S5 Ep4: Season 5, Episode 4: That's an Order

President Biden put climate policy front and center on his campaigning platform and wasted no time in pushing his agenda when he took office. The president has proposed $14 billion in spending on initiatives to fight the crisis in the nation’s 2022 budget, and he has appointed cabinet officials with informed backgrounds to offer guidance. He’s also altered tax incentives to favor clean energy over fossil fuels and promised to spur a job revolution that will protect workers in this sector. 

 

But the U.S. is operated by three branches of government and federal powers are limited. It’s often the case that the "real work" is done on state and local levels. So, how do those plans coalesce with national strategy? Some states may take a different approach or "drive" a little slower, others prefer the fast lane — how does it all add up?

In this episode of CPR's Connect the Dots, host Rob Verchick explores energy policy at different levels of government and who's leading the way in the clean energy journey. 

Joining Rob Verchick in this episode are: 

• Alice Kaswan, CPR Board Member and professor and associate dean at the University of San Francisco
• Hannah Wiseman, CPR Member Scholar and professor at the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and Institutes of Energy and the Environment at Penn State University
• Laura Zapata, founder and CEO of Clearloop 
• Flozell Daniels, Jr., CEO and President of the Foundation for Louisiana
• Wendy Gao, an environmental activist and co-founder of the youth environmental nonprofit, Earth Uprising