Are you in the holiday spirit yet?
I’m making a list (of cookies to bake) and checking it twice (for ingredients I need) plus I put up the tree and wrapped an empty (open) box for my cat Fang to hang out in under the tree (her favorite spot). The weather is appropriately cold. So turn up the holiday music, put on the ugly sweater, and let’s revel.
This week’s must read: This former Trump strategist wants a U.S. carbon price (Sustainable Views/Financial Times)
It’s always a treat to see our friend and ally Alex Flint spreading the word on carbon pricing.
From the article:
“Republicans’ approach towards climate policy will have to change when society’s requirement ‘to limit greenhouse gas emissions will eventually converge with the government’s requirement to raise revenue’, he says. Carbon taxes are attractive to Flint because they are efficient, low cost and market-based.”
And the ace in the hole: “It’s easy to criticise a carbon tax as politically unrealistic, and American politicians do not support taxes in general,” he says. “But the national debt is already at $38 trillion. Durable [climate] policy is something that efficiently reduces emissions and becomes a revenue source for the government.”
Revisiting the importance of rewiring…
As we head toward the finish line for season 11, we are again sharing a previous recording with a TIME100 climate influencer, this time, our February 2025 conversation with Ari Matusiak. Like last week’s reboot, Ari, the co-founder, president and CEO of Rewiring America is a “defender” – and the concept of rewiring our homes is certainly something in need of defending.
Since this interview is from February, let me share what he recently called the single most important action the public, or a specific company or government, needs to take in the next year to advance the climate agenda.
“To recognize and invest in households as energy infrastructure. We are living through the convergence of three forces: unprecedented load growth, a worsening affordability crisis, and the urgency of climate action. Household upgrades are the fastest way to add capacity to the grid, lower costs for families, and reduce emissions. Our latest analysis shows upgrading households to efficient electric devices could offset all projected data center demand growth over the next five years.”
I know you’re going to want to tune in to this conversation, whether you caught it the first time around or not.
Coming up next week…
You wait for it all season long. Maybe you even try to anticipate what will make the cut. It’s our season-ending “best of” episode. Tune in on Tuesday, December 16th to check out which guests and episodes stayed with us after the mics were off and the Zoom ended.
Carbon Taxes: The Movie!
On behalf of our friend Yoram Bauman, the only stand up economist we know and an avid supporter of pricing carbon, we’d like to invite you to a very special event: a table reading of Yoram’s family friendly rom-com screenplay Seize The Initiative! a.k.a. Carbon Taxes: The Movie! on Tuesday, December 16, 6-8pm MT.
You can participate in one of two ways:
If you’re local, you can go person at the University of Utah (specific location TBD, but with free parking TBD and free pizza beforehand!)
If you’re not local, you can still participate via Zoom.
For a link, the specific location, and other details, fill out this Google form or email yoram@standupeconomist.com.
The script of Yoram’s screenplay and other details can be found at Yoram-Com.com. Seize the Day has been described as “delightfully dorky, goofy, and full of heart… with more sandwich-centered song lyrics than anyone would ever expect. It is a love letter to democracy.” (BlueCat Screenplay Competition review, Sept 2025)
If you’d like to host a roundtable discussion after the table reading, please let us/Yoram know. And invite your friends!
P.S. If you want a preview of the show, check out Yoram’s appearance on the EcoRight Speaks in August 2024.
Speaking of Utah…
Bob had a fantastic visit to the Beehive State last week, where he even saw our old friend Nick Huey, pictured above. More details are to come in “Bob’s Corner” next week, but for now, you can sate your curiosity by listening to his appearance on Utah Public Radio.
Access the interview here.
A special anniversary
Twenty-five years ago this week, my first baby was enacted into law: the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. (If you look closely, I am in the above photo and regretted later that I didn’t elbow my way to the front as (1) a short person and (2) one of the top staffers toiling multiple years on this effort.) What made this day and effort special was the bipartisan, bicameral, federal-state cooperation. Obviously President Bill Clinton is front and center. Behind him, Florida Governor Jeb Bush. At the moment this photo was taken, the Supreme Court was hearing arguments in the Bush v Gore case that decided the 2000 election. But no one let the politics get in the way of this special day, a top career moment for me.
If you want to read more of my reflections from this experience and the lessons we can learn, I was published in The Invading Sea this week with: Everglades restoration shows that bipartisanship is possible.
⬇️ The EPW Team in front of the West Wing right before the signing ceremony
