Inventing New Batteries – Esther Takeuchi, Inventors Hall of Fame & Stony Brook

Anyone you know of who has a pacemaker, literally owes their life to Dr. Esther Takeuchi of Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Lab. She invented the pacemaker battery and is in the Inventors’ Hall of Fame as a result. This remarkable woman is now innovating batteries for the 21st century – for everything from cars to the electric grid — to enable greater expansion of renewable energies by addressing the storage-intermittency issues. Listen to GCR Host Joan Michelson’s fascinating conversation with Esther new battery technologies.

Solar Jobs Help Homeowners – Nicole Steele, Grid Alternatives

Everybody talks about jobs, and the clean energy economy is growing jobs at a faster pace than virtually any other industry. So, where do you go to get trained? A national non-profit is training the solar workforce of the future while also giving solar power to low-income homeowners who would not otherwise be able to… Continue reading Solar Jobs Help Homeowners – Nicole Steele, Grid Alternatives

Congress & Clean Energy – Lynn Abramson, Clean Energy Business Network

Due to COVID-19’s economic crisis, the energy sector has experienced the worst downturn since WWII, according to the head of the International Energy Agency.  And, we need to mitigate the impact of climate change. Yet, at a time when our lives literally depend upon energy for hospitals, essential services like grocery stores and pharmacies, and on emergency… Continue reading Congress & Clean Energy – Lynn Abramson, Clean Energy Business Network

New Portable Energy – Rita Hansen, OnBoard Dynamics

What if we had a way to get power to devastated areas quickly in an emergency, such as a natural disaster like a hurricane? Listen to host Joan Michelson’s fascinating conversation with Rita Hansen, CEO of OnBoard Dynamics about their new mobile natural gas-powered energy source that could provide that much-needed power at these critical… Continue reading New Portable Energy – Rita Hansen, OnBoard Dynamics

Water Science Lessons? Rita Colwell, Gulf Water Expert, fmr NSF Administrator

Stories abound about the potential contaminants in the water flooding Houston and its environs from Hurricane Harvey. But what might we learn from all that water? Perhaps we can learn something about it from the team that studied the Gulf of Mexico after the catastrophic BP Oil Spill. Dr. Rita Colwell, renowned microbiologist and oceanographer,… Continue reading Water Science Lessons? Rita Colwell, Gulf Water Expert, fmr NSF Administrator

Earth Science & Climate – Katharine Hayhoe, Renowned Climate Scientist, Time 100

One or the most prominent voices on climate change is one of our amazing scientist guests, Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, who was chosen as one of Time magazine’s “Top 100 Pioneers” and is great fun too. Dr. Hayhoe is an Atmospheric Scientist and the Director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University – and teaches in the Political Science Department. An interesting combination…Listen to her easy way of helping us understand the science..

Gov’t Does Climate – Rebecca Rubin, Marstel Day

Guess who’s taking serious steps to reduce their carbon footprint and partner with the local community? As the new administration seeks to cut all climate and clean energy, we thought it was a good time to re-air our interview with Rebecca R. Rubin, Founder/CEO of Marstel Day, the environmental consulting firm that’s been helping the… Continue reading Gov’t Does Climate – Rebecca Rubin, Marstel Day

Local Resilience – Nicole Ferrini, Chief Resilience Officer, El Paso, Texas

“Listen for the unexpected,” Nicole Ferrini, El Paso, Texas As the new administration seeks to cut climate change budgets nationwide, Mother Nature doesn’t wait, so local communities are left having to take action regardless of what the federal government does.  So, we’re talking with folks on the front lines in our communities who are doing… Continue reading Local Resilience – Nicole Ferrini, Chief Resilience Officer, El Paso, Texas

States Innovating Energy – Catherine Williams, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center

With the Trump administration cutting energy innovation and climate change initiatives, and saying that the states can pick up the slack, it’s a good time to re-air our enlightening episode with a woman on the front lines of a state leading the way: Catherine Williams of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MCEC). From solar energy… Continue reading States Innovating Energy – Catherine Williams, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center

Paris Climate Accord Front Lines – with Rachel Kyte, CEO of the U.N’s Sustainable Energy for All Programme

With the Trump administration having pulled out of the historic Paris Climate Accord, we thought it a good time to re-air our fascinating episode with the woman on the front lines of implementing that accord: Rachel Kyte, CEO of the United Nation’s Sustainable Energy for All Programme.
Kyte articulates the impetus for the Paris Climate Accord in the first place – and how it can be implemented. It’s a fine dance of diplomacy, technology, science, negotiation, creative business and financial modeling, and entrenched positions – with human survival in the balance.