Green Strategies’ expertise and understanding of evolving climate and energy policy at international, national, U.S. federal and state, and local levels is at the heart of our business. Using our decades of experience in and outside of government, our work is centered at the intersection of governmental policy, private sector action, and finance – the three essential components of a green transition.
Our policy experience includes analysis and comparison of policy frameworks, advocacy for effective policy, and drafting of policy proposals. Green Strategies engages policymakers and leading stakeholders from industry and the environmental community to inform client business and policy strategies.
In the U.S., we have focused on climate policy at economy-wide (cap-and-trade, carbon taxes), sector-specific (electric utility clean energy standards), and technology-specific (support for technology research, development, and deployment (R&D&D), economic and tax incentives) levels. Internationally, since the time that Roger was the senior White House delegate to the COP negotiations under the UNFCCC, we have been closely involved in global governmental efforts to address climate change. We are consistently called upon to analyze and advise on policies and regulatory regimes of countries around the world.
With insights and through our relationships we help our clients anticipate impactful policy and change and build effective policy engagement strategies. We are not just “lobbyists” with a big rolodex; we are well-known substantive experts with the credibility to interact with policymakers on behalf of our clients.
Representative Case Studies:
- Electricity Sector Structures and Renewable Energy Policy. On behalf of a multinational corporation with worldwide retail operations, we conducted country-level analyses of renewable energy policy and electricity market structures on four continents, including Asia, to identify the most promising markets and inform corporate siting of future facilities. And on behalf of another company looking to locate and operate data centers using renewable energy, we assessed policies and options for Singapore.
- Electric Vehicles and Infrastructure Policy. On behalf of an EV charging infrastructure provider, we worked on a White House electric vehicle task force considering different policy approaches to electric vehicle/electric vehicle charging infrastructure deployment. Our engagement resulted in the provider’s policy priorities being adopted by the White House’s EV charging policy framework.
- Water Conservation. On behalf of a multinational consumer goods company seeking to promote water conservation, we surveyed federal and utility-level water conservation incentives and regulatory structures to identify policy best practices. Our analysis informed the company’s advocacy strategy regarding water conservation in countries around the world.
- Zero-Carbon Technology Policy Survey and Roadmap Development. Working with a coalition of utilities, environmental NGOs, and academic experts, Green Strategies is currently the lead facilitator of a process to achieve consensus on recommendations for federal policy action to advance the zero-carbon technologies necessary for achieving the long-term decarbonization of the U.S. power sector. Recommendations will cover a portfolio of technologies including advanced nuclear, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, energy storage, and power electronics and other innovative solutions to integrate large volumes of intermittent renewable energy. Our recommendations will identify priorities for the next Congress and Biden Administration.
- Hydrogen Economy Policy. On behalf of an Asian auto manufacturer, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of hydrogen fuel cell policies (mobile and stationary applications), hydrogen conversion and infrastructure technologies, and deployment strategies and barriers. This analysis informed the company’s development of a new strategy to build stakeholder support for hydrogen as a decarbonization opportunity and secure new public policy mechanisms to advance the sector.
- Paris Agreement Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) Analysis. For an Asian government client, we assessed the INDC plans for several Southeast Asian countries, enabling the government to adjust and refine its own INDC priorities.
Stakeholder Affairs, Crisis Management, and Brand Value Protection
Independent of public policy, non-governmental stakeholders play an important role in shaping corporate reputation and impacting customer choices in the marketplace. For our clients, they are key allies for the acceptance and promotion of products and services that advance larger environmental goals. NGOs, ESG investors, and sustainability analysts and advocates know and respect us and we help our clients successfully engage these stakeholders. And for clients that find themselves on the wrong side of stakeholder attention, we provide crisis management strategies to preserve or restore brand value and corporate reputation.
Representative Case Studies:
- Corporate Reputation: A large consumer products company came to Green Strategies after a high-profile failure to comply with federal environmental performance standards, earning the company the wrath of environmental and consumer advocates, which impacted the company’s brand and reputation. We designed and led a turnaround plan based on new company practices and commitments, extensive stakeholder outreach, and new partnerships with advocates that restored the company’s reputation and positioned it as a sustainability leader.
- Advocacy: To support a ground-breaking carbon capture project, we led an advocacy effort at the White House and EPA alongside environmental stakeholders to secure new federal guidance that eliminated permitting risks that could have jeopardized the project.
- Utility Policy: On behalf of a large corporate renewable energy consumer, we led efforts to organize advocates and other companies to lobby several states’ Governors and legislatures to change utility policy to accommodate deployment of on-site solar energy.
- Rule-Making Process: We have led three different clients through different rule-making processes in California in support of each of the client’s leading energy efficiency product offerings. Well-meaning but misguided proposed rules undercut our clients’ efforts to drive greater efficiency and to maintain their market-leading position it the provision of best in class efficient products.
- Coalition Building: We were central to creating a large and diverse coalition of industry, labor, and environmental advocates that worked with the White House and Members of Congress to ultimately enact a new tax credit to support carbon capture and sequestration projects.
