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Energy expert Amy Myers Jaffe returns to EvC to chat with Ed about Energy and Artificial Intelligence.

Nearly every aspect of the economy seems to be impacted by the stunningly rapid development of AI. Energy is no exception. Ed and Amy have a wide-ranging discussion that covers a lot of ground and touches on several hot topics, including:

• How AI is transforming the production, distribution, and consumption of energy;
• The energy needs of data centers;
• Whether or not AI is an asset or liability for the clean energy economy;
• The role of tech companies;
• The geopolitics of AI;
• Security vulnerabilities created by increasingly AI-dependent energy infrastructure;
• And Canada-US relations.

Detailed Notes available on the show page

About Our Guest:

Amy Myers Jaffe is a leading expert on global energy policy, sustainability, and geopolitical risk. She is widely published on energy, commodity markets and finance and is author of several books, including her most recent book, Energy’s Digital Future and Oil, Dollars, Debt and Crises: The Global Curse of Black Gold. Jaffe serves as Director of the Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab at New York University’s School of Professional Studies and is a research professor who teaches graduate-level courses examining clean technology innovation and business and global climate finance. Jaffe is a regular contributor to the popular podcast “The Energy Gang” and a frequent media commentator in television and print media, including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times of London and CNN International. Jaffe holds a career prize in energy economics from the US Association for Energy Economics and also served as the organization’s President in 2020.

Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts

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Energy vs Climate
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There’s something in Carbon Removal for everyone — are we building enduring relationships to advance the sector?

A bonus EvC episode - on February 27, 2025, EvC co-host Ed Whittingham hosted a panel discussion at Carbon Removal Canada's Carbon Removal Day in Ottawa. They cover a number of topics including the changing political headwinds in the US, efforts to bolster investment in Canada, and silicon valley's interest in CDR. Plus, they take a few audience questions.

Detailed show notes on episode page.

About Our Guests:

Lucy Hargreaves is the VP of Corporate Affairs & Policy at Patch, a SF-based carbon markets platform that’s accelerating investment into global climate action at scale. Beyond her work at Patch, Lucy is part of the core team driving Build Canada and Canada Spends, volunteer-led initiatives focused on helping Canadian entrepreneurs share their ideas for a bolder, richer, freer country and making government spending more accessible and transparent.

Daniel Kelter is Carbon Removal Canada’s Director of Government Relations, a strategic policy advisor who excels at connecting political insight with industry challenges. With experience working alongside Members of Parliament and navigating the intricacies of hard-to-decarbonize sectors like fertilizer and steel, Daniel has been instrumental in crafting advocacy strategies that forge strong government-industry partnerships."

Jorden Dye is the director for the Business Renewables Centre-Canada and the Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) Centre, both initiatives of the Pembina Institute focused on accelerating climate action through corporate procurement. His work includes leading a community of over 60 participating organizations across Canada to spur renewable energy development and developing educational resources to introduce carbon dioxide removal to new audiences.

Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts

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Energy vs Climate
www.energyvsclimate.com

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David & Ed chat with Dr. Holly Buck about Conspiratorial-Environmentalism’s connection to climate & geoengineering; the anti-vax movement; and what it tells us about mainstream environmentalism & climate politics.

(03:08) Skip Intro
(09:12) David's personal experience with Conspiratorial-Environmentalism
(27:15) Social Media and monetization
(38:58) What do we do when environmentalists turn to conspiracies?
(46:33) Audience Questions

Detailed show notes available on episode page

About Our Guest:
Holly Jean Buck is an Associate Professor of Environment and Sustainability at the University at Buffalo. She is an environmental social scientist and human geographer whose research focuses on public engagement with emerging climate and energy technologies. She holds a Ph.D in Development Sociology from Cornell University, and is the author of the books Ending Fossil Fuels: Why Net Zero Is Not Enough and After Geoengineering. Currently, she is a 2024-25 Radcliffe-Salata Climate Justice Fellow at Harvard University.

About Your EvC Co-Hosts:
David Keith is Professor and Founding Faculty Director, Climate Systems Engineering Initiative at the University of Chicago. He is the founder of Carbon Engineering and was formerly a professor at Harvard University and the University of Calgary. He splits his time between Canmore and Chicago.

Sara Hastings-Simon studies energy transitions at the intersection of policy, business, and technology. She’s a policy wonk, a physicist turned management consultant, and a professor at the University of Calgary and Director of the Master of Science in Sustainable Energy Development.

Ed Whittingham is a clean energy policy/finance professional specializing in renewable electricity generation and transmission, carbon capture, carbon removal and low carbon transportation. He is a Public Policy Forum fellow and formerly the executive director of the Pembina Institute, a national clean energy think tank.

Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts

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Energy vs Climate
www.energyvsclimate.com

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Host Ed Whittingham closes out Season 1 by examining the case against Direct Air Capture by one its harshest critics, Al Gore, followed by the counterarguments of supporters. Will DAC live up to its hype and potential to help cool a warming planet?

Guests include:

• Greg Nemet, professor at the University of Wisconsin
• Klaus Lackner, professor at Arizona State University
• David Keith, professor at the University of Chicago and a DAC pioneer who founded the company Carbon Engineering
• Sara Hastings-Simon, professor at the University of Calgary
• Christian Theuer, Policy Communications Lead at Heirloom
• Jim McDermott, co-founder and the managing partner of Rusheen Capital Management, LLC
• Éric St-Pierre, Executive Director of the Trottier Family Foundation

Learn more at www.scrubbingthesky.com

Follow us on: LinkedIn | Bluesky | YouTube

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Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts.

The podcast is part of the Carbon Herald’s podcast network.

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Energy vs Climate
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Host Ed Whittingham delves into the early days of another pioneering Direct Air Capture (DAC) company, Switzerland’s Climeworks, and its innovative modular approach to deploying its technology. Ed also looks into the developing synergy between the tech sector and carbon removal.

Guests include:

• Jan Wurzbacher, co-founder of Climeworks
• Lucy Hargreaves, Corporate Affairs and Climate Policy at Patch
• Jim McDermott, co-founder and the managing partner of Rusheen Capital Management, LLC
• David Keith, professor at the University of Chicago and a DAC pioneer who founded the company Carbon Engineering

Learn more at www.scrubbingthesky.com

Follow us on: LinkedIn | Bluesky | YouTube

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Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts.

The podcast is part of the Carbon Herald’s podcast network.

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Energy vs Climate
www.energyvsclimate.com

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Host Ed Whittingham continues the story behind the development of Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology and its potential role in helping to fight climate change. Ed explores the early days of Canadian cleantech company Carbon Engineering, and how it drew the attention of both Bill Gates and Occidental Petroleum.

Guests include:

• Ken Caldeira, senior scientist at Breakthrough Energy
• David Keith, professor at the University of Chicago and a DAC pioneer who founded the company Carbon Engineering

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or on your podcast app of choice.

Learn more at www.scrubbingthesky.com

Follow us on: LinkedIn | Bluesky

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Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts.

The podcast is part of the Carbon Herald’s podcast network.

A special thanks to our friends at the Challenging Climate podcast which is available wherever you find your podcasts.

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Energy vs Climate
www.energyvsclimate.com

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Jesse Jenkins, David Keith, and Ed Whittingham break down the key policy reversals, their impact on U.S. emissions, and the broader geopolitical and economic consequences—for Canada and beyond. Plus, audience questions!

Full Show notes with links to references on our website

About Our Guest:

Jesse D. Jenkins is an assistant professor and macro-scale energy systems engineer at Princeton University with a joint appointment in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and Environment. He leads the Princeton ZERO Lab (Zero-carbon Energy systems Research and Optimization Laboratory), which focuses on improving and applying optimization-based energy systems models to evaluate and optimize low-carbon energy technologies, guide investment and research in innovative energy technologies, and generate insights to improve energy and climate policy and planning decisions.

About Your Co-Hosts:

David Keith is Professor and Founding Faculty Director, Climate Systems Engineering Initiative at the University of Chicago. He is the founder of Carbon Engineering and was formerly a professor at Harvard University and the University of Calgary. He splits his time between Canmore and Chicago.

Sara Hastings-Simon studies energy transitions at the intersection of policy, business, and technology. She’s a policy wonk, a physicist turned management consultant, and a professor at the University of Calgary and Director of the Master of Science in Sustainable Energy Development.

Ed Whittingham is a clean energy policy/finance professional specializing in renewable electricity generation and transmission, carbon capture, carbon removal and low carbon transportation. He is a Public Policy Forum fellow and formerly the executive director of the Pembina Institute, a national clean energy think tank.

Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts

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Energy vs Climate
www.energyvsclimate.com

Bluesky | YouTube | LinkedIn | X/Twitter

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EvC co-host Ed Whittingham's new series on Carbon Dioxide Removal

Host Ed Whittingham dives into the world of Direct Air Capture (DAC), a technology that extracts carbon dioxide directly from the ambient air. Ed explores the early history of carbon dioxide removal, why it could be useful in fighting climate change, and challenges the technology has faced along the way.

Guests include:

• Klaus Lackner, professor at Arizona State University and often referred to as the “Grandfather of DAC”
• David Keith, professor at the University of Chicago and a DAC pioneer who founded the company Carbon Engineering
• Paul McKendrick, author of the book that inspired this series

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or on your podcast app of choice.

Learn more at www.scrubbingthesky.com

Follow us on: LinkedIn | Bluesky

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Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts.

The podcast is part of the Carbon Herald’s podcast network.

___
Energy vs Climate
www.energyvsclimate.com

Bluesky | YouTube | LinkedIn | X/Twitter