Webinar Information
The first webinar will focus on financial options for carbon neutrality including successful public private partnerships in the past two years. VCN is concerned (1) that U-M will not move quickly enough given the scale and urgency of the climate crisis and (2) that as a result of the extra resources needed to keep U-M running during COVID, leadership may feel it won't have the resources to fully implement a CN plan. While CN is often framed as competing with other efforts for resources, proven CN financing models can instead provide resources to UM to address CN and other issues simultaneously.
Nov 11th 1 PM EST, featuring panelists:
Juan Macias is the CEO of AlphaStruxure, a joint venture of the Carlyle Group and Schneider Electric. AlphaStruxure designs, constructs, owns, and operates clean energy systems with no customer capital expenditure. Current projects include JFK’s terminal one in New York.
Robert Johnson is Senior VP of Hannon & Armstrong (NYSE:HASI), the first U.S. public company solely dedicated to investments that increase resilience to climate change or reduce carbon emissions. In 2019 Hannon & Armstrong participated in the University of Iowa public-private partnership for carbon neutrality that provided the University with $1.6 billion in up front cash with which the University can finance other carbon neutrality projects.
Andrew Marino is a Senior Managing Director and Head of Strategy at Generate Capital, an infrastructure company that builds, owns, operates, and finances sustainable resource infrastructure. Generate is currently in a 20 year power purchase agreement with the city of New York, to provide more than 19 Megawatts of clean power through solar energy to the city.
Larry Davis is a former President and Managing Director of MAP Energy, LLC a leading energy investment and development company in the renewable energy and natural gas space. MAP currently has hands-on-participation in the development of over 400 projects, including 300 projects under development, 94 operating, and 10 under construction as of June 30, 2019. These projects total 11 GW of operating wind energy projects, approximately 11% of all operating wind energy capacity in the US. Similarly MAP has interests in over 40,000 natural gas wells which represent approximately 5% of US daily natural gas production.
The second webinar will focus on the pressing issue of climate justice. Like COVID, climate change will hit communities of color and the poor the hardest. UM has a societal responsibility to be responsive to this issue. Michigan Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist is part of this panel.
