Rebecca Tickell is an actor, singer, writer, producer, and environmental activist. Born in Ohio in a farming community, her roots are deep in agriculture. After moving to Vermont with her mother, at nine years old she became a movie star, playing a leading role in the Christmas-classic Prancer. She was instantly famous, appearing on the Today show and the Tonight show, among others. From that early age, she knew that she wanted to be a storyteller, using films to reach the masses. After a start...
Aug 25, 2025•33 min•Ep. 233
Clean Power Alliance is in its eighth year serving cities and unincorporated areas in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, providing power to over one million electric meters in 35 cities and county areas with a generating capacity of 3,400 MW. This episode of Flanigan's Eco-Logic features Ted Bardacke who has been its CEO throughout this tenure... creating the nation's largest community choice aggregator. CPA is also the nation's largest clean energy provider, and has been for the past two years. ...
Aug 18, 2025•35 min•Ep. 232
Rinaldo Brutoco has been at the helm of the World Business Academy for over 38 years. He founded it to focus on the role that businesses should play in solving humanity's greatest challenges. The Academy promotes the responsibility of business in relation to the moral, environmental, and social concerns of the day. To spur change, and where markets are not acting fast enough, Brutoco and his non-profit have spun off for-profit businesses... taking ideas and convictions and turning them into prod...
Aug 11, 2025•30 min•Ep. 231
Robert Fortunato and his wife needed to expand their home in Hermosa Beach, California to welcome a child and incorporate two home offices, and they wanted it to be healthy and sustainable. After traveling the world, Robert wanted to incorporate best practices.. like the clever and complete use of materials in island countries demonstrated with coconuts in Sri Lanka, to passive solar design akin to Mesa Verde in Colorado, and non-toxic building material use in Denmark. As he and his wife planned...
Aug 04, 2025•33 min•Ep. 230
Bob Freling has been the Executive Director of the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) since 1997. Its mission is to design, fund, and implement solar energy solutions to benefit those in poor communities without access to the electricity grid, helping others to overcome energy poverty. SELF provides energy access in the developing world and has an impressive track record of providing more than 750 solar systems in over 20 countries. Bob Freling was born and raised in Dallas, Texas and was educated...
Jul 28, 2025•32 min•Ep. 229
Geoff Stapleton is considered "a force" in the solar industry, particularly in Australia and the Pacific Islands. So far, he has worked in 39 countries supporting solar... introducing standards and training to validate and shore up the solar industry. His work has been widely recognized, culminating recently in his recognition and award of the "Order of Australia" title. Geoff Stapleton began his career in off-grid solar in Australia, originally working for BP Solar Australia. He then formed his...
Jul 21, 2025•38 min•Ep. 228
In this episode of Flanigan's Eco-Logic, Ted interviews Julia Kintsch, the Principal and Senior Ecologist at Eco-Resolutions. Julia grew up in Boulder, Colorado where she was ingrained with a deep love of nature. She went to University of Colorado at Boulder and earned a degree in Environmental Conservation. Then, after serving in the Peace Corps in Africa, she enrolled at Duke University and earned a masters degree in Landscape Ecology. After working for The Nature Conservancy and other non-pro...
Jul 14, 2025•32 min•Ep. 227
John Belizaire heads up a company called Soluna. It's business model is to tap curtailed renewable capacity -- wind and solar -- and to use this previously wasted energy to power data centers. John explains that 30 - 40% of all wind and solar farms is curtailed... essentially "stranded " capacity. By utilizing this renewable energy is it monetized... boosting the economics of the renewables while powering data centers with green energy. John, a self-decribed nerd in his youth growing up in Brook...
Jul 07, 2025•36 min•Ep. 226
In this Crash Course, hosted by Sierra Flanigan, she and her father, Ted Flanigan, dig into the key issue related to the combustion of green hydrogen in peaker power plants. Ted learned of the adverse impact of burning hydrgoen last year from his friend and colleague, Jonathan Parfrey, Executive Director of Climate Resolve. Together they wrote a white paper to clarify the issue... the basis of this Crash Course. There has been understandable concern that to meet the Los Angeles mandate of 100% c...
Jun 30, 2025•31 min•Ep. 225
Cecily DeAngelo read an article in the New York Times about wildlife crossings, and ever since, she has been laser-focused on developing wildlife crossings in the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado. She grew up there and has witnessed first hand the carnage along Pitkin County's roadways... dead bears, deer, elk, rabbits, and more and more moose. These vehicle wildlife accidents decimate wildlife in the Roaring Fork Valley and are responsible for 30% of vehicle accidents there. What Cecily learned ...
Jun 23, 2025•32 min•Ep. 224
In this episode of Flanigan's Eco-Logic, Ted welcomes Catherine Sands, Director of Fertile Ground, to the podcast. After years of working in development and promoting special fund-raising concerts for Natural Resources Defense Council, Catherine moved north from New York City to the Berkshires of Massachusetts to raise a family and live closer to the land. There, she became involved with schools and asked a very basic question: Why do local schools have such lousy food? These questions led Cathe...
Jun 16, 2025•34 min•Ep. 223
Grant Gunnison is the founder and CEO of Zero Homes, a Denver-based firm that specializes in electrification of homes in Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, and California. Grant gave up his post-MIT work at NASA and returned to Colorado to run his family's construction business, shifting its focus to tackle climate change. He recognized the need to decarbonize some 60 million American homes, with 4 - 5 measures per home. What he did then was revolutionize the retrofit process, uncovering efficienci...
Jun 09, 2025•31 min•Ep. 222
In this episode of Flanigan's Eco-Logic, Ted interviews Susan Gladwin. She's just finished a 2.5 year role in the U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office (LPO). The office, under the leadership of Jigar Shah, had an amplified mandate to foster innovative companies launching energy innovations. The Inflation Reduction Act boosted the LPO's budget from $40 billion to $400 billion making it the world's largest green bank. Jigar Shar brought Susan and other professionals to Washington to h...
Jun 02, 2025•32 min•Ep. 221
In this episode of Flanigan's Eco-Logic, Ted interviews Stephan Crawford, the founder and executive producer of ClimateMusic. Stephan is a San Francisco-based fine artist who in 2014 developed ClimateMusic. Frustrated by the lack of action to combat the very real threat of the climate emergency, Stephan brought together musicians with science experts to develop musical messages to educate and inspire action. In addition, ClimateMusic brings together visual artists and videographers to enhance a...
May 26, 2025•33 min•Ep. 220
Harvey Michaels is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan Business School lecturer. He teaches a popular course on Energy Management and Artificial Intelligence. He is also the Director of MIT's Clean Heat Transition Project. In this episode of Flanigan's Eco-Logic Ted and Harvey reflect on his career in energy management, for years at the forefront of energy efficiency and energy management as president of Xenergy and Nexus Energy. Now his mission at MIT is "to support student career obj...
May 19, 2025•36 min•Ep. 219
Bernadette Del Chiaro has a new job. She has left her longstanding and most effective role as the Executive Director of the California Solar and Storage Association, and joined the Environmental Working Group (EWG) as a senior vice president. She makes clear that she is not leaving the fight for distributed solar and storage. The attack on net energy metering, and the downturn in the California Solar industry are alarming. Bernadette is just supporting the fight from a different position. EWG i...
May 12, 2025•35 min•Ep. 218
In this episode, Ted interviews Joel Cesare, a longstanding friend,colleague, and sustainability champion, who has just begun a new job at Cambio, a firm that has an AI platform designed for portfolios of real estate. Joel explains how Cambio's platform supports all manner of data-intensive property management functions, including building decarbonization. Joel discusses his years at Google where he was on a team of sustainability managers. Their goal was to decarbonize all of Google's 40 millio...
May 05, 2025•33 min•Ep. 217
Flanigan's Eco-Logic features Steve Lewis for the third time... this time delving into his own deeply disturbing experience, as his neighborhood was ravaged by the Eaton Fire in early January. It wiped out much of his home town of Alta Dena, California... killing 17 people and destroying some 9,000 homes and business properties. There were heavy winds that day and he saw the fire coming, working its way down the mountainside visible from his upstairs windows. Time to evacuate. Steve's home was m...
Apr 28, 2025•35 min•Ep. 216
Paul Mann is the founder of Water Champions, an engineering and design firm specializing in the efficient and smart use of water. He joins Ted Flanigan to discuss how this came about, and what each of us can do to be water smart. During Covid, Paul and his wife experienced California drought and fires, and began to realize the enormous importance of water at home and worldwide. Fully half of the Earth's population lives in water-stressed areas, and given population growth, demand for water will ...
Apr 21, 2025•34 min•Ep. 215
In this Convo of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, Ted speaks with Josh Dorfman, CEO at Supercool, a media company covering climate solutions that raise profits and quality of life. Josh is also the host of the Supercool Podcast, and co-founder of Plantd, a company that manufactures carbon-negative building materials. He is best known as creator and host of The Lazy Environmentalist, an award-winning reality TV show on Sundance Channel, radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio, book series, and e-commerce busin...
Apr 14, 2025•32 min•Ep. 214
In this Convo of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, Ted speaks with Drew Slater, Executive Director Energize Delaware. The Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility is a non-profit that gives energy-efficiency grants and low-interest loans to qualified borrowers, helping them install solar energy systems or make energy efficiency upgrades. Energize Delaware programs aid residents, businesses, nonprofits, government facilities, farms, faith organizations and schools to become energy efficient. Before becoming the s...
Apr 08, 2025•34 min•Ep. 213
In this Convo of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, Ted speaks with Jim Gromer, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Thermal Banc/TESS Energy Solutions, a collaborative effort of companies building thermal energy storage solutions - turning waste heat into clean energy. Thermal Banc makes up the sales wing, TESS Energy Solutions the engineering wing, Smart Phases the manufacturing wing, and Novacab comprises the battery. The technology is revolutionizing energy efficiency by capturing, storing, and reusing waste...
Mar 24, 2025•31 min•Ep. 212
In this Convo of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, Ted speaks with Yin Chen, CEO and Chairman at Greenworks, a supplier of battery-powered outdoor power equipment (OPE) since 2003. With over 20 years at the forefront of home, yard, and do-it-yourself electric tools, Greenworks is redefining durability and eco-friendliness in the face of climate challenges, delivering high performance equipment focused on reducing carbon footprints. Ted and Yin discuss his background briefly, studying mechanical engineering ...
Mar 17, 2025•34 min•Ep. 211
In this Convo of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, Ted speaks with Mark Swanson, newly appointed as the CEO of Aeromine Technologies, the innovative rooftop wind energy system that converts a building’s wind flow into renewable energy. Swanson brings 30 years of leadership experience to Aeromine. For the last 12 years, he has held leadership positions in the rooftop solar industry, with a proven track record in manufacturing, scaling operations, and driving customer-focused growth. Prior to joining Aeromine...
Mar 10, 2025•31 min•Ep. 210
In this Convo of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, Ted speaks with Martin Mayorga, Founder and CEO of Mayorga Organics, a coffee company with the purpose of leading a revolutionary organic food movement that empowers farmers and consumers, protects the environment, and celebrates Latin American heritage. Martin's journey has been fueled by a passion for social justice, sustainable business practices, and making positive impacts through conscientious capitalism. He has dedicated his life to transforming the ...
Mar 03, 2025•31 min•Ep. 209
In this Convo of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, Ted speaks with Kate Reimann, Founder and CEO of Rogue Wave Toys and Rogue Wave Materials. Rogue Wave Toys are made of compostable plastic based on biopolymers and plant based materials. She is making waves as an entrepreneur and sustainability champion, bringing eight years of industry experience, and a lifetime of advocacy for the planet to her decisions both in business and the way she lives her life. She and Ted discuss the inspiration for Rogue Wave, w...
Feb 24, 2025•29 min•Ep. 208
In this Convo of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, Ted speaks with Dr. Joel Peterson, Vice Chancellor and Executive Operations Officer for the San Diego Community College District, overseeing one of California's largest community college systems. Prior to his career in higher education, he served in various roles in the private sector with major corporations where he was responsible for operations, including finance, technology, capital projects, global strategy, and marketing. Early in his career he served...
Feb 18, 2025•34 min•Ep. 207
In this Convo of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, Ted speaks with Dr. Jennifer Bousselot, Assistant Professor at Colorado State University (CSU) in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. Jennifer is exploring new and innovative ways to improve the productivity and aesthetics of modern urban spaces by harnessing the twin powers of the sun and plantlife. She specializes and is a leading expert in green roof research on native species evaluations, plant drought tolerance, integration with ...
Feb 10, 2025•31 min•Ep. 204
In this Convo of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, Ted speaks with Michael Ware, Senior Solar Specialist at EcoMotion Inc. Michael provides expertise in solar system site inspection. He is adept at measuring roof potential and modeling the cost-effectiveness of solar investments. His financial analyses include particular attention to electricity load profiles and rates and rate changes as a result of solar. As an expert in utility rate structures and how they impact the return on investment of a given inves...
Feb 03, 2025•34 min•Ep. 205
In this episode of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, father-daughter duo, Ted and Sierra Flanigan host the clean energy crash course focusing on energy resilience, specifically on electricity, highlighting the importance of durability and reliability in the face of changing climate conditions and extreme weather events. Resilience is simply keeping the lights on during utility emergencies, and more accurately, critical loads for medical equipment, communications, security systems, etc. As Southern Californi...
Jan 27, 2025•32 min•Ep. 206
