SDG #7: Affordable and clean energy. Increasing the use of renewables for electricity generation is key to curbing carbon emissions, which is essential for fighting climate change. At Nashville-based Clearloop, founders Phil Bredesen, Tennessee’s former governor, and Laura Zapata, have taken a creative approach. The company sells carbon offsets to companies and uses the proceeds to fund renewable-energy projects in areas of the country without the inherent impetus to do so. Economic development officials in Jackson, Tennessee, the site of the Clearloop’s first solar project, tell Liz and Steve how the prospect of that new electricity source is helping that town attract employers that have clean energy mandates.
In this episode you’ll find out:
- Why Steve Lamb geeks out on carbon and whether he buys a solar panel in Tennessee.
- How humans are flooding the planet with carbon beyond which nature’s carbon sinks can absorb.
- Whether most Americans can access renewable energies if they choose to.
- Why Clearloop funds renewable energy projects in certain areas that have been slow to support clean energy sources.
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United Nations SDG#7 Information
How Exactly Does Carbon Dioxide Cause Global Warming?
A fun and interactive periodic table
City of Jackson Chamber of Commerce
Guest Bios
Laura Zapata is CEO and a co-founder of Clearloop, which aims to make renewable energies available to all. She is a former communications director for Phil Bredesen and head of global communications for Uber Eats.
Phil Bredesen is the former governor of Tennessee, clean energy entrepreneur, and a Clearloop co-founder.
Kyle Spurgeon is president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce in Jackson, Tennessee, the largest city in west Tennessee outside of Memphis. It’s home to about 60,000 people and is the site of Clearloop’s initial solar project.
