Wow… did this week fly by or what? The second warmest April on record (coming in second to 2024’s April) is well behind us in the rearview mirror. Now Mother’s Day is Sunday (whoops, sorry Mom) and Memorial Day is a few weeks away. So basically it’s almost the 4th of July, which means it’s almost August recess.
So much work, so little time.
This week’s must read: Bipartisan push for carbon trade bill slows (E&E Daily)
Remember the PROVE IT Act, introduced last year by Senators Chris Coons and Kevin Cramer and then-Congressman John Curtis? The bill which would commission a Department of Energy study comparing the greenhouse gas emissions of certain American manufacturing sectors with other countries?
“Despite a major push from Cramer late last year, conservatives mostly balked at the bill, which they worried could be a precursor to a domestic carbon tax,” the article notes. “Now Coons and Cramer both say that they plan to consult with the Trump administration before pushing the bill again.”
More…
“Cramer said that working directly with DOE could circumvent the political discomfort some Republicans on the Hill might have with the bill. ‘Carbon’s a hard thing to talk about with people,’ he said.”
Another challenge for the current 2025 session is the lack of a Republican House sponsor now that Curtis is a Senator.
*email me for a copy of this article if you hit a paywall
EcoRight Speaks, Season 10, Episode 12, featuring Bob Eccles
Sometimes a person is just omnipresent, so you have to check them out. That’s the story with this week’s guest, corporate sustainabilty thought leader, Bob Eccles. A past guest (Shannon Fitzgerald O’Shea) connected us over email because she thought he’d make an excellent guest on the show. At the same time, Angela Larck read a recent article of his, China is no green energy darling. She brought him up on a staff call and we had to arm wrestle over whether to have him on the podcast or the webinar, and I won. (Kidding, we don’t pick winners and losers at republicEn.org.)
Currently a Visiting Professor of Management Practice at the Said Business School, University of Oxford, Bob researches projects focused on corporate purpose, corporate reporting, engagement and stewardship, and private equity. He’s been a Visiting Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management and was a Berkeley Social Impact Fellow at the Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley. He was a Professor at Harvard Business School and received tenure in 1989.
Hope you enjoy the conversation!
Coming up next week, my conversation with biodegradable paint expert Patrick Hughes, one of the many interesting people I met at EarthX in April.
Fun podcast fact: Remember The Sludge Hub episode from last month? They hired an extern who applied after hearing the episode! We are so happy to have played virtual matchmaker between a listener and an organization doing on the ground restoration work.
Congratulations to all!
Former Member Podcast, featuring our own Bob Inglis
Bob was a recent guest on Ben Samuels’ Former Member podcast series, talking about Climate Change, the Tea Party and Trump.
You can catch the episode here.
My favorite quote from the episode—a quote that says it all:
“If you plan on living on the planet for awhile, really you do want to address climate change.”
Save the date: our next webinar!
Climate politics didn’t emerge in a vacuum—it was forged in an era of cheap money, stable geopolitics, and low economic demand. But that era is over.
What does this mean for climate advocates and policy design in 2025? How should a “Climate Hawk” recalibrate their approach amid shifting political and economic realities?
In this webinar, Alex Trembath of the Breakthrough Institute explores how climate policy must evolve in a world grappling with post-COVID recovery, the war in Ukraine, energy bottlenecks, AI disruption, and supply chain stress.
Click here to register. Whether you’re a policymaker, advocate, or just curious about the future of climate action, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.