is basically a 60 kWh battery idle most of the day across the 93 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:12,880 US. That's gigawatts we're not 94 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:14,320 using. Utilities. 95 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:17,800 Have pitched demand response for. 20 years and it still 96 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:18,840 hasn't. Scaled. 97 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:20,840 Why is this time? Different. 98 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:23,800 Because we're not asking customers to change behaviour, 99 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:26,920 we're automating it. The grid treats customers like 100 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:29,200 demand. They're actually distributed 101 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:31,920 infrastructure. Connect those assets and you can 102 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:35,880 shift load overnight at scale. So the constraint isn't 103 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:39,520 technology. It's coordination, the solutions 104 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:41,720 already deployed, we just need to use it. 105 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:46,160 Thanks, Natasha. That was Natasha Crowe, VICE. 106 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:50,480 President of marketing and comms for Octopus North America If. 107 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:52,000 That's the version of the grid you. 108 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,640 Want check them out? The link is in the show notes. 109 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:01,720 Thank you so much for being here. 110 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:03,720 I'm so excited for this conversation. 111 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:06,200 So you've been in Congress nearly 20 years. 112 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:08,800 You chaired the Select Committee on the climate crisis under 113 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker Pelosi. And you've been one of the 114 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:14,200 loudest voices on climate in the House for as long as the House 115 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,800 has had a climate fight, which is why I'm like, starstruck 116 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,120 having you here. And now DeSantis has redrawn 117 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:25,080 your district to make that feel like kind have perhaps a 118 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:27,560 liability. So can you walk us through what 119 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:30,280 just happened? Wow, what just happened? 120 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:35,000 Wait, you know, folks who are watching the democracy crisis we 121 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:39,680 have going on in America will understand that many of the the 122 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:45,040 GOP policies are very unpopular. Inflation is high, gas prices 123 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:48,520 are high, housing prices are very high. 124 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:53,280 And they they're afraid they're going to lose this election big 125 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:56,360 time. I mean, the, the party in power 126 00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:00,040 always loses congressional seats after in the midterm election. 127 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,480 So they wanted to rig, rig the game. 128 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:05,240 And what's different in Florida, though, is in our state 129 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,440 constitution, we have Republicans, Democrats, 130 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,160 independents put language in that says you, you're not 131 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:13,840 allowed to gerrymander for partisan purposes. 132 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,680 But they did it anyway. And the courts now, 133 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:21,160 unfortunately, we can't rely on them. 134 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:24,880 So people are are very outraged. They took a Tampa Bay area 135 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:28,280 district that I've had the privilege of representing and 136 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:31,600 spun it out into five different districts. 137 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,480 But, you know, right now it doesn't matter how they draw the 138 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:38,680 lines on the map. We have to draw the line for 139 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:40,440 people. So I'm in the fight. 140 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:44,440 It's a tougher district, but I have a a strong record of 141 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:46,920 delivering for my neighbors across the aisle. 142 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,560 Doesn't matter. So but this is a tougher 143 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:53,560 district. But I think the affordability 144 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,480 crisis, high electric bills, what's happening with the 145 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,760 heating climate and these very intense weather events, 146 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:04,840 droughts, floods, even freezes are people are awake to to what 147 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:07,600 that means in their own lives. Absolutely. 148 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,360 And you, you touched on this a little bit and mentioning the 149 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:13,200 the Hurricanes that you know have hit your district in the 150 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:15,960 last few years and Florida, certainly one of the hardest hit 151 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:19,120 climate states in the country. The state legislature 152 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:21,680 nonetheless has been stripping climate change out of the 153 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:24,800 state's energy laws. So how does that disconnect 154 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:27,880 actually feel on the ground? Like do people seem aware of it? 155 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:31,560 Jamie, no, they don't really know what's happening in in 156 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:35,039 Tallahassee, but but our local communities, mayors and county 157 00:08:35,039 --> 00:08:38,880 commissioners understand this. They know it's going to be much 158 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:42,559 more expensive if they can't do some things to make their 159 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:45,640 communities more resilient, if they can't build roads and 160 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:50,720 bridges and communities with an eye towards climate resiliency 161 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,000 so that they can withstand the next flood that comes along or 162 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:56,560 the next freeze. There's just a general 163 00:08:56,680 --> 00:09:00,120 frustration, though, with the cost of living in Florida and 164 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:04,400 the fact that the GOP that has been firmly in control for 165 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:08,160 decades, they just don't haven't had any solutions to lower 166 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:10,640 electric bills or property insurance costs. 167 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:15,000 So it just, if you're, if you follow along, this feels like 168 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:17,760 insult to injury. Like, things are already so 169 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:22,200 expensive and it feels like a gift to the electric utility 170 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:27,040 monopolies in our state that that do not want people to save 171 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:29,400 money on their electric bills. They don't want them to put 172 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:33,280 solar panels on their homes. They, they even rolled back our 173 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:36,960 energy efficiency goals in Florida years back. 174 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:40,760 So it's there's just a general frustration in our state and 175 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:44,080 people are pretty upset by it. One thing I was going to ask you 176 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:46,800 about here is that with the work you're doing with the Thriving 177 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:50,080 Economy project, there does seem to be a disconnect. 178 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:52,400 Where a lot. Of folks have talked about solar 179 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:55,080 panels or battery storage or EVs, etcetera, but a lot of 180 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:59,240 these solutions don't seem like, you know, they're speaking 181 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:02,320 directly to the electorate. Like, have you thought about 182 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:05,120 what you're doing differently within the Thriving Economy 183 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:09,240 project this time around to really solicit ideas that speak 184 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:12,760 directly to voters who, you know, might feel like they're 185 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:16,280 left behind by heat pumps and other, you know, technologies? 186 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:18,800 Yeah. And Jigger and Jamie, I'm so 187 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:22,440 appreciative for all of your hard work to to help speed a lot 188 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:26,720 of these cost saving, innovative technologies to the grid. 189 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:30,680 It just feels like the the rug was ripped out from under us 190 00:10:30,680 --> 00:10:33,760 with this new administration, everything they've done to to 191 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:36,280 throw a wrench into into progress. 192 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:41,240 So it, it kind of reminds me of the moment in time before there 193 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:44,920 was a Select Committee on the climate crisis that helped 194 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:49,240 develop policies. After listening to people across 195 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:52,360 the country, scientists and entrepreneurs, innovators, folks 196 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:56,400 from the faith community, farmers, advocates, where we 197 00:10:56,400 --> 00:11:01,280 listened and we were able to build a coalition for progress 198 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:05,400 to help lower energy bills and unleash this clean energy 199 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:08,360 revolution. And it feels like, OK, now we're 200 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:12,320 at a different moment in time where costs are even higher for 201 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:16,840 the average person. The solutions are are there to 202 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:19,280 help people save money, but there is a disconnect. 203 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:22,960 I don't think that the average person or even the average 204 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:27,640 member of Congress understands the technological advancements 205 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:30,520 on clean energy. One of my colleagues, Jared 206 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:34,240 Huffman, who chairs who's the ranking member on the Natural 207 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:36,800 Resources Committee the other day in committee actually 208 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:40,760 entered into the record a battery because so much of the 209 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:45,880 discussion is divorced from the fact that the clean energy 210 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:48,760 technologies. Now we can store that energy and 211 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:50,520 and get and get it onto the grid. 212 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:55,160 So thriving economy is about developing the solutions for the 213 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,760 here and now to help answer a lot of these questions for 214 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,400 people. What can we do even while Trump 215 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:05,040 is still in the White House to help lower electric bills and 216 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:07,160 build more resilient communities? 217 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:10,000 And a lot of this has to do with building those coalitions. 218 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:15,040 Again, we've already received about 1200 policy proposals, 219 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:20,240 about 140 submittals for the request for information. 220 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:24,080 There are so many great ideas out there across America. 221 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:26,680 Yeah. So let's let's gather them and 222 00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:31,160 let's, let's unleash some of these innovators and these these 223 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:35,120 community leaders to educate the Congress on how you move forward 224 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:39,200 and help people save money. Now, the folks at Zillow and 225 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,800 like Red Finn and others are saying that Floridians are 226 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:46,120 quietly moving inland or talking about moving because of 227 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:49,720 hurricanes and flooding. That doesn't seem like a climate 228 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:53,400 change voter conversation. It's more of a just, you know, a 229 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:55,720 real estate agent conversation, right? 230 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:59,200 So are you hearing that from voters? 231 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:02,200 Like, you know, when you have a conversation about, you know, 232 00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:07,360 sort of how they're adapting. They are the there is a little 233 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:12,000 bit of a housing downturn, but Florida has higher highs and 234 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:16,040 lower lows over the last 100 years when it comes to real 235 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:18,520 estate. And it's just natural after some 236 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:22,400 devastating hurricane seasons that that folks are stuck. 237 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:27,480 We, we're a high risk state. We have over 1300 miles of 238 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:29,960 coastline. We're the most hurricane prone 239 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:32,480 state. The damage from Helene and 240 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:36,560 Milton, we're not even going back to Ian or Irma, just 241 00:13:36,560 --> 00:13:39,880 Helena. Milton was $4 billion. 242 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:43,440 And then when you add in the flood insurance claims, another 243 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:46,600 $6 billion, I think. And so it's very difficult for 244 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:52,240 people to rebuild. So they are kind of looking for 245 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:57,160 another refuge and that comes at a time when the cost of housing 246 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:00,040 is very high because of tariffs and insurance. 247 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,400 You're even if you move inland somewhat, you're not going to 248 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:06,040 get that much of a break on your property insurance and you're 249 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:09,240 sure not going to get a break on your electric bills because 250 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:11,920 Florida is really stuck in the past. 251 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:15,160 You would what would you guess in the Sunshine State, our 252 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:18,720 energy mixes. Oh, I. 253 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:22,680 Know it's. It's it's mostly dual fuel. 254 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:24,960 Like natural gas. You know, units. 255 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:26,640 It's it's, it's crazy, especially. 256 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:29,560 When NextEra is the. Largest owner of solar. 257 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:32,880 And wind farms in the country, it's they just not in Florida. 258 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:38,760 75% of our electric generation comes from gas in the Sunshine 259 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:41,800 State. And a lot of folks comment to me 260 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:44,120 when they travel to Florida, they, they say we really 261 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:49,000 expected to see more solar panels on industrial sites, on 262 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:54,280 large warehouses on, on homes. And unfortunately, our utility 263 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:59,160 monopolies and the politicians in our state capital have have a 264 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:04,160 stranglehold on cleaner, cheaper energy for, for our state. 265 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:09,320 And now it's really as we electrify everything and data 266 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:13,320 centers move in, people are just kind of choking on what the 267 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:15,400 future holds. That's why we think through this 268 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:19,640 thriving economy project, we can build the coalition's the 269 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:24,560 political power necessary to to educate folks on some real 270 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:27,880 practical solutions. And I saw what we did with the 271 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,760 Select Committee on climate. It didn't happen overnight, but 272 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:35,360 you build those coalitions and you educate folks and you you 273 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:39,360 bring people into the political process and speak to their their 274 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:43,640 hopes that they can live the American dream and not be priced 275 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:47,560 out of the neighborhood their parents grew up in or a job in, 276 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:51,480 in the clean energy economy. I want to talk about the war in 277 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,320 Iran. So obviously gas prices are up. 278 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:57,880 Your district is home to Central Command for a significant swath 279 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:00,720 of the US military. Does that change the energy 280 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:03,400 conversation that you're having there with constituents? 281 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:07,480 No, not at all. Those those outstanding service 282 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:09,960 members who serve at Macdill Air Force Base. 283 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:13,920 That's home to the Central Command that has the Middle East 284 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:17,840 area of responsibility and it's also home to Special Operations 285 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:20,160 Command and an air refueling wing. 286 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:25,240 But you know, Mcdill is a low lying Air Force Base and after 287 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:26,720 the Hurricanes, they were flooded out. 288 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:29,800 Every time a storm approaches, they have to relocate the 289 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:35,320 operation to another place. So they know that it's important 290 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:39,880 to, to build resilient housing, to build resilient command 291 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:42,560 centers. They have big energy, big and 292 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:45,080 growing energy needs that they're going to need the 293 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:49,360 cleaner, cheaper power, more resilient systems. 294 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:53,320 So they're pretty, they're, they're fairly educated on this 295 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:56,160 and they, you know, this experience goes back to the war 296 00:16:56,160 --> 00:17:01,320 in Iraq and Afghanistan. What I hear from the outstanding 297 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:04,040 service members and their families are just like what I 298 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:05,960 hear from from my other neighbors. 299 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:10,000 The cost of Healthcare is high. They worry about getting access 300 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:13,040 to the doctor's office. They where they going to live. 301 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,359 It's very expensive in the Tampa Bay area. 302 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:19,000 And then how are they going to afford their electric bills? 303 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,680 They're very similar to to everyone else, but they're 304 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:27,520 they're proud service oriented folks that that so believe in 305 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:30,120 this country and I think they may understand the innovative 306 00:17:30,120 --> 00:17:33,720 technologies that are available to us now that a lot of folks 307 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:37,760 don't really understand. It does feel like there are no 308 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:41,200 clean energy wars, right? No one's invading another 309 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:43,520 country over sunlight or wind. Power. 310 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:48,200 But at least in my lifetime, we started with protecting Kuwait 311 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:51,240 from Iraq. Then invading Afghanistan and 312 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:55,720 Iraq and now Iran. We keep getting into oil related 313 00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:59,320 wars in the Middle East causing ripples through gasoline prices 314 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:00,640 and American. Politics. 315 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:03,560 Does that make the? Case for clean energy and energy 316 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:05,920 independence easier to sell in Florida now. 317 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:08,880 I think it does. I think it makes it easier to to 318 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:13,360 sell everywhere. People are so tired of spending 319 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:18,040 money in in foreign wars over oil and gas. 320 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:21,400 They want really, Americans deserve to have their tax 321 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:25,800 dollars spent on good schools and a college education or, or 322 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:29,240 lowering the cost of housing or taking care of our our veterans. 323 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:34,000 They're angry that every, all of the promises were made to lower 324 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:36,040 the cost of living. That was going to be Job 1 and 325 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:39,760 it that every turn, whether it's tariffs or the cost of 326 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:44,520 groceries, are ignoring the cost of the heating climate. 327 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:47,760 And now this war, it just feels like those promises have been 328 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:49,960 broken. People feel betrayed and they 329 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:53,160 there are solutions. And I think that it's up to us 330 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:56,400 to communicate the fact that you know what you don't have to be 331 00:18:56,480 --> 00:19:02,480 hooked up to to a gas plant. You, you can tap into cleaner, 332 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,040 cheaper energy through through solar technology. 333 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:08,520 Your, your local parks and rec center and fire stations like 334 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:11,040 we've done in Tampa can run on solar. 335 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:15,600 You can begin to ride cleaner transit systems like we've done 336 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:18,360 in Saint Petersburg through the the Sunrunner and trying to 337 00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:21,440 electrify things that are going to save taxpayers money and your 338 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:24,520 community's money. So we've got to kind of 339 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:28,600 breakthrough a lot of the issues that that tend to drive people's 340 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:32,640 emotions and take them off on these tangents and talk about 341 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:34,680 what's what's really possible in their lives. 342 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,120 That's why I'm hopeful this thriving economy project that 343 00:19:37,120 --> 00:19:40,160 we're going to release in September will capture some of 344 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:42,680 those those hopes and aspirations. 345 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:46,520 Yeah, I mean, something I was talking about with my cousin 346 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:49,560 this last weekend was how frustrated I am as somebody who 347 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:52,360 buys health insurance on the exchange, right. 348 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:56,160 We had that big fight last year. Healthcare costs are way up, and 349 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,880 now we're talking about increasing the military budget 350 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:02,480 to $1.5 trillion. And, you know, somehow, like, 351 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:06,200 figuring out how to do reparations or whatever in Iran 352 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:09,280 and we can't find the money to, like, make healthcare more 353 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:11,920 efficient. Like, how does 1, you know, sort 354 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:15,640 of have these conversations right now in DC when we're just 355 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,280 going from crazy to crazy to crazy? 356 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:21,840 Unfortunately, a lot of my Republican colleagues are scared 357 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,400 of they're they're they're scared to take on the president. 358 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:29,760 I mean, even when they you have states that were benefiting from 359 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,000 new clean energy projects that were fully permitted. 360 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:35,920 You all know better than I do. Fully permitted and about to 361 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:40,440 begin construction to help keep electric bills low and the Trump 362 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:44,280 administration pull cancels those projects for political for 363 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:47,920 reasons. I, I confronted the current 364 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:51,280 energy secretary with the fact that they went into blue States 365 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,920 and and arbitrarily canceled projects and a court said he was 366 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:57,840 wrong and he still wouldn't admit that there was a problem. 367 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:01,520 All of this is just fueling the the higher cost of living and I 368 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:04,520 they're, they're going to pay a price for it. 369 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:08,440 And I you hate to think that they have to go through paying 370 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:12,080 that high of price before they they change and and work on real 371 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:14,920 solutions that will will help our neighbors back home. 372 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:17,600 One thing I was curious about though before. 373 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:21,120 Diving into your thriving economy project is it It does 374 00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:22,800 seem. Like for a long time. 375 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:27,440 People got used to demand bases staying flat because of LED 376 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:30,640 lighting and that kind of stuff. And but now with AI and 377 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:33,320 electrification of electric vehicles and heat pumps and that 378 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:37,560 kind of stuff, we really do seem to have a big surge in power 379 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:39,280 demand, right? The biggest surge maybe in a 380 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:41,800 generation. Are we entering? 381 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:45,920 An era where energy. Abundance itself becomes the 382 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:48,200 central political issue. I think so. 383 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:50,840 I I I really do. How are we going to power our 384 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:55,800 lives unless we have abundant new resources and we're more 385 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:58,240 efficient too. You know, a lot of the the this 386 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:03,640 year in Congress has just been the GOP war on energy efficient 387 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:07,480 appliances. I mean, most a lot of a lot of 388 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:10,400 floor time in the House of Representatives has been spent 389 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:14,640 on the GOP rollback. You know what a weight colossal 390 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:17,720 waste of of time and resource at a time. 391 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:21,120 Of course, our neighbors back home need as much energy 392 00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:25,360 efficiency as possible and you don't want to complicate that 393 00:22:25,360 --> 00:22:29,120 and then the to power communities and and businesses. 394 00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:34,120 We need enormous amounts of new power and the power that's ready 395 00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:38,000 to come under the grid is clean solar and wind. 396 00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:40,920 Plus we have these new technologies, virtual power 397 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:43,960 plants and, and being able to do more there. 398 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:48,360 And we're just we're, we're the, the my GOP friends. 399 00:22:48,360 --> 00:22:52,280 They're they're just now kind of learning about this. 400 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:56,080 And we really need folks across the country with the the 401 00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:59,160 knowledge and know how to, to communicate to these members and 402 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,200 make sure they they understand what is possible. 403 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:06,360 We want want America to to live up to everyone's expectations. 404 00:23:06,360 --> 00:23:08,400 This is we're celebrating 250 years. 405 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:12,720 What a better way to celebrate it than to to work together to 406 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:16,240 lower people's electric bills and and boost American 407 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:18,520 innovation and global competitiveness. 408 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:21,120 That's what a lot of the policies and the Inflation 409 00:23:21,120 --> 00:23:23,920 Reduction Act we're all about. We need to get back there. 410 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:28,840 But even now, even since the RA pass, there's so many new 411 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:33,080 opportunities, so many smart people, so many folks who who 412 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:37,000 desire a better economy for everybody who are ready to get 413 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,280 to work. So we, we all have a stake in 414 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,160 this. OK, so we've spoken a lot about 415 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:45,600 the Thriving Economy project, which is the House Democrats 416 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:49,520 attempt to rate the next big energy and climate bill before 417 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,960 they're in power to pass it. But can you give us like a 418 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:56,200 context from the beginning? What is the project and what are 419 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:59,160 you trying to accomplish? Yeah, the Thriving Economy 420 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:05,080 project is an ambitious project to help bring lower cost energy 421 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:08,760 onto the grid and make people's lives more resilient. 422 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:14,360 We we see a future where folks can live the American dream, 423 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:19,840 find a good job in the clean energy economy or related and 424 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:22,600 bring on some of these technologies that will give 425 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:25,880 America a boost in global competitiveness. 426 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:30,560 We can't let China eat our lunch and I'm afraid that they are 427 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:33,240 capturing a lot of the global market right now. 428 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:36,280 We can't we can't cede that market to China. 429 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:39,360 We have to get back to working with our partners and allies to 430 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:44,280 to lift lift lives here in America, but but our partners 431 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:47,200 across the globe. I'm also working specifically on 432 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:52,680 a chapter relating to community resilience with Samantha 433 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:57,200 Medlock, who was a leads up a group called climate risk. 434 00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:01,720 She was a high-ranking official at FEMA and understands the 435 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:05,200 importance of making sure that that local communities have the 436 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:09,000 tools they need need to build more resilient infrastructure to 437 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:11,640 make sure we're upgrading codes and standards. 438 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,680 Doing this in an affordable way because what I learned when 439 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:19,280 Helene, hurricanes, Helena, Milton hit my community, it's 440 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:21,920 very expensive to try to build back. 441 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:25,560 So let's build infrastructure in a more resilient way to begin 442 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:28,240 with. Local communities have a lot of 443 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:31,200 know how. Let's give them the resources to 444 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:33,880 do this. And some of the changes to FEMA 445 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:36,280 that are being proposed here in the House are already 446 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,520 bipartisan. Let's enact some of those into 447 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:44,880 law quickly so that we're saving money and we're we're building 448 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,120 in a more resilient way. So you covered. 449 00:25:47,120 --> 00:25:50,560 Some of this already, but just just to ask in a different way. 450 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:54,200 I mean, if if the Democrats take over the House and you're in the 451 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:56,120 majority again in Energy and Commerce. 452 00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:58,480 What are some things that you could move? 453 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:02,000 While Trump is president, right? I mean, it feels like geothermal 454 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:05,520 is currently having a moment. Weatherization programs 455 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:07,920 probably, you know, continue to need to be expanded. 456 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:09,400 You talked a little bit about FEMA. 457 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:11,600 Are there other? Priorities that you think can 458 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:13,720 pass while President Trump is in office. 459 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:19,600 There there may just be on on permitting reform where a lot of 460 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:23,720 the Democrats and some Republicans are interested in 461 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:27,840 building an electric grid that meets the needs for the next 462 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:30,560 century. You all know our our grid is 463 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:34,280 disjointed, it's aging. We don't do well passing energy 464 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:37,840 across regions. We have got to get to a modern 465 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:41,000 electric grid now. A lot of Republicans want 466 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:45,360 smoother permitting reform when it comes to pipelines and 467 00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:47,840 things. So maybe there is something to 468 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,280 work on there in in the near term as well. 469 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:54,120 So just setting climate aside for our final question. 470 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:58,760 Say a voter in your district doesn't believe in, AKA does not 471 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:01,280 understand the science around climate change. 472 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:03,080 Why should they vote for you anyway? 473 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,800 They're going to vote for me because I stand up and fight for 474 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:10,120 them in their pocketbooks, whether it's their healthcare, 475 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:12,520 their housing, but their electric bills. 476 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:15,640 I stood with my neighbors a few months ago is they were burning 477 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:18,440 their electric bills. They were actually taking them, 478 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:21,680 throwing them into a garbage can, lit on fire. 479 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:26,240 We have solutions for that. The incentives are are totally 480 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:31,240 wrong, right, for electric utility monopolies to have you 481 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:35,120 use as much power as possible, not save on your electric bill 482 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:39,120 or use some of the solar clean energy technologies that are 483 00:27:39,120 --> 00:27:40,680 available. We've got to change the 484 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:44,000 incentives here. And I think if we can do that, 485 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,840 we will be able to power people's lives in a cheaper, 486 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:50,560 much more affordable way. Well, I have. 487 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:52,400 Just been so inspired. By your leadership. 488 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:54,280 I think, as you know, I did a lot of work with the 489 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:56,040 Hillsborough School District. Before I. 490 00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:57,760 Served in the Biden administration. 491 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:02,680 I do think that so much has changed since you ran the Slack 492 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:06,160 committee in 2018. I think the cost of solar panels 493 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:07,600 and battery storage are way down. 494 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:09,680 The cost of electric vehicles are way down. 495 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:12,160 I mean a lot. Of the technology around virtual 496 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:14,000 power plants in the bill that you sponsored. 497 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:16,960 And it seems like even Representative Federchuk, I 498 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:19,640 think has got a great utilization bill, right? 499 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:25,040 And so it does feel like there is a moment here where folks are 500 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:28,040 going to, you know, allow the Great American technologies that 501 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:31,440 we've invented and researched here to get deployed at scale. 502 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:34,480 But, you know, I frankly can't imagine it happening without 503 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:36,880 your leadership. So I very much appreciate you 504 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:40,760 continue to fight the fight. Well, Jigger and Jamie, I'm I'm 505 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:45,080 really indebted to, to you. You took the baton and ran with 506 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:48,000 it and America is a better place for it. 507 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:49,960 Now. We're going to reset again. 508 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:52,840 We're going to keep going. We're going to reset again. 509 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:56,960 People are inspired by by the possible. 510 00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:00,400 And I think there is a lot right now that is possible that will 511 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:02,960 improve people's lives. But you all were hard at work at 512 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:04,040 it. And we're going to need your 513 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:06,640 your voices and your know how in the coming years. 514 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:09,400 Thank you so much, Congresswoman, for joining us. 515 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:11,600 It's been an honor having you. Hey, thanks so much. 516 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:20,160 Energy Empire is supported by S2G Investments if you haven't. 517 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:22,880 Checked out their podcast. I highly recommend it. 518 00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:26,040 They have a great. Recent episode on the long term 519 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,720 effects of the. Iran war and the blockade of the 520 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,840 Strait of Hormuz. In the episode Sanjeev. 521 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:36,680 Krishna and Frank O'Sullivan and Bala Nagarajan make a compelling 522 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:40,600 case that this disruption could be the most powerful accelerant 523 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:42,440 for renewable energy in a generation. 524 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:46,640 And in future episodes, they'll be exploring how those forces 525 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:49,840 are reshaping our food systems and ocean intelligence. 526 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:51,000 Sound. Interesting. 527 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:55,520 Go find the S2G podcast. And start with the global energy 528 00:29:55,520 --> 00:30:04,600 order has changed now what? Wow, she didn't disappoint. 529 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:06,840 She stays. So busy. 530 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:11,720 It is amazing to me how much detail she really understands 531 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:15,600 and is able to relay to her voters and her constituents. 532 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:18,200 Absolutely. I mean, I think she's really 533 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:23,040 committed to furthering American ingenuity and innovation. 534 00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:26,240 And I also loved how passionately she spoke about the 535 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:28,880 military service members that live in her district. 536 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:32,720 And I mean, we've spoken to Tim Haid and I know you and I just 537 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,200 know a lot of veterans that work in this industry. 538 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:39,040 And if anyone understands the benefits of these technologies 539 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:44,520 in terms of military readiness and reducing casualties from 540 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:48,560 like refueling and all of the, the various benefits associated 541 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:53,000 with clean power that direct directly relate to our military, 542 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:55,760 she really gets that. Her constituents get it. 543 00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:59,080 And so I hope she gets re elected. 544 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:02,160 I know she's in, she mentioned she's in a really tough district 545 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:06,240 down there in, in Florida since they've rewritten the, the, you 546 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:08,640 know, all of the, the lines with gerrymandering. 547 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:11,560 But she's an important advocate for our solutions. 548 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:15,640 And so I'm pulling for her and I'm honored that she joined us. 549 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:19,040 It was just such a treat. Well, things are getting nuts. 550 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:22,600 I mean, gasoline I think is $5 a gallon for half of the country 551 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,040 already. And you know, beef prices I 552 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:29,640 think have tripled. It's just nuts as to what's 553 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:32,560 happening with the Strait of Hormuz and how it's impacting 554 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:34,440 affordability across the country. 555 00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:36,120 I thought she was really eloquent about it. 556 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:39,240 And I agree with you. I mean, she's in a uphill 557 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:41,120 battle. I think she's in a + 10 Trump 558 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:42,840 district now with the redistricting. 559 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:45,880 She mentioned that there might be some relief from the Supreme 560 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:47,640 Court of Florida, but I'm not holding my breath. 561 00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:52,520 And but it does feel like things are just getting worse and worse 562 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,080 and worse with with what's happening in Iran. 563 00:31:55,080 --> 00:32:00,120 So I'm hopeful that the work that she's doing on the 564 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:03,480 Thriving, you know, Economy project really brings the best 565 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:05,720 ideas to the table to really bring some relief. 566 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:08,800 I mean, more immediately, I'm, I'm excited about the thriving 567 00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:10,800 economy project. I don't know if I think that 568 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:14,760 it's going to be relevant in this election cycle, but I do 569 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:19,800 know that there's no denying the impacts of climate, whether or 570 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:24,800 not you call it that, on your life and on your expenses and on 571 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:27,920 your frankly, like your stability because of these 572 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:32,080 hurricanes in Florida. And so I really just hope that 573 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:36,160 despite her being in a + 10 Trump district, that her 574 00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:39,520 constituents are really just looking at the broken promises 575 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:42,560 from the Trump administration and particularly in terms of 576 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:46,360 affordability, cost of living and electricity, affordability 577 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:49,240 specifically. I mean, there's no way that they 578 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:51,720 can turn themselves inside out to say that they have met their 579 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:55,880 promises on just what it takes to live in this country and 580 00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:59,600 afford a life in this country and sees that Democrats really 581 00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:02,000 are the the party that they're coming with the solutions at 582 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,000 this moment in time, particularly on energy. 583 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:09,320 And I was happy to hear that she said that if the Democrats do 584 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:11,400 win, that she thinks that they'll take up permitting 585 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:13,120 reform. Because I think that that was a 586 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:15,720 real lost opportunity for us during the Biden years that we 587 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:18,880 didn't get that done. Yeah, Manchin Barrasso turned 588 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:21,000 out to be a pretty good deal that we probably should have 589 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:23,200 gotten across the finish line. Yep. 590 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:28,360 Well, thank you so much to our sponsors S2G and Octopus. 591 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:31,920 And I think Next up we're going to have our segment of Ask 592 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:34,200 Jigger. So I'm ready to ready to ask the 593 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:41,920 hard questions. Welcome to Ask Jigger, our 594 00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:44,560 weekly segment where our listeners send in their 595 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:47,320 questions for Jigger and we read them live. 596 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:50,080 If you have a question for Jigger, the link is in the show 597 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:51,480 notes, so be sure to check that out. 598 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:55,600 Our first question is from David Schmidt, who asks where should 599 00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:59,040 one person put their effort? You've argued that individuals 600 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:02,080 can't slow climate change by counting their own carbon. 601 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:05,400 Scale is what matters. So for someone who doesn't run 602 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:09,400 an energy company, doesn't have millions to deploy, and isn't an 603 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:12,760 elected official, where should they actually put their time and 604 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:14,920 energy? Yeah, it's a good question and 605 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:16,520 one that I think has a lot of answers. 606 00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:21,960 In general, you start with the fact that every single town and 607 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:24,320 city in the United States is its own jurisdiction. 608 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:28,120 And so the fact that solar is easy to install in one town 609 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:30,880 doesn't mean it's easier to install in the next town. 610 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:34,120 And so each person can be helpful with their City Council 611 00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:37,480 or their mayor or county commissioner to say, hey, 612 00:34:37,679 --> 00:34:40,440 there's this huge opportunity. You're slow slowing us down. 613 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:43,800 You know, like if you want to convert your local police force 614 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:47,560 to electric vehicles, police cars generally get like 3 miles 615 00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:51,679 a gallon for their cars because they're generally just idling on 616 00:34:51,679 --> 00:34:53,159 the side of the road most of the time. 617 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:57,000 And so electric vehicles are really fast payback for police 618 00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:59,480 forces, right? And so a lot of that is sort of 619 00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:01,720 local lobbying, but hopefully it's with people you went to 620 00:35:01,720 --> 00:35:04,760 high school with, right, as people that that trust you and 621 00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:07,280 that you trust them. You know, if you want to step up 622 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:11,360 from that, we need a million new small businesses in this country 623 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:15,240 to sell the last mile, right? People need to do sales. 624 00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:17,840 They do maintenance, they do lots of other things. 625 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:20,960 And so if you want to start your own business, you know this is a 626 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:24,680 great industry to start a small local business and be really 627 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:28,560 become almost a franchise of some of the large players and 628 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:29,720 then there's obviously investment. 629 00:35:29,720 --> 00:35:31,640 Opportunities locally as well. Great. 630 00:35:32,120 --> 00:35:35,600 Our next question is from Julian Smith and Julian is headed to 631 00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:39,760 College in fallout to 2026 majoring in construction 632 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:43,600 management, minoring and Sustainability and they want to 633 00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:46,080 know how AI changes the calculus. 634 00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:49,760 Is a four year degree still the right path for someone aiming at 635 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:52,720 the built environment and clean energy or is there a better 636 00:35:52,720 --> 00:35:55,600 route? Well, you know, I mean, I have 637 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:57,880 worked with so many construction companies. 638 00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:01,240 One of my really good friends is the folks at Mortensen 639 00:36:01,240 --> 00:36:04,000 Construction. But you know, they hire a lot of 640 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:07,360 people and they are so busy building data centers, building 641 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:11,160 solar and wind farms, etcetera. And a lot of their construction 642 00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:15,200 managers have gone to college. And so, so it's certainly great 643 00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:16,880 to go to college if that's the career. 644 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:19,680 That you want to. Focus on, there's clearly a lot 645 00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:22,240 of tools that they use, right, to be able to do the project 646 00:36:22,240 --> 00:36:24,680 management. There's a lot of AI, I'm sure 647 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:27,640 going into those tools. And so hopefully you'll learn 648 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:29,440 about them in your degree program. 649 00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:33,040 But I also think it's important to turn wrenches on the summers, 650 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:35,160 right? And like, so I turned wrenches 651 00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:38,360 all summer when I was in my engineering school at the 652 00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:41,800 University of Illinois, that I think it's valuable to actually 653 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:44,680 try to go be in the shoes of the people that you're going. 654 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:47,320 To be managing in the. Future it pays pretty well in 655 00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:49,680 the summer but also it makes you a better. 656 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:52,960 Manager of the future. Love that turning wrenches. 657 00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:55,040 Never heard that turn of phrase. I like it. 658 00:36:56,600 --> 00:36:58,520 All right. Our next question is from Justin 659 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:01,760 Brody, Comet on Volts with David Roberts. 660 00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:04,960 You said you expect 50 climate tech IPOs this year. 661 00:37:05,240 --> 00:37:08,120 That's a much bigger number than most people are forecasting. 662 00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:11,040 Can you go deeper? What's driving it and which 663 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:14,000 categories are leading? Well, I certainly believe that 664 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:16,320 there is 50 companies that should be going public right 665 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:18,120 now. I think it's been fantastic so 666 00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:21,360 far when you see folks like Solve Energy and Fervo. 667 00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:25,520 And most recently, I think. There's a SPAC that features a 668 00:37:25,520 --> 00:37:27,560 battery company called Factorial Energy. 669 00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:30,040 And so there's a lot of folks going public, which is 670 00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:32,280 wonderful, but there's so many more that. 671 00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:33,920 Need to go public? Faster. 672 00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:36,520 There's a lot of companies that are already cashflow positive. 673 00:37:36,720 --> 00:37:40,160 They don't need to raise a lot of money, but they need the 674 00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:43,880 currency of going public, right, because then they can acquire 675 00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:47,040 other companies, etcetera. And so that's a lot of what I do 676 00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:50,280 in my day job with my partner Jonathan Silver and Multiplier. 677 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:53,480 We help these companies go faster, go public faster and get 678 00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:57,440 exits faster. But you know, I may have been 679 00:37:57,520 --> 00:37:59,840 slightly hyperbolic on the 50, but not really. 680 00:37:59,840 --> 00:38:01,720 I think there's 50 that are ready to go public. 681 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:03,680 We'll see whether they decide to go public. 682 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:06,280 But for instance, if you're in the geothermal space right now. 683 00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:08,280 You should most certainly be going public. 684 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:10,520 OK. That's kind of a spicy take. 685 00:38:10,520 --> 00:38:15,680 I feel like do you, if you have a geothermal thermal company, 686 00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:17,520 you should go public? We want to hear from the 687 00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:19,680 geothermal companies about that. OK. 688 00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:22,640 Our final question is from Tim Fu in Massachusetts. 689 00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:27,160 And Tim has solar batteries in an EV and he's envious of Texans 690 00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:30,760 who get paid for sending power back during peak events. 2 691 00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:32,640 parts. What would have to change for 692 00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:35,640 homeowners in Massachusetts and other states to get access to 693 00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:40,480 programs like Texas's? And why are so few EVs enabled 694 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:43,480 for vehicle to grid? Are the automakers deliberately 695 00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:46,480 slow walking that? Yeah, great questions. 696 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:50,480 So one, it sounds like you're in Massachusetts and Massachusetts 697 00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:53,360 has a fantastic program called Connect Solutions. 698 00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:57,000 That program extends into Massachusetts, Connecticut, 699 00:38:57,000 --> 00:38:59,920 Rhode Island and so and it actually is quite lucrative. 700 00:38:59,920 --> 00:39:02,240 They pay you a little bit upfront, but then they pay you 701 00:39:02,240 --> 00:39:05,560 more overtime for five years. So a lot of folks are installing 702 00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:08,880 batteries, putting in smart water heaters, putting in smart 703 00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:11,680 thermostats, putting in EV chargers that are programmable. 704 00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:13,480 Etcetera, right and taking advantage of. 705 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:16,320 Really a lot of demand flexibility programs are 706 00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:20,320 championed within the Massachusetts utility companies. 707 00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:25,200 On the V to G side, it's proving to be a lot harder than people 708 00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:29,000 expected because they didn't plan for their cars to be V to G 709 00:39:29,200 --> 00:39:32,720 Interestingly enough, Tesla did plan for their cars to be V to G 710 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:36,520 and so they have inverters actually on the car. 711 00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:41,880 And so you can really use a very simple plug to have Tesla go 712 00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:44,720 vehicle to grid. Whereas for all of the rest of 713 00:39:44,720 --> 00:39:48,520 the vehicles, you need to install a separate inverter, you 714 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:51,400 need to connect it directly into the sub panel. 715 00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:55,880 And so it can easily cost 8 or $9000 to put in a vehicle to 716 00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:58,560 grid system. And so a lot of auto companies 717 00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:01,760 are unlocking the vehicle to grid feature, but they're also 718 00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:05,040 looking to redesign their vehicle to figure out how to 719 00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:07,840 make that process a lot simpler and easier. 720 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:10,320 So I think it's going to take a few years because. 721 00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:13,880 Vehicle to grid cost a lot of money right now, but the rest of 722 00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:17,720 those VPP programs are just as lucrative, if not more lucrative 723 00:40:17,720 --> 00:40:20,480 than Texas. Wow, more lucrative than Texas? 724 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:23,240 I don't know about that checker. Throw out some examples. 725 00:40:23,240 --> 00:40:25,560 What are some states that if our listeners are located there, 726 00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:28,800 they should definitely look into what VPP programs are available? 727 00:40:29,080 --> 00:40:31,960 So definitely Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, right, 728 00:40:31,960 --> 00:40:34,320 Those programs are some of the most. 729 00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:36,200 Lucrative programs that are around. 730 00:40:36,560 --> 00:40:43,280 Duke Energy Colorado and Excel Minnesota, our friends in South. 731 00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:46,280 Carolina as well as. North Carolina for Duke have 732 00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:48,320 good programs. Our Friends of the Rocky 733 00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:52,400 Mountain Power has their Wattsmart program in Salt Lake 734 00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:56,160 City and I think that extends into Wyoming and other places. 735 00:40:56,160 --> 00:40:59,040 So very exciting. Awesome, I did not hear you 736 00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:00,840 mention Virginia. I guess I'll have to keep 737 00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:02,920 waiting. Not yet, but it's coming. 738 00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:05,720 It's coming any day now. Is it? 739 00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:08,120 Come on. Well, our new friend is, is we 740 00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:10,520 heard our new friend will be working on energy policy there 741 00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:12,080 in the State House. So I'll look forward to 742 00:41:12,080 --> 00:41:13,920 following up with Louise White about that. 743 00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:17,480 We're very excited for her. Thank you so much for joining us 744 00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:20,760 for this segment of Ask Jigger. If you would like to ask Jigger 745 00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:23,000 a question, please check out the link in our show notes. 746 00:41:23,240 --> 00:41:25,960 Thanks to our sponsor Octopus Energy for sponsoring the 747 00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:26,560 segment.