the green skeptic

"Steve Jobs is dead," I said.So begins my new book, Falling Up: A Memoir of Second Chances, which drops today from Homebound Publications as part of their Little Bound Book Essay Series. When I spoke those words, I was speaking to an audience at the SXSW Eco…

My sons, Jasper & Walker, in Alaska, July 2008“My goal is to catalyze innovation and investments that generate a new prosperity by improving our world, sustaining our environment, and generating profits.”These words are posted at the very top of my…

Snowflakes were melting all over the Internet. The sky was falling and people forgot all about secret messages encoded in typos from the Tweeter-in-Chief.On Thursday, US President Donald Trump did what everyone suspected he would, despite the advice of some of…

Should we stay or should we go?President Trump is following the advice of entrenched, vested old-economy interests that would turn our backs on a bright economic future. If his vision to make America great again requires further dependence upon fossil fuels…

My son Walker, then 2, in his "one square yard.""Aware, responsible and caring citizens." Yeah, we can use some of those right about now.Back in June 2016, a colleague at EY reached out to ask me to speak at Riverbend Environmental Education Center, just…

The Green Skeptic back at the helm.I've been away too long and look what happens? The lunatics are running the asylum.Well, my hiatus is over. I'm ready to start blogging again and calling out horse dookey (as Mary Karr calls it) about the environment wherever…

The Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic, an organization I co-founded with Kevin Brown of Hobbes & Towne, is hosting its 7th annual energy technology forum, once again in partnership this year with the law firm of Pepper Hamilton. More details to come, but I…

Back in 2006, I published this email from Santa, which arrived on the night before the night before Christmas. Readers had so much fun with it, it's become an annual tradition. Enjoy!Happy Holidays!_______________________TO: Global Warming…

My son Jasper tagging a saltwater croc,Mexico, January 2005. Photo by the author.This post originally appeared on The Green Skeptic in October 2005. It clearly demonstrates my concerns about the disconnect between people and conservation and articulates my…

This post originally appeared on The Green Skeptic in March 2008, when I was about to speak at the Aspen Environment Forum. It was a pivotal time for conservation and I think some of the strides that my former organization, The Nature Conservancy, and others…

Back in 2011, disruption was very much on my mind -- personally, professionally, and economically. Reading that post now -- in the wake of the current social unrest and new revelations about the banking system -- I wonder if plummeting down the same cliff. The…

It was 34 years ago today John Lennon was shot to death outside his home on West 72nd Street and Central Park West in New York. Here's a post that I wrote on the 25th Anniversary of that horrible event in 2005:John Lennon watercolored by the author.I was…

Letchworth Gorge by J. Stephen Conn, used by permission.Back in November 2011 I posted about the need for change in our economy and the way we approach that change. Here is my post "Falling Up -- The Choices We Make May Be Our Own":When I was 15 years old I…

Back in November 2009, Lou Rappaport of Blank Rome asked me a disturbing question at the MAC Alliance Conference in Philadelphia.Here's the post I wrote in response to his question:On the face of it, Lou's question was a simple one:"What keeps you up at…

Back in October 2007, I had an exchange with my friend Lucy Bernholz about philanthropy as an agent of change in the environmental sphere (I was still working for The Nature Conservany). Lucy, as it happened, introduced me to my (then future) wife, Samantha,…

Here's another favorite from the past decade. I did a deep dive on two cleantech companies for the IMPACT investor conference back in 2011. I looked at the examples of Solyndra and CPower and examined why one failed and the other succeeded. This post included…

I've long been concerned by the exclusiveness of the environmental movement and was especially struck by the suspicions aroused in the deep greens when the Christian right started getting interested in climate change and the environment, as if the environment…

In recognition of The Green Skeptic's 10th Annivesary, I'm hand-picking ten of my personal favorite posts from the last decade. Here's the first, from 2008, a post about a visit I made to Ashoka-fellow Kalyan Paul in the Indian Himalayas. --SEAKalyan and…

Today is the 10th Anniversary of The Green Skeptic blog. Whether you've been with me for ten years (and please do let me know if you have) or recently came across my blog for the first time I want to say THANK YOU! Hard to believe I've been doing this --…

My pal Nat Bullard of Bloomberg New Energy Finance kicked off EY's 4th annual Cleantech CEO Retreat, which I hosted a couple of weeks ago, with a look back.Here is his post from his Sparklines email newsletter, reprinted with his permission:Four moments in…

Two years ago tonight, Superstorm Sandy hit New York with a vengeance. Whatever you call her: hurricane, superstorm, Frankenstorm, Sandy was a massive, monster storm. Sandy was the second costliest hurricane in recorded history. Only 2005’s Hurricane…

"This is an invitation to change everything."Right. So says the notice about the (so-called) People's Climate March. It goes on to say, "In September, world leaders are coming to New York City for a UN summit on the climate crisis. UN Secretary­ General Ban…

Here's My Top 5 reasons cleantech is alive and well:  1.) China. China finally seems poised to address its outrageous pollution problem. The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Environmental Protection estimates it will cost China upwards of $800 billion to clean…

(Note: This is reposted from my friends at Pepper Hamiliton LLP, co-hosts of the Mid-Atlantic Energy Technology Forum with the Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic, of which I am co-founder.)The future of the energy industry; the technologies with the potential to…

Six years. We've been running these cleantech and energy tech investment forums for six years. And by "we" I mean my co-founder of the Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic, Kevin Brown of Hobbs & Towne, and me, along with our pal Tom Dwyer, who was part of the…