About this episode
How do you talk to local communities about climate and the work needed to make change? Host Michael Gold speaks with Jennifer Diggins, vice president of public affairs at 8 Rivers, who shares her journey from Capitol Hill to the private sector, discussing her experiences in the steel industry, lithium sector, and climate deep-tech. She emphasizes the importance of community engagement in climate technology and the evolving conversation around climate awareness, particularly within conservative circles. Jennifer also highlights the need for more women in the energy sector and the significance of building consensus around climate solutions.
Notes and resources
Full Transcript
Michael (00:00)
Hello everyone, and welcome to Climate Swings, the show for people reaching for the next vine of climate and sustainability in their professional lives, produced in partnership with climate education and action platform, Terra.do. I’m your host, Michael Gold.
Michael (00:22)
On today’s episode, I’m speaking with Jennifer Diggins. Jennifer is vice president of public affairs at 8 Rivers, a climate technology company that works on decarbonization solutions in the energy supply chain, including hydrogen and carbon capture and storage. Jennifer and I have a wide-ranging discussion about her swings from Capitol Hill to the steel industry, to the lithium sector, to climate deep tech. She shares her views on the importance of building consensus around climate and getting buy-in from local communities for climate tech projects, how more women can get involved in climate work, the evolution of climate awareness among political conservatives, and some predictions for climate funding after this year’s presidential election.
Michael (01:09)
Jennifer Diggins, welcome to Climate Swings. So happy to have you here.
Jennifer (01:13)
Very happy to be here, Michael. Thanks for the invitation.
Michael (01:17)
So could you start with perhaps just a quick sketch of your career to this point and your current role?
Jennifer (01:25)
Yeah, happy to. So I’ve always been in public affairs in some form or another and from a very young age knew that I wanted to be in politics, dating back to Ronald Reagan and getting his jelly bean jar for my, I think my 12th birthday. So always knew that that’s how things would line up for me. And so I’ve gone through many different phases, working on Capitol Hill, working for state government. And currently I’m the vice president of global public affairs for a climate technology company called 8 Rivers and we’re based in Durham, North Carolina.
Michael (02:05)
And what has inspired you to pursue your current career path up to this point?
Jennifer (02:11)
You know, when I think about the different governmental systems globally and the ability of citizens and organizations to sort of impact policy, make policy work for them, you know, seeking fair policy, that has really always been a key driver for me. And so I’ve always looked to be in organizations that are in the manufacturing space or really in the thought leadership space, because I think the ability to utilize rules and regulations and policies to make the world better has always just brought me so much satisfaction.
Michael (02:47)
And how come you didn’t pursue politics work as a career? You started in politics and now you work in the private sector; what inspired that shift?
Jennifer (02:59)
I always thought I would end up in politics and I don’t think that that door is completely closed because I do have a servant leadership bent certainly in me. But I think when I was on Capitol Hill, it was at a time that things were incredibly divisive and it felt like I wasn’t really having the impact that I thought that I would have.
And it became clear to me that I could be more impactful on the issues that I was passionate about on the outside. So fully understanding how the process worked was really incredible and important and I’m so glad I had that experience. But I knew after four years it was time for me to take that expertise into an organization so that I could be more effective on things that I was truly motivated by, things like manufacturing policy, on securing jobs here in the United States, securing technology and IP to benefit US companies. And that’s really what was driving me at the time. And that’s when I shifted from being on Capitol Hill into the steel industry.
Michael (04:10)
So just for context, what years were we talking about that you were on Capitol Hill?
Jennifer (04:15)
So I was on Capitol Hill from 2001 to 2005. And what I think is pretty interesting about that stint is I worked for Congressman Rob Simmons, who was from Connecticut. And I’d actually been his college intern when he was a state representative. And it was a very marginal district in Connecticut. He had spent 25 years in the CIA and had run the Senate Intelligence Committee under Barry Goldwater. And we got elected in January of 2001, we took office, which was just eight months prior to September 11th. And we were freshmen and typically freshmen congressmen are not well known. And we, you just kind of hide out and, you know, practice your policy chops, but we really got thrust into the limelight with September 11th with his CIA background. And so we went on to really have a pretty significant impact on national security policy, on energy policy and issues like that. So it was a very fascinating time and it was an experience I’m so thrilled that I had and he is an incredible statesman. So I was very lucky to work for a man who really just wanted to serve his country in the best way he knew how.
Michael (05:42)
But you mentioned that you didn’t see yourself making the kind of impact that you thought you would. Could you go into a little more detail about that?
Jennifer (05:50)
You know, think, you know, as a staff, a congressional staffer, your job is to support your boss and the party that your boss is affiliated with. And so we were, you know, it’s a Republican party and President George W. Bush was in the White House, September 11th had happened. That really took on a lot of our focus. But as we got several years removed from that, just seeing sort of the stalling of major pieces of legislation in the energy world, in the manufacturing world. You just realize how difficult it was to really move those large pieces of policy forward. And your ability to do that as a staffer is somewhat limited by the committees your boss serves on, the jurisdiction of that. And I saw myself really developing a passion around energy policy because really when you think about it, every part of your life is touched by energy. And as Americans, we have the benefit of really never thinking about that. We flip on a light switch when we get home from work and our house lights up and the air conditioner is set to a certain level. What goes on behind the scenes for everything from energy reliability, energy security, and energy affordability is so incredibly important in everything that we do. And I just found myself being more drawn into the nuances of that policy and wanted to really get into a sector where I could really focus on that and affect change.
The way that that shifted for me was getting into the steel industry and working for an American industry, working for American jobs, but also an industry that is among the most energy intensive in the world. And so your ability to compete really comes down to your costs. So that goes, that affects everything. Where do you cite a steel mill, right? What is your energy mix? How does that feed into your, your climate profile and the impact that you’re having, it all comes back to that energy issue. And so I knew by taking that job in the steel industry that I would really be able to do a deep dive on energy policy, not just on the federal level, but also in the states, understand where they were, understand how that would impact the manufacturing base, but what are the key things we can also do to drive further energy policy that really provides a competitive landscape and an equal playing field for our US manufacturing base.
Michael (08:44)
So you worked in the policy and public affairs space in the steel industry in your first job after Capitol Hill, is that right?
Jennifer (08:52)
I did, yes, I went from working on Capitol Hill to working in a trade association called the American Iron and Steel Institute. And they represented North American steel companies at both sides of the steelmaking process, the traditional side of the steelmaking process where you use iron ore, but also the recycling side of the steel industry. And after about five years there, I actually went in-house to Nucor Steel, which is the largest steel maker in North America and the largest use of recycled steel. So I was able, and again though, when you are a steel recycler, you are incredibly energy dependent and incredibly energy intensive. And so you’re using, at the time I believe it was 99 percent recycled steel, you, you didn’t want that to be negated by a dirty power mix. And so then you’re able to really think about the states that you’re locating in, what that looks like, and then what are the things you can do from an energy point of view around your steel mills to lessen that carbon intensity. And so it gave you a lot of creative license to think about how that policy should be shaped.
Michael (10:11)
And how long were you in the steel industry for?
Jennifer (10:14)
Twelve years. I was in the steel industry for 12 years and it was an incredibly proud time of my professional career. Absolutely the best people to work with. Nucor is, remains to this day, an incredible and innovative company. And it just, it gave me, I hope I gave as much to it as it gave to me because it really was a special time.
Michael (10:41)
And then what brought you over to 8 Rivers?
Jennifer (10:44)
Well, prior to 8 Rivers, when I transitioned out of Nucor, I actually went to work for Albemarle Corporation, which is one of the world’s largest lithium companies. And so I transitioned from energy policy as it relates to manufacturing competitiveness into actual lithium, the lithium space. So what does it mean to mine lithium, to produce lithium, to supply electric vehicle makers and energy storage providers? What does that look like? How are you possibly going to meet demand? Where are the places that you are able to develop these resources in a thoughtful manner? And then this is really where I got— dipped my feet in with community work. So how are you showing up in the communities where you’re having, whether it’s a lithium mine or a lithium resource that you’re harvesting? So how are you showing up? What are the agreements you’re making with those local communities? And then, because it was such a new industry, how are you working with, whether it’s community colleges or technical schools, to develop your workforce of the future. So that as these resources come online, you’ve already invested in giving local communities and the local workforce the skills that they need to one day work in this future energy industry. And so I did that for five years and that required me spending an incredible amount of time in Australia and China and Europe and in South America, which was an incredible experience, both from having to learn about how these governments function so differently, how they view their lithium resources, but also how communities globally are just so different. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. It’s meeting people where they’re at, and everybody’s got a different readiness level for how you extract their natural resources. So that was just an incredible experience. And after five years there, 8 Rivers came calling and I thought that it was a fascinating idea of me going from what had been very large corporations and trying to see what I could do in the startup world and really jumping into the technology side of climate and energy policy, which is something I had not done before. And so that was the conversation that led me to join 8 Rivers and establish a public affairs function. And so that consists of global government affairs, our external and internal communications, and also our community affairs.
Michael (13:44)
And you’ve been at 8 Rivers now for how long?
Jennifer (13:47)
I’ve been at 8 Rivers for two years, but in startup world, I joke they’re like dog years. So I feel like maybe 14.
Michael (13:56)
So it sounds like you cultivated an interest in the energy space very early on in your career. At what point did you start to feel like you were working in the climate space and how in general has that idea of working in climate come to you over your career.
Jennifer (14:18)
It’s a great question. I think if I really think back, working at Nucor was my first introduction into the climate space. And I’ll tell you why. At the time, Congress was seriously considering implementing a cap-and-trade program in the United States, which would have really impacted manufacturers.
It was an educational process that I had to undertake with members of Congress that, you know, one-size-fits-all at that time, where the technology for steelmaking was at was simply not going to work. And you had the real potential to drive jobs offshore. And we saw some of that happening in Europe when they implemented their ETS, emissions trading scheme. Within the EU, you saw a lot of steel making shut down or shift to other countries, and that was simply because the price of energy just became too prohibitive. And when you’re a trade-sensitive good that’s a key input and and sometimes the cost of your energy is more than the cost of your labor so can be very significant.
So it was educating around what does it mean to be a company that wants to be responsible to the climate that has a very strong commitment, but also needs to be able to compete. So how do you then address climate change and how do you look to solve the problem Congress was looking to solve in such a way that you are not, you’re not forsaking these key industries that serve as the backbone of the country. And so that really was my introduction into climate. That sort of morphed and shifted in the lithium space because now here we are as lithium, and that is in theory a climate solution or certainly an important tool in the toolbox as you’re addressing climate change, but then you have to deal with the other side of what does it mean to be an extractive industry and the climate footprint that comes with that and how you balance all of that. And so I believe very firmly that my activity in the climate space now is probably a decade in, but it has looked different at every job I am. And now here I am at 8 Rivers, where we are actually developing the solutions for energy-intensive industry and for utilities to be able to capture their carbon in such a way that they can meet their net-zero goals. And so now here we are, we are a solutions provider, which is helping me look at climate from an even different lens.
Michael (17:09)
So you obviously started your career working in conservative politics and heavy industry companies have a fairly politically conservative bent. How have you seen the discussion about climate play out in those kinds of spaces?
Jennifer (17:25)
You know, if I really think back to when I first joined the Hill in 2001, climate change was not discussed. It was not taken seriously. But then you fast forward to, say, 2010 and we’ve got a real push congressionally for a cap-and-trade program. That then falls out of favor and you’ve got Congress kind of nipping around the edges of climate change. But now here we are, I guess the Inflation Reduction Act is two years old now and you have this major policy introduction from two years ago of not only the IRA but the infrastructure bill that literally provided billions and became like the shot in the arm for this nascent industry to get up and running, and a federal government that’s willing to take risks on technology that maybe hasn’t been completely proven out, but recognizes the role that they play in helping that industry get there and get to that technically sound, economically feasible stage. So it’s interesting because it has changed so drastically in these 20 years, but it’s also very exciting.
Michael (18:48)
So there were obviously no Republican votes on the IRA. Do you find conservative movement in general not keeping a pace what needs to happen in order to combat climate change or implementing the best tools to do so?
Jennifer (19:03)
I think I don’t know the answer to that yet. I would say that the IRA wrongly became partisan and it was unfortunate because I think when we look back on the IRA and its effectiveness a few years from now, we’ll find that the majority of those projects that ultimately are successful are going to be in your quote unquote red states.
And so they will be in states that have, whether it’s a Republican delegation in Congress or a Republican governor, that they will be benefiting from these. Because as an industry, when you look to cite these projects, you’re going to look in your typical energy corridors where there’s already the existing infrastructure that you need to tap into. That also means you have your existing skilled workforce, you’re close to ports. I mean, it just checks all the boxes. And so I think if we revisit this in a few years, once those projects have significant steel in the ground or they’re up and running, there will be a different view of what that money meant. And I think you’d be hard pressed to find members of Congress that don’t, aren’t excited about bringing new industry into their state. And that’s exactly what the climate-tech industry is.
Michael (20:32)
So thinking about your career and your current role, what would you say your contribution has been toward fighting climate change? What do you see the most impactful part of your work in this regard?
Jennifer (20:45)
The most impactful part of my job to date has been my community outreach. And I’ll tell you why. You know, we are a new industry. As a new industry, you are representing new technologies. The average American is not up-to-date on what direct air capture means versus what carbon capture means versus what zero emissions means. When you sit down with the average person who’s not in the energy sector and you explain to them that we’re creating technology that can literally clean the air as they’re breathing it, it sounds like it’s almost like a Jetsons moment. You’re gonna get in your flying car, right? So it’s an opportunity to educate and build supporters, but it’s also an opportunity to, right in that moment, address their concerns. I think when you think about what we think the concerns would be, oftentimes they’re not, they’re a lot more local, they’re a lot more personal. If I am a person with a house nearby a carbon capture facility and all of a sudden I read in the paper that you’re going to be pumping CO2 underground, under my house, What does that mean for me? And oftentimes just having that conversation can absolutely bring comfort and help create supporters. But if we don’t have those conversations, then we’re going to lose our narrative. We’re going to lose what we’re trying to accomplish here. And so it’s been incredibly satisfying to me to be able to have these conversations with communities globally and educate them, but also educate myself on what really matters to people.
Michael (22:42)
What are some of the best strategies that you’ve found to have those conversations, especially with people for whom climate change may be a distant concern or that they may not even believe it’s happening at all?
Jennifer (22:54)
One is to be absolutely transparent with what it is you’re trying to do and what that technology does. For people who are not spending each day concerned about climate change, they’re spending each day concerned about the impacts of the economy on their wallet. So how does this contribute to lower energy prices? And going back to my initial comments around energy supply and energy reliability, how are we contributing to that? What do the jobs look like? What do these jobs of the future look like? When you describe that you’re building a facility that’s maybe 1/20 the size of a energy facility they’re used to, like when you look at typical LNG facilities and you say this, this facility is going to bring 100 jobs, helping them see how meaningful they are. What does that pay look like? What does the runway look like for those positions? How are you investing in that workforce? Those are the things that become critically important. They want to know that you’re making their community better than what you found it, and that’s an obligation that we all have.
Michael (24:07)
So it’s kind of a mixture of jobs, economic growth, clean air, clean water, community resilience. Are those all good?
Jennifer (24:13)
Mm -hmm. That’s exactly right. That is exactly right.
Michael (24:18)
Do you talk about climate change in the sort of existential sense that we hear a lot about in the media and, among climate practitioners? How do you find that those messages land?
Jennifer (24:31)
The messages around climate change land differently based on people’s perspective and where they’re from. There are going to be some communities, especially environmental justice communities that have been on the forefront of each part of the energy revolution and they’ve paid for it.
You’ve got climate change happening for real in those communities. So they’ve got a keen interest in that. You’ve got other communities that are further removed. And so for them it’s more of, not only that local impact but the global impact, right? How does this contribute into the global economy? You know, I think for a lot of people understanding that what they do at home can impact what the rest of the world is seeing can be very powerful. But it really comes down to meeting people where they’re at and helping them relate to it as it impacts their daily life. And that just looks so different based on every community you go into.
Michael (25:42)
How do messages about decarbonization and getting off fossil fuels, how do those messages land with the people you speak with?
Jennifer (25:50)
Well, know, 8 Rivers does not make it a secret that our technology in large part is beneficial to the fossil fuel industry and helping them clean up. I think if we are looking to get to the end goal of net zero, then we have to meet people, countries and industries where they’re at and fossil fuels still play an incredibly huge role in powering the bulk of the world. So if we can be a technology solutions provider that helps them decarbonize those fuel sources, that is a huge contribution that we can make. And part of my job in public affairs is helping get that message out that we have technologies available today that are economical, that are scalable, that help people decarbonize the energy sources that are bountiful and plentiful today. And that’s really important. We can’t ignore the good in pursuit of perfection, or we’re never going to get to net zero. Those gains, those big gains need to start being made now. And we have to meet industries and countries where they’re at and realistically look at what we can do to help them be cleaner today, not keep tinkering with things in the hopes that we can launch something in a decade. Net zero, if it’s ever going to be met, has already started. That journey has started. We are all on it and we need to provide solutions that are applicable for today.
Michael (27:34)
And so what do you say to people who will claim that working with fossil fuel companies is antithetical to fighting climate change and carbon capture is not a real solution? How do you push back on those kinds of arguments?
Jennifer (27:46)
Well, I think it’s unfair and I think it’s a convenient narrative that is not actually based in any of the research and science that has gone on. It’s an easy story to tell, but it’s not a fair story to tell. The reality is that unless we are willing to invest as what we’re seeing the US do in the Inflation Reduction Act, none of these technologies will ever launch at mass scale, nor will the ability to improve upon them ever happen. We literally have to start somewhere. And when you look at what the IRA has done in terms of fueling such a broad cross-section of carbon capture technologies, it’s just been an incredible catalyst.
We’ve got companies that have been investing for years in developing these different technologies. Each one is a different solution for another one. But we’re not going to suddenly not need fossil fuels in this country for our energy needs. So being able to understand what solutions exist for what problems is incredibly important. And like I said, I feel very strongly that if we wait until we only have green ammonia or we only have green hydrogen, we’ll be waiting a long time and the rest of the world will not be able to decarbonize because they’re waiting on us for that technologies and those solutions. So it’s also a global obligation to understand how we capitalize on the infrastructure we have here in the US, the low energy costs that we have here, the ability to store CO2, which is not worldwide. Not everybody has that gift of being able to do that. So how do we do that in a way that’s responsible for this country, but also starts providing those global solutions?
Michael (29:48)
So you obviously work in a sector, in a space that has a lot of energy and momentum behind it, a lot of very passionate people, including yourself, but there’s also a lot of turbulence. We see funding rounds go up and go down and startups go out of business and different sectors of the clean energy economy pop in and out and go up and down. What keeps you motivated and how do you maintain kind of a sense of mission and purpose in your work given all this, all these backs-and-forths and ups-and-downs and turbulence.
Jennifer (30:20)
I think what keeps me motivated is always remembering somebody has to do it. Somebody is going to be successful. So why wouldn’t it be 8 Rivers? Why wouldn’t it be a company that has invented all its own technology that recognizes that no one technology is a silver bullet? So we have a technology suite of five different technologies that have all been invented and de-risked in-house.
To me, there’s so much opportunity for us. That’s what keeps me motivated. Ultimately, any new industry is gonna be turbulent, right? There’ll be winners and losers and there’ll be technologies that work and technologies that don’t work. But that’s kind of the thrill of it as well because we’re at this point in time where all eyes are on us. All eyes are on us.
The money is there. Hopefully we get a sound permitting overhaul bill out of Congress that removes the remaining regulatory barriers to deployment. And then it is up to us as an industry to get start getting steel in the ground and start proving out these technologies and showing what can be done. But all of that is motivation because somebody has to ultimately solve this problem. And if you can be along on the journey for that, that’s incredibly fulfilling.
Michael (31:52)
Aside from permitting, is there anything else that you would like to see out of the policy space at this point?
Jennifer (31:59)
I think we need, there needs to be quite a bit addressed. Permitting obviously is a huge part of that, but infrastructure development, transmission development, that’s all huge because if you build these projects but you don’t have the pipelines or if you can’t get it to the grid, then it’s like a tree falling in the woods.
And I think the other part of this too is, you know, the community’s ability to impact these projects and their success is pretty significant. And there needs to be almost a yin to the yang. The community input is incredibly important, but so is being able to understand how long the permitting process can take with that public input.
Because when projects get opposed, the additional cost burden that comes with that, the potential of dragging that project out a year or two, you’ve got a lot of companies in this space that do not have deep pockets. And so your ability to bring some certainty to that regulatory process, understanding a realistic permitting timeline, so you build those into your projects becomes incredibly important. So I think there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done. There needs to be better coordination between the state and the federal level on all of this as well. And if we see that happen, that will certainly help fast track some of the deployment of these announced projects.
Michael (33:38)
And have you at any point throughout your career ever felt any serious doubts about your work, especially around your ability to affect positive change?
Jennifer (33:51)
Yeah, I would honestly say I have never felt that way in any job I’ve ever had. I think there’s always a solution. It may not always be choice A, choice B, or choice C, but there is always a solution. sometimes, and I’ve had to learn this over and over again in my career, sometimes you have to be satisfied with smaller bites of the apple and not getting it all down in one bite.
Sometimes that works out for the best in a policy outcome and sometimes it results in no one actually winning, but you get on the pathway to sound policy. So I’ve never felt like giving up. I’ve never felt like something is insurmountable. Timing is everything in life. We’ll see what happens with potentially, well, with definitely a new administration in the White House, with, you know, change in control of Congress, maybe. You’ll have some governors changing out. So you have to be in this ever-willing state to be agile and nimble and change. You know, all the wind is at our back for the climate-tech industry. And so there’s never been a better time, and it’s a time where we can all be impactful.
Michael (35:14)
Yeah. I mean, there are plenty of people in the climate movement who believe that, if Trump gets elected and the Trump administration gets its hands on the IRA, that all that progress could be rolled back. But sort of what I’m hearing you say is that there’s always opportunities for solutions no matter how dark the road seems ahead. Is that right?
Jennifer (35:35)
I have to believe that there are always opportunities and, you know, to me as an industry, it’s our responsibility to get in there and educate, whether it’s a Harris administration or a Trump administration, what do these technologies do? What are we looking to accomplish and how can we become partners?
Michael (35:55)
So looking at the broad swath of climate practitioners, there are a lot of people that have been getting into this space either through a path that you’ve taken, which started kind of in the energy policy space or through science or through advocacy or through activism. How would you define the term working in climate? What does that mean to you?
Jennifer (36:15)
I think it’s a very broad term because I think you can work in climate and work in very adjacent industries that then all feed into the overall success. We are not going to tackle the issue of climate change through one leg of the stool.
And so working in climate can be like what I’m doing at 8 Rivers. It can be working for an NGO. It can be working for a government that is trying to create policy frameworks around how they treat technology. How do they do imports of, say, hydrogen? What does that look like? What does it look like for ammonia? How are they decarbonizing their industries? You can—you can be in climate as a recycler of plastic bags, right? I mean, I think everybody conceivably can be in the climate game. So I think when we look at that, we have to look at broadly what that contribution looks like, but we all have a role to play.
Michael (37:18)
What do you think some characteristics for people who work in climate should be? What kind of things do think they should keep in mind working in this space?
Jennifer (37:29)
If you want to be successful in this space today, you absolutely have to be nimble. You have to be agile. You also have to be incredibly creative, because these are unchartered waters that we’re all in right now. So come with a solutions-oriented mindset. Be completely open, and be willing to be creative. Because I think if you had said to someone five years ago, we’re going to create new codes in the IRS book for climate technologies that have yet to be developed yet. Everybody would have said you’re crazy, right? But here we are. It’s a brand new world and there’s so much to be had, but you just have to be creative and understand there are going to be ups and downs, right? We are—this is all brand new for a lot of us and there will be technologies that work and technologies that don’t. But you can’t give up. You have to just keep searching for what those right answers are and be willing to actually think about solutions to problems, right? How are we addressing those problems head on? And are we keeping in mind as we scale this up that it does have to be economical. People have to be able to pay for it. People have to be want to be able to pay for it. And so, you know, we have to be practical at the same time that we have to be dreamers. And so it’s just being an incredibly flexible person.
Michael (39:04)
And what advice would you give to people who are interested in the community aspect but don’t really know where to begin?
Jennifer (39:11)
You know, from the community point of view, you have to be okay with just listening. You’re not always going to have a solution. You’re not always going to have the right answer. But like the old adage, we were given one mouth and two ears for a reason. And people, by and large, want to support their communities, they want jobs, they want economic development, but they’re going to come with their life experiences and they’re going to come with, you know, what has worked and what hasn’t and just being sympathetic and empathetic and listening. And also, I think the best thing that you can do is say, you know, guess what, you’re right. So let’s work together on a solution for these potential issues and get out ahead of it. You know, I think we as businesses, there’s this inherent fear of potential naysayers or, you know, people that may not fall completely in line with your corporate objectives. But you’ll find that just by opening up the door and giving them a venue, you build a lot more goodwill than you can imagine.
And a lot of that is just time. It’s not a ton of money. It’s not some huge corporate investment. It is making somebody available that is a decision maker, that can make decisions, that can make commitments, but most importantly can be there to help them troubleshoot and help allay their concerns.
Michael (40:54)
And as a climate practitioner for 20-plus years, what would you say the most memorable moments have been in your career?
Jennifer (41:04)
There have been a few moments, but one of the most impactful ones, and I think this is what cemented my love of policy, but also recognizing policy limitations and the importance of having somebody that can affect change, is back right out of college when I was interning for state representative Rob Simmons, who became Congressman Rob Simmons, we had a constituent who had a medical condition she couldn’t get information on because she’d been through a closed adoption. It was really, it was critical. Her life was on the line. And being an intern who was empowered to figure out how to cut through red tape in the state governmental system to get her the record she desperately needed was incredibly fulfilling and I still remember that. It gave me a purpose. It gave me a complete respect for the importance of that it was community, it was constituent outreach. It looked a little bit different than educating around carbon capture, but it was still community outreach. And that was one of the most proud moments I’ve ever had. I would say another moment was when provisions I worked on for the Buy America bill for the steel industry were adopted and went into effect. And I think that has had a huge impact on the steel industry’s ability to compete globally. And that has preserved a lot of very high paying, highly skilled jobs. And so I guess for me, the biggest successes have always come down to like helping people.
Michael (42:51)
And if you were to think, to the end of your career and what you would want people to say about the contribution that you made, what would you say?
Jennifer (43:01)
I hope the contribution I have made is making the country better through sound and thoughtful policy. And another issue that’s near and dear to my heart—that I spend a lot of time on: creating space for women in the energy industry so that they see, they see themselves, they see opportunities to contribute and really get into what has been a male-dominated field and see a future career in it.
Michael (43:33)
So actually that’s interesting—what kind of initiatives have you worked on in the women in energy space specifically?
Jennifer (43:41)
So I’ve always been involved in some sort of organization or another. When I lived in DC, it was in mentoring young women to run for office. Spent a lot of time going to high schools and talking about leadership and working on presentation skills and helping them get ready for job interviews. And then it sort of morphed through my career. And once I started getting into corporate settings, into women’s employee resource groups. And so in my last job prior to 8 Rivers at Albemarle, I was the chair of the company’s global women’s employee resource group. So a lot of things highlighting women in STEM, women engineers, and whether it’s bringing in speakers or, you know, talking about some of the challenges women face in the workplace globally and really sensitizing others to that. And then coming into 8 Rivers, I founded and started our women’s employee resource group here. And, you know, we’re a small company. We have, we’re about 65 people. Of those 65, you know, we, we’ve got a significant amount of women and young women early in their careers. And so I’ve spent a lot of time developing programs for them around mentoring and the importance of a mentor, around negotiations, how do you negotiate for yourself, whether it’s salary or time off or a promotion? And really helping them get a solid footing early in their career so that they see a pathway and a long runway in this industry for themselves.
Michael (45:27)
And is there any advice that you would give specifically to girls or women that are interested in making that swing into climate?
Jennifer (45:36)
I would say if you are thinking about it just do it. It is the energy industry of the future. We need more women. We need greater female representation. You know, I would say on the whole the recommendations I always make around the office for the women at 8 Rivers is there are no bad ideas. We are in the business of creating ideas. So don’t be afraid. Be prepared to speak up. Be prepared to own your idea. And most importantly for women, period, my number one cardinal rule is when you walk into a room, you sit at the table. Sit at the table and bring your ideas. Don’t come into the room and try to grab a chair in the background and take copious notes. Sit at the table, bring your ideas and own them.
Michael (46:39)
Well, I think that’s a great place to end. Jennifer Diggins, thank you so much for appearing on Climate Swings. This was great.
Jennifer (46:47)
Thank you, Michael. It was an honor. I really enjoyed the conversation.
Michael (46:53)
Climate Swings is produced, hosted, and edited by me, Michael Gold, with promotional support from climate education and action platform, Terra.do. Opinions expressed on the show are exclusively those of the guests and do not reflect the views of Terra.do, its founders or employees. Show notes, transcripts, and other material can be found on the podcast section of my website, wordclouds.consulting/climateswings.
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