Everybody in the Pool

This week on Everybody in the Pool, bummer news: your bank deposits could be funding the climate crisis? But we’d never give you bummer news without a solution! This week, Molly Wood speaks with Paul Moinester, founder of Topofinance, who reveals the shocking climate impact of conventional banking. Discover how just $10,000 in a major bank generates emissions equivalent to driving 10,000 miles yearly, and why moving your money to climate-friendly banks might be the easiest climate action you've never considered. Paul explains how corporations' banking emissions often exceed all their other emissions combined, and introduces innovative solutions that make greener banking both simple and profitable.

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This week on Everybody in the Pool, Molly Wood talks with Brad Hartwig, co-founder and CEO of Arbor Energy. Brad shares his remarkable journey from SpaceX rocket engineer to climate tech entrepreneur, developing technology that transforms waste biomass into carbon-negative energy using rocket propulsion principles. Yep, you read that right. A guy who used to want to be an astronaut woke up one day and realized this planet was the place to put his energy. Find out how Arbor’s tech could replace fossil fuel plants while simultaneously removing carbon from the atmosphere.

Show Highlights

• Brad's transition from aerospace engineering at SpaceX to climate tech after witnessing California wildfires firsthand
• How Arbor Energy's technology uses "oxy combustion" (inspired by rocket engines) to generate clean electricity while capturing carbon
• The system produces no emissions - only pure CO2 (for sequestration) and clean water
• Potential to replace up to 60 gigawatts of coal and natural gas plants in the US with carbon-negative power
• Uses only waste biomass from agriculture, forestry, and potentially municipal waste
• Economic benefits for wildfire prevention through monetizing brush clearing
• First commercial deployment targeted for 2027

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In this episode of Everybody in the Pool, host Molly Wood speaks with Mat Dos Santos, co-executive director of Our Children's Trust, about how his organization is using the legal system to fight climate change on behalf of youth plaintiffs — the kids who have the most to lose if we get this wrong. Learn how landmark victories in Montana and Hawaii are creating precedents that could reshape climate policy across America.

Key Takeaways:

• Constitutional Climate Rights: Our Children's Trust secured a historic victory in Montana, establishing that the state constitution's "clean and healthful environment" provision protects young people's right to a livable climate future.
• Youth-Led Legal Action: Children and teens have standing to sue over climate policies because they face disproportionate, long-term impacts from climate change and have limited political voice.
• Government Accountability: These cases highlight how fossil fuel development requires government permission and subsidies, challenging the "market-driven" narrative.
• Recent Victories: The Montana Supreme Court ruling forces the state to consider climate impacts in permitting, while a Hawaii settlement requires complete transportation decarbonization by 2045.
• Juliana v. United States: Learn about the ongoing federal case arguing that the U.S. government has violated young people's constitutional rights by knowingly promoting a fossil fuel system despite understanding climate dangers.

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This week on Everybody in the Pool, host Molly Wood talks with Eliot Brooks, founder and CEO of Cocoon Carbon, about an unexpected climate tech challenge: how decarbonizing steel production is disrupting concrete's path to net zero. Brooks explains how his startup transforms problematic steel slag from modern electric arc furnaces into valuable materials that reduce concrete's carbon footprint while cutting costs.

Key Takeaways:

• Learn how steel's shift to cleaner production methods has unintentionally limited concrete's access to low-carbon materials
• Discover how Cocoon Carbon's modular technology transforms waste into valuable cement alternatives
• Understand why addressing interconnected industrial challenges creates powerful climate tech opportunities
• Find out how this solution makes decarbonization more affordable for both industries, representing 15% of global emissions

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This week on Everybody in the Pool, we’re exploring what might be the most overlooked tool in our climate toolkit: nature itself. Yes, we like to geek out about purely technological solutions like fusion or direct-air carbon capture or electric vehicles or consumer compost devices, but there's a whole world of climate solutions that nature has already perfected over millions of years. But how does the financial world think about these solutions? Siddarth Shrikanth is an investor at Just Climate, a division of the Al Gore-founded investment firm Generation Investment Management. He’s also the author of a book called The Case for Nature. We talk about the twin crises of nature and biodiversity loss plus climate change, and how their convergence is a threat and an opportunity of equal scale.

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