How Business and Storytelling Are Changing Ocean Conservation

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What if the future of ocean conservation

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wasn't just built in labs, but in

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boardroom, startup

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accelerators, and global conferences?

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Because right now,

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there's a shift happening.

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Solutions are no longer being studied.

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They're being built, funded, and scaled.

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And one of the places where all of this

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comes together is a

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conference called Earth-X.

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Today, I'm joined by Peter

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Simic, the CEO of Earth-X.

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Peter brings a unique

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perspective to environmental work.

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He started his career as a

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journalist and storyteller.

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And now leads one of the largest

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convenings of business leaders,

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policymakers, investors, and

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conservationists working

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on real-world solutions.

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In this conversation, we talk about why

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collaboration across the

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industries is critical,

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how market-driven solutions

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are changing conservation,

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and why storytelling might be one of the

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most powerful tools we have.

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This episode is going to give you a

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behind-the-scenes look at how solutions

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actually move forward in today's world.

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This is the How to

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Protect the Ocean podcast.

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And if you want to learn more about

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things like Earth-X conferences or other

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conferences that are happening in and

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around the world that

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you might be interested in,

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or you just want to learn about the

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ocean, you want to hit that follow button

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right now so you don't

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miss next week's episode.

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Now, here's the interview with Peter

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Simic talking about the

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benefits of Earth-X 2026.

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Hey, Peter, welcome to the How to Protect

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the Ocean podcast. Are you

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ready to talk about Earth-X 2026?

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Let's do it.

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All right.

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Look, I am very excited for this

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interview because I am a big

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supporter of Earth-X in general.

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I've actually been on Earth-X back in the

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day, a few years ago during COVID, doing

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some Oceans Week work with Ross Mason,

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which was a lot of fun.

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I feel like I really love the mission of

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Earth-X and the conferences and how they

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bring together so many

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different people from science,

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professional backgrounds, different

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professional backgrounds, different parts

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of the world, and bring together people

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on finding solutions to help our planet,

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not just the ocean, but help our planet.

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But as you know, the ocean takes up more

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than two-thirds of the planet, almost

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three-quarters, and so it's a very

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important part of protecting the Earth.

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And so we talk a lot about it at Earth-X.

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And so I'm very, very happy to have you

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on Peter to be able to talk about that.

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So we're going to get

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into the conference.

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We're going to get into a

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little bit of background on you.

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Before we get into all that, why don't

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you just let us know who

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you are and what you do.

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Thanks, Andrew. I'm Peter Simic.

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I'm the CEO of Earth-X.

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I've been CEO for about seven months or

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so, but with the organization for longer

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than that, for about four years, kind of

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working on the conference side and

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programming and messaging and helping to

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build this incredible organization.

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I have the privilege of working for it.

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That's awesome. Now you have a background

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in journalism and media and so forth.

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So what, for you, what personally led you

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to work with an organization in the

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environmental space in

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general, not just Earth-X?

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Sure. I mean, yeah, my background, I was

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a journalist for most of my career before

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joining Earth-X, but, you know, there's

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different kinds of journalists.

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And I was mostly a long form magazine

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journalist and a columnist.

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So I always had a bent and a point of

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view and kind of almost, I guess, one of

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the buzzy terms is

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like activist journalism.

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But I wasn't quite that far. But I

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always, you know, was writing about

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things I cared about.

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And so my role is sort of using

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storytelling as a force for good and

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moving our society towards, you know, at

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least awareness, if not realization and

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action on critical issues.

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And the more I was doing that, especially

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last several years, I found myself

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gravitating more towards writing about environmental issues.

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In a certain sense, you couldn't write

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about anything without it having some

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environmental element as part of it,

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because, you know, we live in this

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interconnected, you know, social

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ecosystem that the environment is more

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and more just a day to day concern and

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how how we live is

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affecting the broader planet.

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So it was about four years ago, a friend

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of mine who had been working with Earth-X

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and building up new partnerships with

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groups like the United Nations.

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And actually, my first job work with

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Earth-X was I worked on a

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media campaign with the UN.

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So it wasn't as huge a jump. It was very

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much like I could use my background in

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storytelling and messaging and media to

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kind of help raise the volume on some of

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the critical issues facing the planet.

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Absolutely. Did you were you ever like

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when you grew up, were you a kid who was

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very in tune with the environment or just

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interested in the environment or just

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kind of like, you know,

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it's part of the day to day.

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You just go through it or you kid who was

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in the ponds looking for

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frogs and that kind of stuff.

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That's funny. No, I'm thinking I'm

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thinking about what my mom would say if

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she if I'm not because there was a point

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where like the joke was I wouldn't go

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outside like I like in a nature such a

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city kid as like a

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skateboarder, but no, that's not.

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But no, I grew up in New York on the

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island near the ocean. So like going to

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the beach, being on the sea, being in the

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water is just a key part of life.

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And I think when it gets in you at a

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young age, it never really leaves you.

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And so that was always sort of the

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gateway to nature was

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just being in the water.

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And yeah, I remember as a kid, we would

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get dragged to these summer camps and

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like it was like a pond. But

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I was a terrible fisherman.

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I joined the hiking club in high school.

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And after about a year and a half for

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that, I figured there are better ways to

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spend a Saturday. Yeah. So I was

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definitely not like a Boy Scout, you

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know, building a

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building makeshift thing.

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It was really later in life after, you

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know, I lived in various cities around

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the world and very much was my early

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journalism was arts and

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culture and very much of society.

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But then it was kind of later on that,

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you know, I started to I think it was I

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forget maybe in my mid

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thirties. I won one birthday.

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I decided I was going to go buy a tent

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and go to Big Bend National Park and live

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out in the wilderness. You know, like

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life sometimes pushes you in those

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directions and realize that nature is

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there for you in ways

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that you don't expect.

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And so that's my entry into a lot of

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this. It's like I want to work to save

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the planet because I think it's given

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given me so much. And it's yeah, of

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course, it's not just, you know, in all

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the ways we talk about between climate

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and conservation, ocean health and yeah,

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you know, food and resources.

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But there's just almost like, is that

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spiritual connection to it where it's

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like, this is our this is our home. I

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completely agree. I had a very similar

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kind of upbringing. I was I did not live

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by the ocean, but I lived in the city.

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And so everything was a concrete

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surrounded and we had the Great Lakes

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around us. I grew up in Toronto. And and

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so you go there and you enjoy being in

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the water. You enjoy going to cottages

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and things like that. But for the most

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part, my introduction

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was it was a documentary.

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It was the Jacque Cousteau documentaries

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that would come out. And that's when I

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really fell in love with the ocean. And

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then I went to the ocean to Florida for

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the first time. I actually stepped foot

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in this. No, looking back, I knew exactly

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what I wanted to do after that.

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And I think as I think as we grow into

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adults and we start to realize how

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important nature is, we start to really

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be aware and appreciate it more,

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especially for me as

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a parent of two girls.

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I know I've always like, oh, this is this

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is something that's interesting. I've

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never been a huge camper. I've enjoyed

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hiking and stuff like that. But I find as

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I grow older, I definitely enjoy nature a

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lot more than I did when I kid, maybe

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because I just appreciate it more. I have

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I have more that maturity to to

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appreciate it more. But I love that. I

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love that answer. Now, you know, I love

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the fact that you came from a journalist

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background and you mentioned a lot about

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storytelling and how you can use your

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skills and storytelling to be able to to decide what you want to do.

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And I think that's a great way to be able

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to discuss a lot and probably connect

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with an audience around environmentalism

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and so forth. Now, you know, a lot of the

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times when I first got into science, when

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I first got into storytelling through the

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podcast and YouTube channel and so forth,

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a lot of the stuff I was talking about

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was doom and gloom to make people aware

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of what was happening into the ocean.

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I was like, Andrew, I've I've listened to

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your stuff, but it's just it's too

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depressing. I can't I can't hear it

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anymore. From your background in your

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skill set, when you started to do these

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campaigns with like the UN. So what was

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your approach when you started to do

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these campaigns to get people interested?

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Like you talked a lot about culture and

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things like that in your in your past.

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How were you getting people interested in protecting the oceans or just protecting the planet?

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And walked into it because now I have to

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tell the story of the giant dinosaur. So

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the UN campaign that I worked for is

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called Don't Choose Extinction. And it

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was developed maybe four or five years

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ago, UNDP brought in a bunch of agencies

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and tried to answer exactly that question. This is this big doom and gloom topic.

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It's serious. It's there's a need for

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urgency. But how can we think about

270
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messaging something like climate with a

271
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little bit of humor, a little make it a

272
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little bit more approachable? And the

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idea was they created a giant animated

274
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dinosaur called Frankie who came back to life in this video that they created, stormed the United Nations and made a plea to the world saying my species didn't have a choice. We were hit by giant asteroids. And they were like, I'm not going to do this.

275
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But the magic of that was they translated

276
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this this campaign video into I think 40

277
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plus languages using a different

278
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celebrity to voice the language to voice the different languages. So Jack Black was the English voice. Nikolai Castowato from the Game of Thrones was the Danish voice. And so that campaign video was created by the people who were using the language to voice the language.

279
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And so that campaign became viral. And

280
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when I came on a friend and I we were

281
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like, how do we how do we take this

282
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campaign and kind of sustain its life

283
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beyond that sort of initial campaign

284
00:09:31,125 --> 00:09:32,833
launch? And then and he had the amazing

285
00:09:32,833 --> 00:09:34,333
idea of like, why don't we create a life size dinosaur? And we ended up traveling around the world for a year and a half of this giant dinosaur bringing it to places like Kigali Rwanda and the canned lions festival.

286
00:09:44,041 --> 00:09:46,458
And we were in Times Square. We got on,

287
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you know, got interviewed by Telemundo in

288
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the middle of Times Square because you

289
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realize if you bring this giant dinosaur

290
00:09:52,333 --> 00:09:53,625
around, everyone's like, what is

291
00:09:53,625 --> 00:09:55,333
happening? And how do I get a picture with it? Figure out. But at the end of the day, we were we were raising awareness around this campaign. And I think that's it. It's like I'm a big fan of Catherine Hayhoe who wrote this.

292
00:10:00,666 --> 00:10:02,375
And I think that's it. It's like I'm a

293
00:10:02,375 --> 00:10:05,291
big fan of Catherine Hayhoe who wrote an

294
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amazing book about how do you message

295
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things like climate to places in the

296
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middle of the country to faith groups to

297
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people who not just don't engage in the

298
00:10:14,500 --> 00:10:16,333
issue a lot, but the way that we've talked about climate and maybe the way we've talked about a lot of environmental issues have almost alienated them from the conversation and created this sense that like, oh, that's not my issue because I think that's what we're doing.

299
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And so that touches into when I was a

300
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journalist and trying to understand, you

301
00:10:31,416 --> 00:10:33,416
know, characters and subjects that came

302
00:10:33,416 --> 00:10:35,166
from wildly different walks of life than

303
00:10:35,166 --> 00:10:36,750
where I'm coming from. And you have to

304
00:10:36,750 --> 00:10:37,333
kind of sit and listen and try to understand what makes them tick and what they're really motivated by
and then realize that have the confidence, I guess, that at the end of the day, we all share this.

305
00:10:37,791 --> 00:10:48,458
So it's just a matter of time of figuring

306
00:10:48,458 --> 00:10:51,750
out how do you value the planet? Is it if

307
00:10:51,750 --> 00:10:53,333
you didn't grow up surfing in the East

308
00:10:53,333 --> 00:10:55,541
coast, maybe you grew up hunting in the

309
00:10:55,541 --> 00:10:58,916
middle in the Midwest. Maybe you are a

310
00:10:58,916 --> 00:11:01,333
skier and you're dismayed by the shortening winters or maybe, you know, maybe you're really just concerned about putting food on a table and getting your kids to the east coast.

311
00:11:07,833 --> 00:11:10,458
But those things connect to environmental

312
00:11:10,458 --> 00:11:12,166
issues when you when you dig around and

313
00:11:12,166 --> 00:11:13,666
find how it's all interconnected on some

314
00:11:13,666 --> 00:11:15,291
level. So it's really just understanding

315
00:11:15,291 --> 00:11:16,541
your audience in a lot of ways.

316
00:11:16,833 --> 00:11:18,333
Absolutely. And I love that aspect of like looking at like understanding the audience, looking at connecting with that audience, you know, coming with a media background and communications background.

317
00:11:26,375 --> 00:11:28,666
Obviously, you can see that coming into

318
00:11:28,666 --> 00:11:30,708
effect right away as you as you come into

319
00:11:30,708 --> 00:11:32,666
Earth X and just deal with in sort of

320
00:11:32,666 --> 00:11:34,500
environmental issues in the first place.

321
00:11:35,041 --> 00:11:36,583
You know, it's kind of funny because many

322
00:11:36,583 --> 00:11:38,416
people look at sustainability as you

323
00:11:38,416 --> 00:11:39,333
know, with with, you know, scientists solving problems and policy makers helping solving problems. Where do you see like, like, what's the point of the problem?

324
00:11:39,375 --> 00:11:41,208
You know, scientists solving problems and

325
00:11:41,208 --> 00:11:43,958
policy makers helping solving problems?

326
00:11:44,500 --> 00:11:49,416
Where do you see like, like that media

327
00:11:49,416 --> 00:11:51,000
and communication perspective? Where do

328
00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:51,916
you see that in helping

329
00:11:51,916 --> 00:11:53,333
environmental problem solving?

330
00:11:53,375 --> 00:11:56,916
I mean, it's one of the reasons that drew

331
00:11:56,916 --> 00:11:59,666
me to Earth X, it was in in, you know, I

332
00:11:59,666 --> 00:12:01,708
was living in Dallas, Texas, Earth X is

333
00:12:01,708 --> 00:12:03,916
based in Texas, that that alone, I think

334
00:12:03,916 --> 00:12:05,500
is kind of an eyebrow razor, you don't

335
00:12:05,500 --> 00:12:08,041
find a lot of, you know, Dallas isn't the

336
00:12:08,041 --> 00:12:09,208
first city that comes to mind when you

337
00:12:09,208 --> 00:12:10,250
think environmentalism.

338
00:12:11,375 --> 00:12:14,166
Nonetheless, we have a beautiful river in

339
00:12:14,166 --> 00:12:16,458
the largest urban hardwood forest in the

340
00:12:16,458 --> 00:12:19,250
nation. But no, I think it's what drew me

341
00:12:19,250 --> 00:12:21,791
to Earth X is it was already trying to do

342
00:12:21,791 --> 00:12:23,916
that. It was already trying to message to

343
00:12:23,916 --> 00:12:24,875
groups that weren't

344
00:12:24,875 --> 00:12:26,333
engaged in these conversations.

345
00:12:26,375 --> 00:12:29,666
And I think now you look around, you

346
00:12:29,666 --> 00:12:31,083
know, our country in the world and you

347
00:12:31,083 --> 00:12:32,916
see the polarization, you see

348
00:12:32,916 --> 00:12:36,041
misinformation, you see a lot of ways in

349
00:12:36,041 --> 00:12:39,875
which we're pulled apart or sort of

350
00:12:39,875 --> 00:12:42,125
activated by the ways we message things

351
00:12:42,125 --> 00:12:45,000
for figuring out how to take these take

352
00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:46,791
these stories and take these issues and

353
00:12:46,791 --> 00:12:48,333
and and communicate them in a way that's

354
00:12:48,333 --> 00:12:49,500
makes them feel effective

355
00:12:49,500 --> 00:12:51,416
and relevant and not just the

356
00:12:52,375 --> 00:12:55,125
narrative or but also not, you know, not

357
00:12:55,125 --> 00:12:57,458
whitewash it or greenwash it or brush it

358
00:12:57,458 --> 00:12:59,958
over and realize that it's you just got

359
00:12:59,958 --> 00:13:01,666
to find the ways to to kind of

360
00:13:01,666 --> 00:13:02,833
communicate these things across across

361
00:13:02,833 --> 00:13:04,416
all the different perspectives.

362
00:13:05,125 --> 00:13:06,541
Yeah, no, absolutely. And I think that's

363
00:13:06,541 --> 00:13:09,000
that it kind of leads right into my next

364
00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,250
question, you know, to bring people

365
00:13:11,250 --> 00:13:13,083
together, you know, through media,

366
00:13:13,083 --> 00:13:14,333
through communications, through

367
00:13:14,333 --> 00:13:16,208
storytelling, you know,

368
00:13:16,208 --> 00:13:18,083
Earth X plays a big role in that.

369
00:13:18,375 --> 00:13:20,041
Can you just kind of for some of the

370
00:13:20,041 --> 00:13:22,083
listeners who aren't familiar with with

371
00:13:22,083 --> 00:13:24,416
Earth X, you just talk about what Earth X

372
00:13:24,416 --> 00:13:26,083
is and what it's what

373
00:13:26,083 --> 00:13:27,166
problems is trying to solve?

374
00:13:28,500 --> 00:13:30,375
Sure. I mean, Earth X is a 15 year old

375
00:13:30,375 --> 00:13:32,333
environmental nonprofit and it's been a

376
00:13:32,333 --> 00:13:34,916
lot of things throughout the years. I

377
00:13:34,916 --> 00:13:36,791
mean, the way I tell the story, it

378
00:13:36,791 --> 00:13:39,750
started as a street festival 15 years ago

379
00:13:39,750 --> 00:13:42,458
in Dallas, really trying to reignite the

380
00:13:42,458 --> 00:13:44,458
passion around Earth Day and hearkening

381
00:13:44,458 --> 00:13:46,583
back to this time, the early 70s, when

382
00:13:46,583 --> 00:13:47,333
Earth Day grows out of, you know,

383
00:13:47,375 --> 00:13:47,916
the early 90s, when Earth Day grows out

384
00:13:47,916 --> 00:13:50,291
of, you know, Rachel Carson, the silent

385
00:13:50,291 --> 00:13:52,375
spring revolution comes out of the

386
00:13:52,375 --> 00:13:55,041
radicalism of the 60s, but ends up

387
00:13:55,041 --> 00:13:57,583
creating a movement where you have the

388
00:13:57,583 --> 00:13:59,333
clean air, clean water acts and the EPA

389
00:13:59,333 --> 00:14:01,291
all established under republican

390
00:14:01,291 --> 00:14:02,625
administration and this real

391
00:14:02,625 --> 00:14:04,375
acknowledgment that, you know, the roots

392
00:14:04,375 --> 00:14:05,791
of environmentalism and the roots of

393
00:14:05,791 --> 00:14:07,625
environmental policy go back to this time

394
00:14:07,625 --> 00:14:08,708
where we saw a little

395
00:14:08,708 --> 00:14:10,458
bit eye to eye around that.

396
00:14:13,375 --> 00:14:13,541
And so, you know, the first time we had a conversation with
the president of the United States was at the national

397
00:14:13,541 --> 00:14:15,958
festival, trying to use almost like a big

398
00:14:15,958 --> 00:14:18,375
we took over a big park and had

399
00:14:18,375 --> 00:14:21,083
everything from kids climbing trees and

400
00:14:21,083 --> 00:14:23,541
like solar car challenge, driving races

401
00:14:23,541 --> 00:14:26,458
and tiny homes to stages where people

402
00:14:26,458 --> 00:14:28,166
were coming in and having conversations

403
00:14:28,166 --> 00:14:30,541
between a republican and democrat senator

404
00:14:30,541 --> 00:14:33,166
or people, you know, debating nuclear at

405
00:14:33,166 --> 00:14:34,500
the time when it wasn't when a lot of

406
00:14:34,500 --> 00:14:36,291
environments were like wouldn't touch

407
00:14:36,291 --> 00:14:37,875
nuclear for 10 foot pole.

408
00:14:38,375 --> 00:14:41,000
And so it was this kind of like eclectic

409
00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:43,750
mix of bringing all sides together, but

410
00:14:43,750 --> 00:14:45,833
also not being a climate organization

411
00:14:45,833 --> 00:14:48,125
almost deliberately like we're we're it's

412
00:14:48,125 --> 00:14:50,291
really about it's as much about

413
00:14:50,291 --> 00:14:51,666
celebrating the beauty

414
00:14:51,666 --> 00:14:52,625
of the natural world.

415
00:14:52,916 --> 00:14:54,958
And you mentioned, Cristo, I mean, we're

416
00:14:54,958 --> 00:14:57,416
gonna have Sylvia Earl and Bob Ballard

417
00:14:57,416 --> 00:14:59,666
and these amazing explorers at our event

418
00:14:59,666 --> 00:15:01,333
this year because that are amazing

419
00:15:01,333 --> 00:15:03,083
science communicators, but they're also

420
00:15:03,083 --> 00:15:04,416
remind us what a

421
00:15:04,416 --> 00:15:05,333
beautiful treasure this place is.

422
00:15:05,375 --> 00:15:08,333
But so Earth X was this big environmental

423
00:15:08,333 --> 00:15:10,500
festival after covid. We kind of took a

424
00:15:10,500 --> 00:15:12,208
step back and and asked ourselves a

425
00:15:12,208 --> 00:15:14,000
question like what is where does this fit

426
00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,291
in the very busy calendar of

427
00:15:16,291 --> 00:15:17,375
environmental events?

428
00:15:18,083 --> 00:15:19,916
There's obviously the cops happen every

429
00:15:19,916 --> 00:15:22,250
year, climate weeks, a huge deal is a lot

430
00:15:22,250 --> 00:15:23,708
of business and sustainability

431
00:15:23,708 --> 00:15:25,500
conferences. And I think we came back to

432
00:15:25,500 --> 00:15:27,958
that sort of original vision of where

433
00:15:27,958 --> 00:15:29,583
this connector where this group in the

434
00:15:29,583 --> 00:15:30,958
middle of the country that can talk about

435
00:15:30,958 --> 00:15:32,541
these things in a way that other

436
00:15:32,541 --> 00:15:33,333
organizations aren't.

437
00:15:33,375 --> 00:15:35,708
And we have this ability to bring the

438
00:15:35,708 --> 00:15:37,125
left and the right together, but really

439
00:15:37,125 --> 00:15:39,708
also break down barriers between

440
00:15:39,708 --> 00:15:42,625
different industry silos and have an

441
00:15:42,625 --> 00:15:44,916
event that brings together everyone from

442
00:15:44,916 --> 00:15:46,583
corporate sustainability folks to the

443
00:15:46,583 --> 00:15:48,916
energy folks to, like I said, science and

444
00:15:48,916 --> 00:15:50,500
explorers and sort of

445
00:15:50,500 --> 00:15:53,333
wide cross section of people.

446
00:15:53,583 --> 00:15:55,166
And it's a three day event that happens

447
00:15:55,166 --> 00:15:56,333
every April still around Earth Day.

448
00:15:56,375 --> 00:15:59,458
And we say it's a conference, but it's

449
00:15:59,458 --> 00:16:01,458
really it's 20 plus conferences across

450
00:16:01,458 --> 00:16:03,375
three days. It's a big it's a large

451
00:16:03,375 --> 00:16:06,416
convening of a whole wide range of

452
00:16:06,416 --> 00:16:09,291
different people looking at any number of

453
00:16:09,291 --> 00:16:10,958
solutions depending on where you're

454
00:16:10,958 --> 00:16:12,333
coming in and what's your what's your background?

455
00:16:12,375 --> 00:16:15,166
I think what that's what I love most

456
00:16:15,166 --> 00:16:17,750
about Earth actually conferences is

457
00:16:17,750 --> 00:16:20,375
because there's just so many different

458
00:16:20,375 --> 00:16:22,166
people coming through, like you mentioned

459
00:16:22,166 --> 00:16:24,041
before, different business sectors and

460
00:16:24,041 --> 00:16:25,750
different places around the world,

461
00:16:25,750 --> 00:16:27,208
different places around the country and

462
00:16:27,208 --> 00:16:28,333
different politics and so forth.

463
00:16:28,375 --> 00:16:32,291
It's a really important aspect to

464
00:16:32,291 --> 00:16:35,208
understanding global solutions around

465
00:16:35,208 --> 00:16:36,875
protecting the Earth and understanding

466
00:16:36,875 --> 00:16:38,583
and like you said, celebrating. It's not

467
00:16:38,583 --> 00:16:40,041
just protecting Earth, but celebrating

468
00:16:40,041 --> 00:16:45,333
the Earth. How do you make sure that we

469
00:16:45,333 --> 00:16:48,750
live in siloed areas, especially these

470
00:16:48,750 --> 00:16:50,333
days, you have your own communities.

471
00:16:50,375 --> 00:16:51,958
So when you get to a conference, you tend

472
00:16:51,958 --> 00:16:54,166
to hang out with the people you have most

473
00:16:54,166 --> 00:16:57,458
in common with how does the conference

474
00:16:57,458 --> 00:17:00,583
give way to ensuring that people are

475
00:17:00,583 --> 00:17:04,333
coming from a diverse set of maybe

476
00:17:04,333 --> 00:17:06,583
potential values or diverse set of

477
00:17:06,583 --> 00:17:09,125
business practices or even diverse set of

478
00:17:09,125 --> 00:17:10,416
business sectors that

479
00:17:10,416 --> 00:17:11,666
are all talking together?

480
00:17:11,916 --> 00:17:13,625
How does that I mean, you can't make

481
00:17:13,625 --> 00:17:14,833
people put it and put them on the same

482
00:17:14,833 --> 00:17:16,333
room like, hey, talk it out.

483
00:17:16,375 --> 00:17:19,375
Yeah, yeah. How does that how do you guys

484
00:17:19,375 --> 00:17:22,750
try to encourage that to happen? And when

485
00:17:22,750 --> 00:17:24,250
you see it happen, you know, what does

486
00:17:24,250 --> 00:17:26,125
that do for you for the organization?

487
00:17:27,166 --> 00:17:28,416
Yeah, that's it. That's it's something I

488
00:17:28,416 --> 00:17:30,000
think we're always working on and always

489
00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:32,208
trying to evolve. And even our format

490
00:17:32,208 --> 00:17:35,583
this year, we've evolved in from the last

491
00:17:35,583 --> 00:17:37,416
couple of years, kind of looking towards

492
00:17:37,416 --> 00:17:39,041
that. I mean, one way we program the

493
00:17:39,041 --> 00:17:42,250
conferences, Earth X will curate a

494
00:17:42,250 --> 00:17:43,875
handful of stages throughout the week.

495
00:17:44,458 --> 00:17:46,875
But we the way we get to 20 plus

496
00:17:46,875 --> 00:17:48,625
conferences and workshops and things that

497
00:17:48,625 --> 00:17:50,458
we rely on partners who will come in and

498
00:17:50,458 --> 00:17:52,625
stage their own event within our event.

499
00:17:52,625 --> 00:17:54,083
So we think of Earth X as this big 10.

500
00:17:54,708 --> 00:17:57,291
And if you either host a conference

501
00:17:57,291 --> 00:17:58,583
that's already happening somewhere else

502
00:17:58,583 --> 00:18:00,916
or want to want to stage something for

503
00:18:00,916 --> 00:18:02,750
your audience, come in and put your thing

504
00:18:02,750 --> 00:18:04,333
on underneath our big umbrella.

505
00:18:04,375 --> 00:18:06,916
And the idea there is they're bringing in

506
00:18:06,916 --> 00:18:08,083
and they have the relationships with

507
00:18:08,083 --> 00:18:09,666
their own audience that we might not have

508
00:18:09,666 --> 00:18:11,250
a relationship with. And then we

509
00:18:11,250 --> 00:18:13,500
structure the flow of the day and the and

510
00:18:13,500 --> 00:18:15,250
the three days so that there's enough

511
00:18:15,250 --> 00:18:17,291
opportunities for everyone to come

512
00:18:17,291 --> 00:18:18,500
together in plenaries to

513
00:18:18,500 --> 00:18:19,333
come together in receptions.

514
00:18:19,375 --> 00:18:22,208
There's our founder, Tramal S. Crow hosts

515
00:18:22,208 --> 00:18:25,583
an after party at his home every night

516
00:18:25,583 --> 00:18:27,375
during the conference. So there's all

517
00:18:27,375 --> 00:18:29,500
these opportunities for everyone to kind

518
00:18:29,500 --> 00:18:31,041
of get out of their shell and find the

519
00:18:31,041 --> 00:18:34,041
ways into into into other people's

520
00:18:34,041 --> 00:18:36,125
spaces. Also, when you get a badge for

521
00:18:36,125 --> 00:18:37,583
Earth X, it gets you into

522
00:18:37,583 --> 00:18:38,333
all 20 plus conferences.

523
00:18:38,375 --> 00:18:41,333
So maybe you bought a badge because you

524
00:18:41,333 --> 00:18:43,875
are are used to going to the Marine

525
00:18:43,875 --> 00:18:45,833
Technology Society's event, which they're

526
00:18:45,833 --> 00:18:47,666
doing one of their symposiums at our

527
00:18:47,666 --> 00:18:48,958
thing. It's all about blue finance

528
00:18:48,958 --> 00:18:51,791
investing in ocean economy, blue economy.

529
00:18:52,500 --> 00:18:53,916
But maybe you'll come in the day before

530
00:18:53,916 --> 00:18:55,583
because you see that some of these

531
00:18:55,583 --> 00:18:57,500
amazing ocean pioneers are speaking that

532
00:18:57,500 --> 00:19:00,166
day on the main stage. But you walk

533
00:19:00,166 --> 00:19:01,916
across the hall and you might wander into

534
00:19:01,916 --> 00:19:04,666
something about the bioeconomy or an

535
00:19:04,666 --> 00:19:05,333
agriculture conference or something like that.

536
00:19:05,375 --> 00:19:07,583
And we hope that there's enough of

537
00:19:07,583 --> 00:19:09,625
almost, you know, flip the channel type

538
00:19:09,625 --> 00:19:10,916
of experience where you can bounce

539
00:19:10,916 --> 00:19:12,541
between these rooms and just sort of

540
00:19:12,541 --> 00:19:14,500
sample different things and bump into

541
00:19:14,500 --> 00:19:16,541
people that you might not otherwise meet.

542
00:19:16,541 --> 00:19:18,333
And that's why, you know, zero week is

543
00:19:18,333 --> 00:19:20,041
the big energy conference in Houston that

544
00:19:20,041 --> 00:19:22,166
takes place this year, maybe about three

545
00:19:22,166 --> 00:19:24,458
weeks before our event, which can make it

546
00:19:24,458 --> 00:19:26,000
a challenge for finding those, you know,

547
00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:27,458
those energy speakers that you're really

548
00:19:27,458 --> 00:19:28,833
trying to lock down because I mean, you

549
00:19:28,833 --> 00:19:29,875
have the one of the most important

550
00:19:29,875 --> 00:19:32,250
convening of energy leaders. But but

551
00:19:32,250 --> 00:19:33,791
unlike something like zero week, we're

552
00:19:33,791 --> 00:19:35,333
going to have a strong energy conference.

553
00:19:35,375 --> 00:19:35,750
And so we're going to have a strong

554
00:19:35,750 --> 00:19:36,833
energy component looking at energy from

555
00:19:36,833 --> 00:19:40,000
all angles. But in our in an after party

556
00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:42,041
on a reception, you'll see an energy exec

557
00:19:42,041 --> 00:19:44,000
next to someone who's maybe a CSO for a

558
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,000
fortune 500 company next to someone who's

559
00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:50,000
doing, you know, ocean reef conservation

560
00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:52,791
or finding new economic models around

561
00:19:52,791 --> 00:19:55,541
relieving, you know, cleaning up ocean

562
00:19:55,541 --> 00:19:56,541
pollution and things like that.

563
00:19:57,375 --> 00:19:58,416
And so the goal is that you can build

564
00:19:58,416 --> 00:19:59,958
these new relationships and these new

565
00:19:59,958 --> 00:20:01,833
insights and these new perspectives on

566
00:20:01,833 --> 00:20:03,583
these different issues because sometimes

567
00:20:03,583 --> 00:20:05,333
when you get too locked in your in your

568
00:20:05,333 --> 00:20:06,958
silo, you miss other ways of thinking

569
00:20:06,958 --> 00:20:08,958
about it that you might get unlocked if

570
00:20:08,958 --> 00:20:10,458
you just happen to walk by a stage where

571
00:20:10,458 --> 00:20:11,458
someone's talking about,

572
00:20:11,791 --> 00:20:13,000
you know, butterfly habitats.

573
00:20:14,791 --> 00:20:15,166
And so you know, you're going to have to

574
00:20:15,166 --> 00:20:17,333
ask, you know, like, you mentioned

575
00:20:17,333 --> 00:20:19,333
earlier, like the world is in a very

576
00:20:19,333 --> 00:20:21,500
interesting spot right now, to say the

577
00:20:21,500 --> 00:20:22,958
least, especially from political

578
00:20:22,958 --> 00:20:25,083
spectrum, it's either this team or that

579
00:20:25,083 --> 00:20:28,375
team. And and when especially when it

580
00:20:28,375 --> 00:20:29,666
comes to environment, it seems like the

581
00:20:29,666 --> 00:20:31,333
environment has been very polarized for

582
00:20:31,333 --> 00:20:32,791
some reason over the last

583
00:20:32,791 --> 00:20:34,333
like the five to 10 years or so.

584
00:20:34,375 --> 00:20:37,000
So again, you know, making sure that

585
00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:38,541
everybody's having these conversations

586
00:20:38,541 --> 00:20:40,000
and coming from the right place of

587
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:43,500
celebrating the plan. And we know that

588
00:20:43,500 --> 00:20:46,208
people on both sides of the political

589
00:20:46,208 --> 00:20:47,541
spectrum or even if they're in the

590
00:20:47,541 --> 00:20:49,833
middle, everybody loves the earth at some

591
00:20:49,833 --> 00:20:52,083
point, you know, a lot of people love it.

592
00:20:52,083 --> 00:20:53,250
They may have different reasons for it.

593
00:20:53,250 --> 00:20:55,000
But when you're when you go on vacation,

594
00:20:55,666 --> 00:20:56,875
a lot of the times you're going near

595
00:20:56,875 --> 00:20:58,500
nature or you're going to relax. And

596
00:20:58,500 --> 00:20:59,166
that's usually around

597
00:20:59,166 --> 00:21:00,333
an ocean or so forth.

598
00:21:00,375 --> 00:21:05,333
How do you encourage more positive

599
00:21:05,333 --> 00:21:08,458
dialogue than the negative dialogue that

600
00:21:08,458 --> 00:21:11,500
we see online or that we see dissipating

601
00:21:11,500 --> 00:21:14,458
in or happening in sort of different

602
00:21:14,458 --> 00:21:16,000
political political circles?

603
00:21:16,625 --> 00:21:18,750
How do we and focus everybody on

604
00:21:18,750 --> 00:21:19,708
solutions, finding

605
00:21:19,708 --> 00:21:20,833
solutions in celebration?

606
00:21:22,375 --> 00:21:23,791
Well, I think you said it. I think a lot

607
00:21:23,791 --> 00:21:26,125
of, you know, a lot of the dialogue

608
00:21:26,125 --> 00:21:27,750
around the environment over the last 20

609
00:21:27,750 --> 00:21:31,000
years, really, and and kudos to Al Gore

610
00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:32,583
for raising the volume on

611
00:21:32,583 --> 00:21:34,375
the on the climate crisis.

612
00:21:35,041 --> 00:21:37,916
But at the same time, I think you had a

613
00:21:37,916 --> 00:21:39,916
kind of implicit rhetoric around that

614
00:21:39,916 --> 00:21:41,458
that was really about these are bad

615
00:21:41,458 --> 00:21:42,583
things are about to happen

616
00:21:42,583 --> 00:21:43,333
to us and we need to act now.

617
00:21:43,375 --> 00:21:46,500
And I think that that is certainly a

618
00:21:46,500 --> 00:21:48,166
motivator in human behavior, but it's not

619
00:21:48,166 --> 00:21:49,666
the only motivator. And I think what

620
00:21:49,666 --> 00:21:51,125
happens is you become discouraged and

621
00:21:51,125 --> 00:21:52,875
sometimes cut off and shut down.

622
00:21:53,250 --> 00:21:54,541
And I think you said it. It's how do you

623
00:21:54,541 --> 00:21:57,500
find the way to focus more on solutions

624
00:21:57,500 --> 00:21:59,625
and that there are these inspiring

625
00:21:59,625 --> 00:22:01,208
stories and there are these inspiring

626
00:22:01,208 --> 00:22:03,041
technologies and we do have the tools to

627
00:22:03,041 --> 00:22:05,375
be more effective than we might otherwise

628
00:22:05,375 --> 00:22:08,250
think when you you think about the scale

629
00:22:08,250 --> 00:22:09,333
of some of the issues and talk about it.

630
00:22:10,083 --> 00:22:10,250
And I think that's what we need to talk

631
00:22:10,250 --> 00:22:11,583
about is easy to talk about climate a

632
00:22:11,583 --> 00:22:12,916
lot, but even things like biodiversity

633
00:22:12,916 --> 00:22:15,666
loss and mass extinction, these sort of

634
00:22:15,666 --> 00:22:19,291
almost inconceivable kind of global

635
00:22:19,291 --> 00:22:21,625
issues that as an individual, they can

636
00:22:21,625 --> 00:22:23,291
feel so overwhelming and daunting that

637
00:22:23,291 --> 00:22:24,333
you just kind of shut down.

638
00:22:24,833 --> 00:22:27,000
But it's thinking about solutions, things

639
00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:28,541
that people can do individually. And then

640
00:22:28,541 --> 00:22:30,583
another thing we really lean on is

641
00:22:30,583 --> 00:22:32,375
looking at sort of market based

642
00:22:32,375 --> 00:22:34,541
approaches to some of these issues. So

643
00:22:34,541 --> 00:22:37,250
you can kind of bypass why people care

644
00:22:37,250 --> 00:22:39,500
about things or what their motivation is

645
00:22:39,500 --> 00:22:41,083
and what their values is as long as

646
00:22:41,083 --> 00:22:43,125
they're sort of a bottom line common

647
00:22:43,125 --> 00:22:44,583
denominator where, you

648
00:22:44,583 --> 00:22:45,333
know, I'll give you an example.

649
00:22:45,375 --> 00:22:47,125
We had a group last year that actually

650
00:22:47,125 --> 00:22:50,208
won our ocean pitch competition in our

651
00:22:50,208 --> 00:22:51,958
impact investment summit called the e

652
00:22:51,958 --> 00:22:54,458
capital summit and it was a group out of

653
00:22:54,458 --> 00:22:56,541
Kentucky, which is not the first place

654
00:22:56,541 --> 00:22:58,000
you think of where an ocean

655
00:22:58,000 --> 00:22:59,500
innovator is going to come from.

656
00:22:59,500 --> 00:23:02,166
But what they did was they created this

657
00:23:02,166 --> 00:23:04,458
technology super simple and easy to

658
00:23:04,458 --> 00:23:06,375
deploys and I hope I don't butcher it,

659
00:23:06,375 --> 00:23:07,791
but it's like tiny little phosphorous

660
00:23:07,791 --> 00:23:09,541
pellets that they put in these almost

661
00:23:09,541 --> 00:23:11,041
like burlap sack looking things.

662
00:23:11,583 --> 00:23:13,583
And you drop them in wastewater,

663
00:23:13,583 --> 00:23:16,041
stormwater runoff trains in the middle of

664
00:23:16,041 --> 00:23:18,208
the bread basket of America, the

665
00:23:18,208 --> 00:23:20,416
heartland. And as there was rain and

666
00:23:20,416 --> 00:23:22,041
agricultural runoff, these things would

667
00:23:22,041 --> 00:23:24,333
capture a lot of that fertilizer runoff

668
00:23:24,333 --> 00:23:26,666
and the nitrogen before it flowed out

669
00:23:26,666 --> 00:23:28,041
into the Mississippi and down the

670
00:23:28,041 --> 00:23:29,541
Mississippi out into the Gulf where

671
00:23:29,541 --> 00:23:30,833
there's that massive dead zone.

672
00:23:31,500 --> 00:23:33,666
And so here you have this group that oh,

673
00:23:33,666 --> 00:23:34,541
and then when you take that when it

674
00:23:34,541 --> 00:23:35,916
captures all this, you can take it and

675
00:23:35,916 --> 00:23:37,958
then resell it as fertilizer to

676
00:23:37,958 --> 00:23:38,333
agricultural producers.

677
00:23:38,375 --> 00:23:40,500
Yeah, so you have this like circular

678
00:23:40,500 --> 00:23:42,625
technology that's done off of this very

679
00:23:42,625 --> 00:23:44,875
kind of almost low tech kind of tech

680
00:23:44,875 --> 00:23:48,416
ideas. And you don't need to really care

681
00:23:48,416 --> 00:23:49,916
about the ocean or have any personal

682
00:23:49,916 --> 00:23:51,458
connection to the ocean or be afraid

683
00:23:51,458 --> 00:23:53,375
about the die off of species.

684
00:23:53,625 --> 00:23:55,333
It's just, oh, this is this is a good

685
00:23:55,333 --> 00:23:57,000
business model. This actually makes a lot

686
00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:58,958
of sense. We're capturing excess

687
00:23:58,958 --> 00:24:01,666
fertilizer and reselling it and reusing

688
00:24:01,666 --> 00:24:03,333
it. How do you not get into that?

689
00:24:03,375 --> 00:24:05,166
And so I think that's part of the

690
00:24:05,166 --> 00:24:07,291
strategy is finding these bypasses where

691
00:24:07,291 --> 00:24:09,583
you don't have to get stuck in the types

692
00:24:09,583 --> 00:24:12,583
of value adjacent conversations that can

693
00:24:12,583 --> 00:24:17,416
create friction or polarization or rub up

694
00:24:17,416 --> 00:24:18,958
against people's personal identities,

695
00:24:18,958 --> 00:24:20,541
which is, I think would happen a lot in

696
00:24:20,541 --> 00:24:21,500
the environment conversation.

697
00:24:22,375 --> 00:24:24,208
Yeah, both its identity is such a great

698
00:24:24,208 --> 00:24:25,625
way of motivating people to act, but it's

699
00:24:25,625 --> 00:24:27,166
also a thing that can make you super

700
00:24:27,166 --> 00:24:29,458
defensive and you just find it, find a

701
00:24:29,458 --> 00:24:32,666
good market based excuse and you don't

702
00:24:32,666 --> 00:24:33,875
have to deal with any of that stuff. You

703
00:24:33,875 --> 00:24:36,333
just have people running successful

704
00:24:36,333 --> 00:24:37,291
businesses that help the

705
00:24:37,291 --> 00:24:38,250
planet at the same time.

706
00:24:49,375 --> 00:24:49,958
Yeah, I think that's really important.

707
00:24:49,958 --> 00:24:51,291
I've been to a number of conferences,

708
00:24:52,208 --> 00:24:53,833
including one a couple of weeks ago where

709
00:24:53,833 --> 00:24:56,666
there was a lot of talk around some great

710
00:24:56,666 --> 00:24:58,541
policies that are coming into place. The

711
00:24:58,541 --> 00:25:00,666
high seas treaty, the World Trade

712
00:25:00,666 --> 00:25:01,791
Organization subsidy

713
00:25:01,791 --> 00:25:03,541
policy that has come out.

714
00:25:04,375 --> 00:25:05,583
I think they're really great, but it was

715
00:25:05,583 --> 00:25:07,458
a lot of talk and they're new. And so we

716
00:25:07,458 --> 00:25:09,458
expect that a lot of talk, but I think

717
00:25:09,458 --> 00:25:11,291
that's what happens sometimes when we get

718
00:25:11,291 --> 00:25:14,000
wrapped up in talking about protecting

719
00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:15,541
the planet, protecting the ocean is we

720
00:25:15,541 --> 00:25:16,875
talked about all these policies and how

721
00:25:16,875 --> 00:25:18,666
good they could be. But the problem is

722
00:25:18,666 --> 00:25:21,250
the conference is all about how good

723
00:25:21,250 --> 00:25:22,541
these are going to be. But there's really

724
00:25:22,541 --> 00:25:23,916
a conference that's needed for the

725
00:25:23,916 --> 00:25:26,208
implementation of these policies and talk

726
00:25:26,208 --> 00:25:28,916
about the specific aspects of those of

727
00:25:28,916 --> 00:25:29,666
that implementation.

728
00:25:30,583 --> 00:25:32,208
What I love about Earth X is talking

729
00:25:32,208 --> 00:25:33,541
about implementation, talking about

730
00:25:33,541 --> 00:25:36,041
businesses and getting together and I

731
00:25:36,041 --> 00:25:39,000
mean what businesses to me, I started to

732
00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,000
look at this a number of years ago where

733
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:43,750
they're solutions, right? They're

734
00:25:43,750 --> 00:25:45,125
solutions to problems that people have

735
00:25:45,125 --> 00:25:47,000
and you just bring them to market and you

736
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:48,041
sell them that solution.

737
00:25:48,958 --> 00:25:51,500
I think that's a really important aspect

738
00:25:51,500 --> 00:25:54,083
to Earth X is to come up with these

739
00:25:54,083 --> 00:25:57,458
pragmatic market based solutions. And so

740
00:25:57,458 --> 00:25:59,375
you mentioned it earlier, there was a

741
00:25:59,375 --> 00:26:02,291
pitch competition during last year's

742
00:26:02,291 --> 00:26:06,791
conferences. What do you do to encourage

743
00:26:06,791 --> 00:26:09,541
people who have these ideas or on the

744
00:26:09,541 --> 00:26:11,666
precipice of these ideas when they come

745
00:26:11,666 --> 00:26:14,291
to the conference so that they can feel

746
00:26:14,291 --> 00:26:16,958
more inspired and follow

747
00:26:16,958 --> 00:26:17,333
through on some of these ideas?

748
00:26:17,375 --> 00:26:19,750
Because a lot of these ideas, they might

749
00:26:19,750 --> 00:26:21,875
not seem practical at the beginning or

750
00:26:21,875 --> 00:26:23,541
pragmatic at the beginning, but then when

751
00:26:23,541 --> 00:26:25,583
just the example you talk about is to try

752
00:26:25,583 --> 00:26:29,333
and circulate these fertilizers into more

753
00:26:29,333 --> 00:26:32,666
fertilizers like from the ocean. How does

754
00:26:32,666 --> 00:26:34,333
the conference inspire the people who are

755
00:26:34,333 --> 00:26:36,250
looking for these types of coming up with

756
00:26:36,250 --> 00:26:36,958
these types of solutions?

757
00:26:38,125 --> 00:26:39,416
That's a great crowd. I mean, it depends

758
00:26:39,416 --> 00:26:40,791
on who you are and where you're coming

759
00:26:40,791 --> 00:26:43,375
from. I mean, our e-cap summit, which is

760
00:26:43,375 --> 00:26:46,166
where that we have two pitch competitions

761
00:26:46,166 --> 00:26:48,250
that happen within that. One of the

762
00:26:48,250 --> 00:26:50,458
things that I think its goal is to match

763
00:26:50,458 --> 00:26:53,000
investment capital with innovators and

764
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:54,875
startups and founders that have these

765
00:26:54,875 --> 00:26:55,916
ideas that they're growing

766
00:26:55,916 --> 00:26:57,333
into, it's a viable businesses.

767
00:26:57,375 --> 00:27:00,500
And that's an invitation only application

768
00:27:00,500 --> 00:27:03,416
summit because we want to make sure that

769
00:27:03,416 --> 00:27:05,583
the people in the room are at the stage

770
00:27:05,583 --> 00:27:07,250
of their companies growth where any sort

771
00:27:07,250 --> 00:27:09,625
of influx of capital will actually help

772
00:27:09,625 --> 00:27:11,416
them bring it into reality.

773
00:27:11,916 --> 00:27:13,708
But at the same time, we then try to like

774
00:27:13,708 --> 00:27:15,625
the pitch competitions will showcase on

775
00:27:15,625 --> 00:27:17,041
our public stages. A lot of those

776
00:27:17,041 --> 00:27:18,625
speakers from those events will also

777
00:27:18,625 --> 00:27:19,541
speak at other parts

778
00:27:19,541 --> 00:27:21,333
during the conference.

779
00:27:21,375 --> 00:27:24,041
And then because of the success of that

780
00:27:24,041 --> 00:27:25,916
one program, several of the other

781
00:27:25,916 --> 00:27:28,000
conferences that are coming in and having

782
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:30,541
events this year at Earth X are also

783
00:27:30,541 --> 00:27:32,791
dealing with similar ideas to say, how do

784
00:27:32,791 --> 00:27:34,708
you invest in ocean, ocean economy?

785
00:27:34,708 --> 00:27:36,625
How do you invest in conservation in a

786
00:27:36,625 --> 00:27:38,958
way that is regenerative? We have a

787
00:27:38,958 --> 00:27:42,416
circular economy conference that is all

788
00:27:42,416 --> 00:27:43,458
about looking at the ways in which

789
00:27:43,458 --> 00:27:45,458
corporate stewardship plays a role in

790
00:27:45,458 --> 00:27:46,375
sort of moving some of

791
00:27:46,375 --> 00:27:47,333
these solutions at scale.

792
00:27:48,375 --> 00:27:51,166
And then, you know, what we did with that

793
00:27:51,166 --> 00:27:52,541
investment side is familiar what you

794
00:27:52,541 --> 00:27:55,166
said, the talky talk policy thing, which

795
00:27:55,166 --> 00:27:56,625
I think is a challenge of conferences.

796
00:27:56,958 --> 00:27:58,875
You hear people talking, it's like, well,

797
00:27:58,875 --> 00:28:00,500
what does it do? So this year we're

798
00:28:00,500 --> 00:28:01,833
leaning and we're trying to take that

799
00:28:01,833 --> 00:28:03,541
e-cap model and move

800
00:28:03,541 --> 00:28:04,625
it into the policy side.

801
00:28:04,916 --> 00:28:06,125
And we launched something called the

802
00:28:06,125 --> 00:28:08,791
Earth X Institute. That's going to try to

803
00:28:08,791 --> 00:28:10,875
use a convening at Earth X every year to

804
00:28:10,875 --> 00:28:12,916
kind of not just talk about policy

805
00:28:12,916 --> 00:28:14,666
innovation, but actually say, how can we

806
00:28:14,666 --> 00:28:16,458
learn from certain policy innovations and

807
00:28:16,458 --> 00:28:17,333
find out ways to move it into the policy side?

808
00:28:17,666 --> 00:28:20,000
And so we're looking this year

809
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,208
specifically at nuclear energy policy

810
00:28:22,208 --> 00:28:24,125
because Texas has really led in that

811
00:28:24,125 --> 00:28:25,583
space over the last couple of years

812
00:28:25,583 --> 00:28:27,958
because you have this amazing confluence

813
00:28:27,958 --> 00:28:32,208
of a state government that wanted to get

814
00:28:32,208 --> 00:28:34,541
behind nuclear, of academic institutions

815
00:28:34,541 --> 00:28:37,083
that were driving forward research.

816
00:28:37,291 --> 00:28:38,875
And then, of course, you know, data

817
00:28:38,875 --> 00:28:41,416
centers coming in with a lot of surge in

818
00:28:41,416 --> 00:28:43,083
energy production, a lot of new capital

819
00:28:43,083 --> 00:28:44,583
looking to invest in other

820
00:28:44,583 --> 00:28:45,791
ways of producing energy.

821
00:28:47,375 --> 00:28:48,750
And so Texas was able to pass state level

822
00:28:48,750 --> 00:28:51,125
legislation that has sort of created

823
00:28:51,125 --> 00:28:53,000
funding and created, you know, an inroads

824
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:55,583
for furthering nuclear adaptation.

825
00:28:56,041 --> 00:28:57,500
And so we're bringing in several

826
00:28:57,500 --> 00:28:59,416
lawmaking groups from across the country

827
00:28:59,416 --> 00:29:01,166
that represent other states that are

828
00:29:01,166 --> 00:29:02,750
playing with nuclear energy policy and

829
00:29:02,750 --> 00:29:03,750
trying to figure out the right way

830
00:29:03,750 --> 00:29:05,583
forward and sort of using our convening

831
00:29:05,583 --> 00:29:07,583
to have them meet and trade ideas and

832
00:29:07,583 --> 00:29:09,375
actually look at what are tangible ways

833
00:29:09,375 --> 00:29:11,291
we can not just talk about the policy

834
00:29:11,291 --> 00:29:11,958
that's on the ground,

835
00:29:12,375 --> 00:29:14,666
but find metrics and ways to produce, you

836
00:29:14,666 --> 00:29:16,000
know, sort of policy recommendations

837
00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:18,166
after the after the conference that other

838
00:29:18,166 --> 00:29:20,125
states could use to kind of look at their

839
00:29:20,125 --> 00:29:22,125
own policy metrics. So always trying to

840
00:29:22,125 --> 00:29:23,583
tweak these things and figuring out what

841
00:29:23,583 --> 00:29:24,708
are the ways that you can take a

842
00:29:24,708 --> 00:29:26,750
convening and make it more than just a

843
00:29:26,750 --> 00:29:28,083
good time and a great way to build your

844
00:29:28,083 --> 00:29:30,208
network and and a great way to learn a

845
00:29:30,208 --> 00:29:31,375
lot about what people are doing, but

846
00:29:31,375 --> 00:29:32,791
actually have these sort of tangible

847
00:29:32,791 --> 00:29:35,250
impact oriented initiatives that are sort

848
00:29:35,250 --> 00:29:36,666
of grown out of and then

849
00:29:36,666 --> 00:29:38,166
lead into the event each year.

850
00:29:38,375 --> 00:29:40,416
Yeah, the conference. Do you ever talk

851
00:29:40,416 --> 00:29:44,125
about how to make the process of bringing

852
00:29:44,125 --> 00:29:46,666
market solutions, you know, to move

853
00:29:46,666 --> 00:29:48,333
faster to help with the environmental

854
00:29:48,333 --> 00:29:49,750
crisis? Because a lot of the times these

855
00:29:49,750 --> 00:29:52,916
solutions are very new and there aren't

856
00:29:52,916 --> 00:29:54,166
any policies that are

857
00:29:54,166 --> 00:29:55,125
associated with them.

858
00:29:55,375 --> 00:29:57,000
It's just because they're so new or

859
00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:59,750
regulations or sometimes they get held up

860
00:29:59,750 --> 00:30:02,083
in regulations. Is there any talk about

861
00:30:02,083 --> 00:30:04,916
how to bring it like from idea to market,

862
00:30:06,041 --> 00:30:07,916
you know, to ensure that these these

863
00:30:07,916 --> 00:30:09,416
environment because let's be honest, like

864
00:30:09,416 --> 00:30:11,583
climate crisis, environmental crisis,

865
00:30:12,208 --> 00:30:13,791
these things are moving faster than our

866
00:30:13,791 --> 00:30:15,000
solutions are moving sometimes.

867
00:30:15,375 --> 00:30:16,791
And so there are conversations that are

868
00:30:16,791 --> 00:30:19,541
happening at the conference where there's

869
00:30:19,541 --> 00:30:21,166
ways to be like, hey, how can we

870
00:30:21,166 --> 00:30:23,000
introduce policy to make these some of

871
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:23,833
these ideas go a

872
00:30:23,833 --> 00:30:25,375
little faster and so forth?

873
00:30:25,750 --> 00:30:27,666
Yeah, I mean, you touched on it. I mean,

874
00:30:27,666 --> 00:30:29,416
I mentioned nuclear policy. One of the

875
00:30:29,416 --> 00:30:31,666
big criticisms is the the timeline and

876
00:30:31,666 --> 00:30:33,291
implementing nuclear is so long. Can you

877
00:30:33,291 --> 00:30:35,125
actually get it there? Same thing with a

878
00:30:35,125 --> 00:30:37,291
lot of these sort of startup founder

879
00:30:37,291 --> 00:30:39,000
based, you know, innovative solutions

880
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,458
that you can figure out a way to build a

881
00:30:41,458 --> 00:30:43,500
business around recapturing for, you

882
00:30:43,500 --> 00:30:44,333
know, agricultural run-on.

883
00:30:44,583 --> 00:30:45,583
Yeah, you have agricultural runoff and

884
00:30:45,583 --> 00:30:47,166
keeping out of the oceans. But how do you

885
00:30:47,166 --> 00:30:49,750
do that at scale in a way that can

886
00:30:49,750 --> 00:30:51,875
actually impact things? And I mean, it's

887
00:30:51,875 --> 00:30:52,833
a tough one. I don't know if there's an

888
00:30:52,833 --> 00:30:55,500
easy, easy, singular answer. One way

889
00:30:55,500 --> 00:30:58,250
we're approaching it this year is, you

890
00:30:58,250 --> 00:30:59,458
know, one of the things we've heard back

891
00:30:59,458 --> 00:31:01,166
in conversations over last year,

892
00:31:01,166 --> 00:31:03,250
especially as there seems to be kind of,

893
00:31:03,541 --> 00:31:05,500
if not an impasse, kind of like a

894
00:31:05,500 --> 00:31:08,041
stalling and how we approach policy at a

895
00:31:08,041 --> 00:31:09,875
federal and even international

896
00:31:09,875 --> 00:31:12,125
collaborative way that has that scale

897
00:31:12,125 --> 00:31:13,333
that can really move things at the speed that we're at.

898
00:31:13,375 --> 00:31:14,541
things at the speed that

899
00:31:14,541 --> 00:31:15,916
they need to be moving.

900
00:31:16,750 --> 00:31:17,791
We've been talking to a

901
00:31:17,791 --> 00:31:19,708
lot of corporate leaders

902
00:31:19,708 --> 00:31:21,916
that are like, well, we're

903
00:31:21,916 --> 00:31:22,916
not really putting our names

904
00:31:23,041 --> 00:31:24,125
on big environmental

905
00:31:24,125 --> 00:31:25,333
green initiatives right now.

906
00:31:25,333 --> 00:31:26,500
We're kind of keeping our head down.

907
00:31:26,500 --> 00:31:27,416
There's a feeling of uncertainty.

908
00:31:27,833 --> 00:31:29,583
There's a feeling of not knowing

909
00:31:29,583 --> 00:31:31,083
what's the right way forward.

910
00:31:31,083 --> 00:31:31,583
And so we're kind of

911
00:31:31,583 --> 00:31:32,541
taking the advantage there

912
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:34,250
to kind of bring a lot of them together

913
00:31:34,250 --> 00:31:35,958
almost in a closed door meeting to say,

914
00:31:36,375 --> 00:31:37,208
let's have a conversation

915
00:31:37,208 --> 00:31:38,416
around how we can continue

916
00:31:38,416 --> 00:31:40,583
to stay committed to these goals,

917
00:31:40,875 --> 00:31:43,000
whether they are environmental goals,

918
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:44,375
climate mitigation goals,

919
00:31:44,625 --> 00:31:45,583
circularity and

920
00:31:45,583 --> 00:31:47,666
recycling and composting goals,

921
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:50,083
so that we don't lose momentum even when

922
00:31:50,083 --> 00:31:51,583
that policy backdrop

923
00:31:51,750 --> 00:31:54,791
isn't there to really give that inertia.

924
00:31:54,791 --> 00:31:56,500
But the reality is, is like when you talk

925
00:31:56,500 --> 00:31:57,333
to a lot of these groups,

926
00:31:57,958 --> 00:31:59,625
they're dealing with onset,

927
00:32:00,083 --> 00:32:02,208
responding to European regulations that's

928
00:32:02,208 --> 00:32:03,625
accelerating some of their actions

929
00:32:03,625 --> 00:32:06,250
and then also dealing with having to be

930
00:32:06,250 --> 00:32:07,375
somewhat quiet about how they're

931
00:32:07,458 --> 00:32:10,000
sustaining some of that behavior in the

932
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,833
US at a moment where ESG has been sort of

933
00:32:12,833 --> 00:32:14,250
gutted and not their threat.

934
00:32:15,041 --> 00:32:16,000
But those are also

935
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:18,250
conversations we have at our event is,

936
00:32:18,500 --> 00:32:21,000
was ESG the right framework policy

937
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:22,750
framework for thinking about how to

938
00:32:22,750 --> 00:32:23,583
achieve some of these things?

939
00:32:23,791 --> 00:32:25,625
And I think part of it is we at the end

940
00:32:25,625 --> 00:32:28,583
of the day are a nonpartisan,

941
00:32:28,916 --> 00:32:32,208
almost agnostic organization.

942
00:32:32,500 --> 00:32:34,125
We're really about creating a space where

943
00:32:34,125 --> 00:32:35,125
everyone can come

944
00:32:35,125 --> 00:32:36,500
together with the diversity ideas

945
00:32:36,666 --> 00:32:38,500
and really talk through them in a way

946
00:32:38,500 --> 00:32:40,250
that you can't really do in a lot of

947
00:32:40,250 --> 00:32:41,125
other places these days.

948
00:32:41,625 --> 00:32:44,208
Yeah, I agree. I think when we, I think

949
00:32:44,208 --> 00:32:46,458
talking about any type of solution around

950
00:32:46,458 --> 00:32:47,541
the environment or any type

951
00:32:47,541 --> 00:32:48,125
of solution around anything

952
00:32:48,625 --> 00:32:49,625
should be nonpartisan

953
00:32:49,625 --> 00:32:51,541
because it applies to all of us.

954
00:32:51,541 --> 00:32:53,000
It doesn't matter whether, you know,

955
00:32:53,208 --> 00:32:54,125
whatever side of the aisle

956
00:32:54,125 --> 00:32:55,791
or aisles that you are on,

957
00:32:55,833 --> 00:32:58,625
it's got to be something for all of us,

958
00:32:58,625 --> 00:33:01,250
you know, so that we can all bite into

959
00:33:01,250 --> 00:33:02,625
and be able to handle

960
00:33:02,625 --> 00:33:04,250
because this is something that is going

961
00:33:04,250 --> 00:33:06,208
to affect everybody and their children

962
00:33:06,208 --> 00:33:07,291
for future generations.

963
00:33:07,500 --> 00:33:08,000
So I think I think

964
00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:08,833
that's really important.

965
00:33:09,458 --> 00:33:10,958
You know, as a marine biologist, you

966
00:33:10,958 --> 00:33:12,291
know, I find sometimes I go to

967
00:33:12,291 --> 00:33:14,166
conferences and, you know, like climate

968
00:33:14,166 --> 00:33:16,291
weeks, you know, in Toronto and New York.

969
00:33:16,583 --> 00:33:20,291
I'm always, I'm always concerned when I

970
00:33:20,291 --> 00:33:21,541
see like, you know, talk about people

971
00:33:21,541 --> 00:33:23,666
talk about climate that the ocean only

972
00:33:23,666 --> 00:33:25,916
has like an afternoon or a morning

973
00:33:25,916 --> 00:33:28,125
session on it in terms of climate when it

974
00:33:28,125 --> 00:33:29,291
plays such a big role

975
00:33:29,291 --> 00:33:31,625
in regulating climate

976
00:33:31,666 --> 00:33:34,875
and biodiversity and even just the role

977
00:33:34,875 --> 00:33:37,083
it plays in global economy.

978
00:33:37,333 --> 00:33:39,708
So how does the ocean fit into the

979
00:33:39,708 --> 00:33:40,791
broader conversations

980
00:33:40,791 --> 00:33:42,375
happening at Earth X?

981
00:33:44,208 --> 00:33:47,208
That's a great point. I think at the

982
00:33:47,208 --> 00:33:48,791
beginning you said the ocean cover two

983
00:33:48,791 --> 00:33:51,208
thirds of the planet, but it's really, I

984
00:33:51,208 --> 00:33:52,500
mean, it's part of the

985
00:33:52,500 --> 00:33:53,625
lungs of the atmosphere.

986
00:33:53,625 --> 00:33:56,583
It's it's it's part of, you know, the

987
00:33:56,583 --> 00:33:58,041
entire functioning of the whole thing.

988
00:33:58,041 --> 00:33:59,708
And so even though we're we're a

989
00:33:59,708 --> 00:34:01,208
landlocked conference, the ocean has

990
00:34:01,208 --> 00:34:02,291
always been kind of a

991
00:34:02,291 --> 00:34:04,333
core focus of what we do.

992
00:34:04,333 --> 00:34:06,208
And we've had various ocean focused

993
00:34:06,208 --> 00:34:07,291
conference over the years.

994
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:11,333
It's this year specifically. So we're

995
00:34:11,333 --> 00:34:12,416
working with a group called Marine

996
00:34:12,416 --> 00:34:14,083
Technology Society, I think I mentioned

997
00:34:14,083 --> 00:34:16,083
before that's that's putting on kind of a

998
00:34:16,083 --> 00:34:19,458
blue finance symposium where they'll be

999
00:34:19,458 --> 00:34:21,833
bringing together a lot of groups

1000
00:34:21,833 --> 00:34:23,625
exploring ways of finding.

1001
00:34:23,833 --> 00:34:26,250
Again, market based solutions to ocean

1002
00:34:26,250 --> 00:34:29,166
conservation, ocean health resources. But

1003
00:34:29,166 --> 00:34:30,875
then in addition to that, on our main

1004
00:34:30,875 --> 00:34:32,791
stage, we're exploring a lot of we've

1005
00:34:32,791 --> 00:34:34,125
brought together kind of a really

1006
00:34:34,125 --> 00:34:36,458
compelling list of ocean leaders,

1007
00:34:36,708 --> 00:34:38,541
everyone from Bob Ballard, the explorer

1008
00:34:38,541 --> 00:34:41,250
who discovered the Titanic and is now

1009
00:34:41,250 --> 00:34:43,041
sort of embarking on this

1010
00:34:43,041 --> 00:34:45,625
mission to map the ocean floor.

1011
00:34:45,625 --> 00:34:48,875
And in the end, also along with that with

1012
00:34:48,875 --> 00:34:52,250
Tim Gallaudet and some some other really

1013
00:34:52,250 --> 00:34:56,083
impressive people from naval background,

1014
00:34:56,083 --> 00:34:57,708
but also involved in ocean exploration.

1015
00:34:58,208 --> 00:35:01,083
Sylvia Earl will be there. Yeah. Richard

1016
00:35:01,083 --> 00:35:02,708
Reese, the head of the Explorer's Club is

1017
00:35:02,708 --> 00:35:04,958
also bringing in some people that are

1018
00:35:04,958 --> 00:35:05,625
involved in ocean exploration.

1019
00:35:05,625 --> 00:35:07,833
I think it's all that's being framed

1020
00:35:07,833 --> 00:35:09,666
under, you know, there's this tension of

1021
00:35:09,666 --> 00:35:12,916
that's of ocean exploration as being, you

1022
00:35:12,916 --> 00:35:14,125
know, there's national security

1023
00:35:14,125 --> 00:35:16,625
interests, there's resource exploitation

1024
00:35:16,625 --> 00:35:18,583
interests, there's general we

1025
00:35:18,583 --> 00:35:19,625
don't know what's out there.

1026
00:35:19,666 --> 00:35:21,625
And how do we make decisions around how

1027
00:35:21,625 --> 00:35:23,708
we how we, you know, either whether it's

1028
00:35:23,708 --> 00:35:26,083
deep sea mining or just maintaining

1029
00:35:26,083 --> 00:35:28,166
fisheries or understanding how to

1030
00:35:28,166 --> 00:35:30,125
maintain and control ocean health and how

1031
00:35:30,125 --> 00:35:32,625
it impacts the rest of our planet.

1032
00:35:32,625 --> 00:35:35,083
Such a key, such a key issue. So there'll

1033
00:35:35,083 --> 00:35:36,875
be ocean programming, ocean related

1034
00:35:36,875 --> 00:35:38,916
program comes kind of strung throughout

1035
00:35:38,916 --> 00:35:40,625
the three days and various formats.

1036
00:35:40,666 --> 00:35:43,625
Yeah, that's that's great. And I guess I

1037
00:35:43,625 --> 00:35:45,625
want to ask you on from a personal level,

1038
00:35:46,375 --> 00:35:48,791
you know, when you you've been to four

1039
00:35:48,791 --> 00:35:50,833
different you've helped organize and been

1040
00:35:50,833 --> 00:35:51,583
to four different events.

1041
00:35:51,583 --> 00:35:53,958
This will be your fifth at Earth X. What

1042
00:35:53,958 --> 00:35:55,250
has been like, what do you think are the

1043
00:35:55,250 --> 00:35:57,291
biggest opportunities right now for

1044
00:35:57,291 --> 00:35:59,291
investors and or innovators

1045
00:35:59,291 --> 00:36:00,625
to support ocean solutions?

1046
00:36:00,666 --> 00:36:03,166
Like, where do you see it coming out? You

1047
00:36:03,166 --> 00:36:04,791
kind of have an idea of who's coming to

1048
00:36:04,791 --> 00:36:06,250
the conference and stuff like that. But

1049
00:36:06,250 --> 00:36:08,375
where do you see is the most exciting and

1050
00:36:08,375 --> 00:36:10,166
personally, like what you what you are

1051
00:36:10,166 --> 00:36:11,208
looking forward to seeing

1052
00:36:11,208 --> 00:36:12,625
from an ocean perspective?

1053
00:36:14,125 --> 00:36:17,041
Yeah, I just think that there's there's

1054
00:36:17,041 --> 00:36:18,833
just new technologies and there's a new

1055
00:36:18,833 --> 00:36:21,583
interest in in finding ways of adapting

1056
00:36:21,583 --> 00:36:24,333
new technologies to sort of novel things

1057
00:36:24,333 --> 00:36:26,750
like how do you scale wreath restoration

1058
00:36:26,750 --> 00:36:27,583
or wreath construction?

1059
00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:30,125
How do you how do you build? How do you

1060
00:36:30,125 --> 00:36:32,000
how do you rethink how we do coastal

1061
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:34,041
development that's both resilient and

1062
00:36:34,041 --> 00:36:35,583
responsive to the

1063
00:36:35,583 --> 00:36:36,625
need to protect wetlands?

1064
00:36:36,625 --> 00:36:40,500
Where are there opportunities for carbon

1065
00:36:40,500 --> 00:36:42,625
credit and carbon renewables, renewables

1066
00:36:42,625 --> 00:36:45,500
solutions that are baked into national

1067
00:36:45,500 --> 00:36:49,041
agendas for both restoring and and and

1068
00:36:49,041 --> 00:36:50,375
building resilience and stick hosts.

1069
00:36:50,583 --> 00:36:52,750
I think, you know, we were talking about

1070
00:36:52,750 --> 00:36:54,291
some of the daunting nature in the rapid

1071
00:36:54,291 --> 00:36:56,000
pace of some of the

1072
00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:56,625
challenges around climate.

1073
00:36:56,625 --> 00:37:00,291
And I think you see that for a lot of the

1074
00:37:00,291 --> 00:37:01,625
countries, especially we do a lot of work

1075
00:37:01,625 --> 00:37:03,416
with Pacific Island nations and Caribbean

1076
00:37:03,416 --> 00:37:06,041
nations and we'll have the the

1077
00:37:06,041 --> 00:37:06,875
environmental minister

1078
00:37:06,875 --> 00:37:08,208
for Panama joining us.

1079
00:37:08,958 --> 00:37:10,916
And so there's a lot of countries that,

1080
00:37:10,916 --> 00:37:12,875
you know, this isn't an abstract far off

1081
00:37:12,875 --> 00:37:15,083
thing. This is a real front and center.

1082
00:37:15,083 --> 00:37:17,083
We need to figure out how to protect our

1083
00:37:17,083 --> 00:37:19,625
coastal countries from from the ocean.

1084
00:37:19,625 --> 00:37:22,333
And so how you can turn some of those

1085
00:37:22,333 --> 00:37:24,916
resilient activities and activations into

1086
00:37:24,916 --> 00:37:27,291
ways of developing strategies and

1087
00:37:27,291 --> 00:37:29,333
techniques that are sustainable and that

1088
00:37:29,333 --> 00:37:31,666
can that can implement new ways of

1089
00:37:31,666 --> 00:37:32,583
approaching some of these issues.

1090
00:37:32,791 --> 00:37:34,416
I think there's there's a lot of that

1091
00:37:34,416 --> 00:37:36,083
going on out there. It's exciting to see.

1092
00:37:36,291 --> 00:37:39,000
Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Now, one

1093
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:41,666
thing I'd love to hear is like, again,

1094
00:37:41,666 --> 00:37:43,041
with your experience with with Earth X

1095
00:37:43,041 --> 00:37:44,666
and bringing together these sort of like

1096
00:37:44,666 --> 00:37:45,625
unlikely partners that come together.

1097
00:37:45,666 --> 00:37:49,625
Can you talk about a collaboration that

1098
00:37:49,625 --> 00:37:52,791
potentially started at Earth X that has

1099
00:37:52,791 --> 00:37:56,000
led to some type of real world impact?

1100
00:37:56,708 --> 00:37:59,291
Yeah. So two years ago at the Capitol

1101
00:37:59,291 --> 00:38:00,958
Summit, we had two

1102
00:38:00,958 --> 00:38:01,625
congressmen come and speak.

1103
00:38:01,666 --> 00:38:05,916
One was Chuck Fleischman from Tennessee,

1104
00:38:06,166 --> 00:38:08,875
who's a Republican member of the House

1105
00:38:08,875 --> 00:38:11,708
Appropriations Committee and then a Mark

1106
00:38:11,708 --> 00:38:13,500
Vesey, a Democrat from Texas. And like

1107
00:38:13,500 --> 00:38:15,916
before the event, they knew of each

1108
00:38:15,916 --> 00:38:16,625
other, but they didn't really know each other.

1109
00:38:16,666 --> 00:38:19,583
Mark Vesey is a much younger congressman.

1110
00:38:20,583 --> 00:38:21,833
And then after the event, they had a

1111
00:38:21,833 --> 00:38:23,416
conversation on stage about sort of the

1112
00:38:23,416 --> 00:38:25,916
future of energy and sort of where

1113
00:38:25,916 --> 00:38:28,041
there's bipartisan agreement on that.

1114
00:38:28,041 --> 00:38:30,083
They went back to Capitol Hill, realized

1115
00:38:30,083 --> 00:38:31,208
their offices were

1116
00:38:31,208 --> 00:38:32,625
pretty close to each other.

1117
00:38:32,875 --> 00:38:34,500
And they started to become friends. And

1118
00:38:34,500 --> 00:38:36,375
over the next two years, they started

1119
00:38:36,375 --> 00:38:38,791
finding other ways to collaborate and

1120
00:38:38,791 --> 00:38:40,416
talk. And then earlier last year, they

1121
00:38:40,416 --> 00:38:42,958
launched the bipartisan energy caucus in

1122
00:38:42,958 --> 00:38:45,666
the Capitol. And it's this example of

1123
00:38:45,666 --> 00:38:48,041
how, you know, but for Earth X, they

1124
00:38:48,041 --> 00:38:49,416
wouldn't have come together in quite the

1125
00:38:49,416 --> 00:38:50,500
way they did come together.

1126
00:38:50,500 --> 00:38:52,041
And then even in these times where all

1127
00:38:52,041 --> 00:38:54,041
the headlines are about how impossible it

1128
00:38:54,041 --> 00:38:55,791
is to work across party lines, who are

1129
00:38:55,791 --> 00:38:58,416
two individuals who are able to find at

1130
00:38:58,416 --> 00:39:00,166
least some of that common ground and

1131
00:39:00,166 --> 00:39:01,625
build some consensus around it.

1132
00:39:01,666 --> 00:39:03,416
So those are the types of connections

1133
00:39:03,416 --> 00:39:05,958
we're trying to make and trying to sort

1134
00:39:05,958 --> 00:39:08,083
of facilitate where it's not just having

1135
00:39:08,083 --> 00:39:10,000
these conversations, but it's OK, now

1136
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:11,416
what do we do with it now that we have

1137
00:39:11,416 --> 00:39:13,333
this relationship now? Yeah, there's ways

1138
00:39:13,333 --> 00:39:13,958
of working together.

1139
00:39:14,083 --> 00:39:15,958
I love that. I love that. I think that's

1140
00:39:15,958 --> 00:39:17,250
such an important, like you said, it's

1141
00:39:17,250 --> 00:39:18,958
such an important aspect when you look at

1142
00:39:18,958 --> 00:39:20,916
two people on different sides of the

1143
00:39:20,916 --> 00:39:22,750
aisle working together for something

1144
00:39:22,750 --> 00:39:23,666
that's that's going to be

1145
00:39:23,666 --> 00:39:25,625
helping for the future in the U.S.

1146
00:39:25,625 --> 00:39:27,875
And of course, the world as well. And,

1147
00:39:27,875 --> 00:39:29,208
you know, this is that was a federal

1148
00:39:29,208 --> 00:39:33,458
example. And then often a lot of times,

1149
00:39:33,458 --> 00:39:34,875
you know, we think globally, but we act

1150
00:39:34,875 --> 00:39:38,375
locally and at conferences like Earth X

1151
00:39:38,375 --> 00:39:40,000
is kind of cool, like to see all these

1152
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:43,333
different local, you know, I guess

1153
00:39:43,333 --> 00:39:45,833
projects or or or movements

1154
00:39:45,833 --> 00:39:47,416
to see how they're working.

1155
00:39:47,625 --> 00:39:50,000
And then other local governments or or

1156
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:52,208
municipalities can look at what they're

1157
00:39:52,208 --> 00:39:53,750
doing at the conference and be like, oh,

1158
00:39:53,750 --> 00:39:54,750
how did you do that?

1159
00:39:54,750 --> 00:39:55,750
We're very similar to you.

1160
00:39:56,166 --> 00:39:57,500
Did you get to see a lot of that happen

1161
00:39:57,500 --> 00:39:59,375
when when at this conference where it's

1162
00:39:59,375 --> 00:40:01,041
like you see like, let me say, a

1163
00:40:01,041 --> 00:40:02,750
presentation or a panel that's up there

1164
00:40:02,750 --> 00:40:03,750
and people are listening and then

1165
00:40:03,750 --> 00:40:05,750
something just ignites in someone's mind,

1166
00:40:05,750 --> 00:40:07,958
be like, hey, I really like your program,

1167
00:40:07,958 --> 00:40:09,958
you know, on, say, you know, protecting

1168
00:40:09,958 --> 00:40:12,541
wetlands or a restoration of wetlands or

1169
00:40:12,541 --> 00:40:13,625
reef growth or things like that.

1170
00:40:13,625 --> 00:40:15,666
And do you see that often happening at

1171
00:40:15,666 --> 00:40:17,666
these conferences where someone sees

1172
00:40:17,666 --> 00:40:19,458
something and then they engage and then

1173
00:40:19,458 --> 00:40:21,083
they say, hey, how can we learn from you

1174
00:40:21,083 --> 00:40:23,583
and how can we implement that locally?

1175
00:40:24,541 --> 00:40:26,000
Yeah, a few examples of that. One is

1176
00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:27,583
there's this amazing group called

1177
00:40:27,583 --> 00:40:30,166
Constellation of Living Memorials, where

1178
00:40:30,166 --> 00:40:32,833
they they're a dollar space organization.

1179
00:40:33,083 --> 00:40:36,041
Their idea was basically so much of our

1180
00:40:36,041 --> 00:40:38,833
open space, especially urban and urban

1181
00:40:38,833 --> 00:40:39,625
centers are cemeteries.

1182
00:40:39,625 --> 00:40:42,708
Right. How can we and so many of these

1183
00:40:42,708 --> 00:40:44,166
cemeteries, especially in older cities,

1184
00:40:44,166 --> 00:40:45,958
are sort of neglected and overrun and

1185
00:40:45,958 --> 00:40:47,750
sort of run down and say, sorry, this

1186
00:40:47,750 --> 00:40:49,458
program where they come in and sort of

1187
00:40:49,458 --> 00:40:52,166
adopt a cemetery and turn it into sort of

1188
00:40:52,166 --> 00:40:55,458
restored biodiversity and it's and it's

1189
00:40:55,458 --> 00:40:56,208
and it's and it's and it's

1190
00:40:56,208 --> 00:40:56,625
sort of natural landscape.

1191
00:40:56,625 --> 00:40:59,125
And that sort of swollen over the last

1192
00:40:59,125 --> 00:41:00,791
they first spoke, I think two or three

1193
00:41:00,791 --> 00:41:02,791
years ago at Earth X because of that,

1194
00:41:02,791 --> 00:41:04,708
they got some local coverage in the press

1195
00:41:04,708 --> 00:41:05,875
because of that local press.

1196
00:41:06,333 --> 00:41:07,541
They were able to get some investment in

1197
00:41:07,541 --> 00:41:08,833
their program. They're sort of scaling

1198
00:41:08,833 --> 00:41:10,791
it. And then I should just sign an MOU

1199
00:41:10,791 --> 00:41:12,833
with them a couple of weeks ago where

1200
00:41:12,833 --> 00:41:14,416
we're now partnering with them a

1201
00:41:14,416 --> 00:41:16,333
landscape architecture firm and some

1202
00:41:16,333 --> 00:41:20,500
other organizations to be sort of

1203
00:41:20,500 --> 00:41:22,000
embedded in the development redevelopment

1204
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:24,125
of the Dallas Convention Center, which is

1205
00:41:24,125 --> 00:41:25,625
adjacent to this historic cemetery.

1206
00:41:25,625 --> 00:41:28,875
And using that as sort of a pilot project

1207
00:41:28,875 --> 00:41:31,583
for how do you pair some of these habitat

1208
00:41:31,583 --> 00:41:33,750
biodiversity restoration projects with

1209
00:41:33,750 --> 00:41:36,458
large scale urban renewal projects.

1210
00:41:36,458 --> 00:41:38,416
And she's an example of how you create a

1211
00:41:38,416 --> 00:41:39,833
platform and you get people out there and

1212
00:41:39,833 --> 00:41:41,291
people, oh, wow, they never thought

1213
00:41:41,291 --> 00:41:43,791
that's that's it's such a simple idea.

1214
00:41:43,791 --> 00:41:45,333
And then realize that no one's done it

1215
00:41:45,333 --> 00:41:47,916
before. How do we scale that? And we were

1216
00:41:47,916 --> 00:41:49,916
looking at a map of just the amount of

1217
00:41:49,916 --> 00:41:53,166
land coverage just even in Texas that is

1218
00:41:53,166 --> 00:41:55,000
taken up by cemeteries that if you were

1219
00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:55,625
able to restore that, you know,

1220
00:41:55,666 --> 00:41:59,250
you'd have a tremendous impact at

1221
00:41:59,250 --> 00:42:00,750
restoring the soil health

1222
00:42:00,750 --> 00:42:02,916
and restoring natural habitats.

1223
00:42:04,083 --> 00:42:06,375
I love it. I love that. It's it's such a

1224
00:42:06,375 --> 00:42:07,708
I think that's so that's such a great

1225
00:42:07,708 --> 00:42:09,625
innovation. It's just like it just a

1226
00:42:09,625 --> 00:42:11,791
great use case study on on like what you

1227
00:42:11,791 --> 00:42:13,958
can expect to you know, in types of

1228
00:42:13,958 --> 00:42:15,625
projects or what people are thinking

1229
00:42:15,625 --> 00:42:17,166
about. It's kind of out of the box. But

1230
00:42:17,166 --> 00:42:18,750
like it's it's it's a cool thing that

1231
00:42:18,750 --> 00:42:20,125
when you hear it happen, you're like, oh,

1232
00:42:20,125 --> 00:42:20,625
this is this is really great.

1233
00:42:20,625 --> 00:42:24,083
Let's talk a little bit about the

1234
00:42:24,083 --> 00:42:25,166
conference. I know we've been talking

1235
00:42:25,166 --> 00:42:26,375
about the conference. Let's talk a little

1236
00:42:26,375 --> 00:42:29,333
bit more. The conference is coming up and

1237
00:42:29,333 --> 00:42:31,541
and what people can expect. So what what

1238
00:42:31,541 --> 00:42:33,833
if people are looking to attend, what

1239
00:42:33,833 --> 00:42:35,458
could they expect from the conference?

1240
00:42:37,250 --> 00:42:40,500
Well, you know, sometimes I like to call

1241
00:42:40,500 --> 00:42:42,166
it kind of a hot mess, like almost by

1242
00:42:42,166 --> 00:42:45,208
design. There's a lot going on. You know,

1243
00:42:45,208 --> 00:42:47,958
it's it's one of the the the feedbacks we

1244
00:42:47,958 --> 00:42:49,333
get every year is I

1245
00:42:49,333 --> 00:42:50,625
really enjoyed it. I saw a lot.

1246
00:42:50,625 --> 00:42:52,291
But I felt like there was still so much I

1247
00:42:52,291 --> 00:42:54,458
didn't get to experience and we take that

1248
00:42:54,458 --> 00:42:56,083
as sort of a plus and a minus on the one

1249
00:42:56,083 --> 00:42:57,541
hand. Yeah, you don't want people leaving

1250
00:42:57,541 --> 00:42:59,375
feeling like why I missed something I

1251
00:42:59,375 --> 00:43:00,958
would have otherwise gone to. But at the

1252
00:43:00,958 --> 00:43:02,958
same time, you want to make it feel like

1253
00:43:02,958 --> 00:43:04,375
you're part of something that was sort of

1254
00:43:04,375 --> 00:43:06,291
bigger than than your regular sort of

1255
00:43:06,291 --> 00:43:08,583
conference. So right, you know, it's

1256
00:43:08,583 --> 00:43:10,666
anchored this year by like a main stage

1257
00:43:10,666 --> 00:43:12,250
program that'll take place over three

1258
00:43:12,250 --> 00:43:13,916
days. I don't have most of our major

1259
00:43:13,916 --> 00:43:16,000
keynotes and sort of high profile

1260
00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:18,000
conversations. And then from there, you

1261
00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:19,666
get one badge and you kind of navigate it

1262
00:43:19,666 --> 00:43:20,625
like a choose your own adventure.

1263
00:43:20,666 --> 00:43:23,083
Every day there's five or six different

1264
00:43:23,083 --> 00:43:24,750
conferences happening simultaneously

1265
00:43:24,750 --> 00:43:26,708
throughout the day. This is from program

1266
00:43:26,708 --> 00:43:28,541
networking experiences, educational

1267
00:43:28,541 --> 00:43:31,083
experiences and then, you know, plenary

1268
00:43:31,083 --> 00:43:33,750
lunches and receptions and and and

1269
00:43:33,750 --> 00:43:34,666
banquets each evening.

1270
00:43:35,750 --> 00:43:36,875
And then this year, what's a little

1271
00:43:36,875 --> 00:43:39,041
different is we moved into a part of our

1272
00:43:39,041 --> 00:43:41,000
venue where there's a big outdoor space.

1273
00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:42,500
So we'll have some outdoor activations.

1274
00:43:42,500 --> 00:43:43,833
We're doing an event with

1275
00:43:43,833 --> 00:43:44,625
FIFA with the World Cup coming.

1276
00:43:45,625 --> 00:43:48,083
Oh, yeah. Sports and Sustainability

1277
00:43:48,083 --> 00:43:50,041
Conference. And so we'll have some kind

1278
00:43:50,041 --> 00:43:51,875
of activations around that. Yeah.

1279
00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:54,000
Afternoons. And then and then we're also

1280
00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:56,125
working with several rotary clubs to put

1281
00:43:56,125 --> 00:43:58,916
on this huge sort of exposition of of

1282
00:43:58,916 --> 00:44:01,666
different grassroots projects around the

1283
00:44:01,666 --> 00:44:03,916
world that are helping to move the needle

1284
00:44:03,916 --> 00:44:05,500
on a lot of environmental issues. And so

1285
00:44:05,500 --> 00:44:08,708
the experience itself, it's we condensed

1286
00:44:08,708 --> 00:44:09,791
it this year. It's three

1287
00:44:09,791 --> 00:44:10,625
days instead of five days.

1288
00:44:10,625 --> 00:44:14,000
OK. Five days, I'd say get a lot of sleep

1289
00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:15,541
the week before because it'll knock you

1290
00:44:15,541 --> 00:44:18,875
out. But no, it's it's it's over. It's

1291
00:44:18,875 --> 00:44:21,083
just so condensed. And you meet so many

1292
00:44:21,083 --> 00:44:23,583
different people and you're able to have

1293
00:44:23,583 --> 00:44:25,875
these serendipitous exchanges and

1294
00:44:25,875 --> 00:44:27,708
connections that they're hard to make

1295
00:44:27,708 --> 00:44:28,708
anywhere else because you are.

1296
00:44:29,041 --> 00:44:30,875
Everyone's coming in from such different

1297
00:44:30,875 --> 00:44:32,833
perspectives and places and we'll have

1298
00:44:32,833 --> 00:44:34,541
everything from the prime minister of

1299
00:44:34,541 --> 00:44:37,291
Tonga down to incredible master

1300
00:44:37,291 --> 00:44:38,250
naturalist working in

1301
00:44:38,250 --> 00:44:38,625
our backyard and across.

1302
00:44:38,625 --> 00:44:41,500
Yeah. So it's a big broad range of people

1303
00:44:41,500 --> 00:44:43,291
that you have the opportunity to be able

1304
00:44:43,291 --> 00:44:45,333
to engage with. That's amazing. That's

1305
00:44:45,333 --> 00:44:47,541
awesome. And so like I think that's the

1306
00:44:47,541 --> 00:44:48,750
question is like there's so many

1307
00:44:48,750 --> 00:44:50,791
different types of people that could

1308
00:44:50,791 --> 00:44:54,375
come. Who is like the ideal person or

1309
00:44:54,375 --> 00:44:56,208
like the type like I've got a lot of

1310
00:44:56,208 --> 00:44:58,833
early career researchers and scientists

1311
00:44:58,833 --> 00:45:00,541
on this podcast that are in the audience.

1312
00:45:00,541 --> 00:45:01,916
I have a lot of people who are just

1313
00:45:01,916 --> 00:45:03,375
interested in protecting the ocean. I

1314
00:45:03,375 --> 00:45:06,625
have some business people here. It seems

1315
00:45:06,625 --> 00:45:07,791
like all of them can kind of

1316
00:45:07,791 --> 00:45:08,625
come. Like what's the point?

1317
00:45:08,666 --> 00:45:10,708
When you guys speak about your audience

1318
00:45:10,708 --> 00:45:14,458
for Earth X 2026 who comes to mind? Like

1319
00:45:14,458 --> 00:45:16,166
what what are the types of people that

1320
00:45:16,166 --> 00:45:19,000
come to mind? I think you know, it's

1321
00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:21,166
again back to the idea that Earth X is

1322
00:45:21,166 --> 00:45:24,416
it's 20 conferences, not one. Right. So

1323
00:45:24,416 --> 00:45:26,958
there usually is a place for most people

1324
00:45:26,958 --> 00:45:31,041
to fit. If you're if you're if your

1325
00:45:31,041 --> 00:45:32,875
background is in corporate sustainability

1326
00:45:32,875 --> 00:45:37,458
and you work in the corporate world, we

1327
00:45:37,458 --> 00:45:37,625
have a whole circle of people.

1328
00:45:37,666 --> 00:45:39,166
We have a whole circular economy

1329
00:45:39,166 --> 00:45:40,791
conference that's very much looking at

1330
00:45:40,791 --> 00:45:43,250
different new strategies for for first

1331
00:45:43,250 --> 00:45:44,958
sustainable business and circular

1332
00:45:44,958 --> 00:45:47,791
practices. Then if you're an investor or

1333
00:45:47,791 --> 00:45:49,458
or an innovator, there's the capital

1334
00:45:49,458 --> 00:45:51,958
summit as well as some other groups that

1335
00:45:51,958 --> 00:45:54,625
are that are having that

1336
00:45:54,625 --> 00:45:55,750
angle to what they're doing.

1337
00:45:55,750 --> 00:45:57,333
And then we have a law conference. So

1338
00:45:57,333 --> 00:45:59,375
that's very specifically targeted to

1339
00:45:59,375 --> 00:46:01,916
early career lawyers and people that want

1340
00:46:01,916 --> 00:46:03,166
to get more involved in

1341
00:46:03,166 --> 00:46:05,208
environmental law, climate law.

1342
00:46:05,791 --> 00:46:07,750
But then, yeah, in terms of ocean

1343
00:46:07,750 --> 00:46:10,625
technology, we have, you know, we have a

1344
00:46:10,625 --> 00:46:12,875
conference just all around climate

1345
00:46:12,875 --> 00:46:14,583
restoration and different technologies

1346
00:46:14,583 --> 00:46:16,416
that are being developed and what some of

1347
00:46:16,416 --> 00:46:18,000
the pros and cons of those are in terms

1348
00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:19,208
of how do we how to

1349
00:46:19,208 --> 00:46:20,625
be more proactive about

1350
00:46:20,666 --> 00:46:23,041
sequestering carbon out of the out of the

1351
00:46:23,041 --> 00:46:25,500
atmosphere. So there and we do a lot of

1352
00:46:25,500 --> 00:46:27,333
work with federal labs and do a lot of

1353
00:46:27,333 --> 00:46:32,208
work in the science and research sort of

1354
00:46:32,208 --> 00:46:34,708
spaces. And so if take a look on the

1355
00:46:34,708 --> 00:46:36,208
website, see the to the range of

1356
00:46:36,208 --> 00:46:37,958
different things. And I think it's one of

1357
00:46:37,958 --> 00:46:40,083
those where the door is open. And that's

1358
00:46:40,083 --> 00:46:41,750
the whole point is there's a lot of a lot

1359
00:46:41,750 --> 00:46:42,750
of ways to plug in no matter

1360
00:46:42,750 --> 00:46:43,625
where you're coming in from.

1361
00:46:43,625 --> 00:46:46,541
Absolutely. Absolutely. Love that idea.

1362
00:46:47,750 --> 00:46:50,083
And so are there are there specific teams

1363
00:46:50,083 --> 00:46:51,666
or I know you just mentioned there's like

1364
00:46:51,666 --> 00:46:54,000
20 conferences, but are there specific

1365
00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:58,250
themes or topics that will be central to

1366
00:46:58,250 --> 00:46:59,333
the conversations this year

1367
00:46:59,333 --> 00:47:00,625
as opposed to earlier years?

1368
00:47:00,666 --> 00:47:03,125
Yeah, I mean, a few things we're leaning

1369
00:47:03,125 --> 00:47:05,375
into is, you know, first of all, this is

1370
00:47:05,375 --> 00:47:07,833
the America 250 anniversary. And so

1371
00:47:07,833 --> 00:47:10,375
trying to find ways of looking at nature

1372
00:47:10,375 --> 00:47:12,375
as kind of a common ground again back to

1373
00:47:12,375 --> 00:47:14,000
this bipartisan ways

1374
00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:15,041
of restoring dialogue.

1375
00:47:15,791 --> 00:47:18,458
I think looking at, you know, the

1376
00:47:18,458 --> 00:47:20,958
uncertainty of the global geopolitical

1377
00:47:20,958 --> 00:47:22,916
moment and where can we still find

1378
00:47:22,916 --> 00:47:26,125
opportunities for advancing some of these

1379
00:47:26,125 --> 00:47:27,625
things, even as there's sort of

1380
00:47:27,625 --> 00:47:29,791
uncertainty and both the markets and the

1381
00:47:29,791 --> 00:47:31,583
political space and where there's still

1382
00:47:31,583 --> 00:47:33,500
wins and where there's still ways to

1383
00:47:33,500 --> 00:47:34,541
advance the ball on

1384
00:47:34,541 --> 00:47:35,333
some of these solutions.

1385
00:47:36,041 --> 00:47:38,375
And then, yeah, research, I mean, between

1386
00:47:38,375 --> 00:47:41,250
the hyper demand for electricity energy

1387
00:47:41,250 --> 00:47:44,125
to the, you know, the demand for precious

1388
00:47:44,125 --> 00:47:47,125
metals and the stresses that puts on, you

1389
00:47:47,125 --> 00:47:49,291
know, land and conservation, I think

1390
00:47:49,291 --> 00:47:52,458
that's another theme and throw water into

1391
00:47:52,458 --> 00:47:54,791
the mix that keeps coming up as a major

1392
00:47:54,791 --> 00:47:56,666
sort of through line through the event.

1393
00:47:57,666 --> 00:47:59,583
And I mentioned earlier, just just before

1394
00:47:59,583 --> 00:48:01,791
that I had a lot of, you know, scientists

1395
00:48:01,791 --> 00:48:04,041
that early early career scientists and

1396
00:48:04,041 --> 00:48:06,041
people have been in scientists for, you

1397
00:48:06,041 --> 00:48:07,500
know, 10 science and conservation for

1398
00:48:07,500 --> 00:48:09,125
like 10, 20, 30, 40 years.

1399
00:48:09,666 --> 00:48:12,041
What advice would you give them when

1400
00:48:12,041 --> 00:48:15,166
engaging with business leaders or even

1401
00:48:15,166 --> 00:48:17,583
investors? Like what, how would you say

1402
00:48:17,583 --> 00:48:18,958
like they should approach or they should

1403
00:48:18,958 --> 00:48:20,458
just engage with them on conversations

1404
00:48:20,458 --> 00:48:22,625
around science conservation as well as

1405
00:48:22,625 --> 00:48:24,208
investing and businesses?

1406
00:48:25,666 --> 00:48:27,083
Yeah, I think part of it is just build

1407
00:48:27,083 --> 00:48:30,250
the rapport in the relationship and make

1408
00:48:30,250 --> 00:48:32,125
it so that, you know, there's an

1409
00:48:32,125 --> 00:48:33,916
educational piece. I think what a lot of

1410
00:48:33,916 --> 00:48:36,000
conversations I've had with investors is

1411
00:48:36,000 --> 00:48:38,791
if your background isn't in the science

1412
00:48:38,791 --> 00:48:41,750
of the technology or it's you know

1413
00:48:41,750 --> 00:48:43,416
there's a need and you're just trying to

1414
00:48:43,416 --> 00:48:46,375
find the right way to engage or invest in

1415
00:48:46,375 --> 00:48:47,125
some of these solutions.

1416
00:48:47,625 --> 00:48:48,541
And you're probably getting pitched

1417
00:48:48,541 --> 00:48:50,583
nonstop with a million different ideas.

1418
00:48:51,208 --> 00:48:53,000
So understanding how to have, you know,

1419
00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:55,541
both build that trust and not even look

1420
00:48:55,541 --> 00:48:57,333
at it as transactional from the start,

1421
00:48:57,333 --> 00:48:59,041
but just be thinking about in terms of

1422
00:48:59,041 --> 00:49:00,791
how you build an understanding and be a

1423
00:49:00,791 --> 00:49:04,458
source of information and research and

1424
00:49:04,458 --> 00:49:07,666
being aid to navigate the space and see

1425
00:49:07,666 --> 00:49:09,125
yourself as being an asset in that way.

1426
00:49:09,666 --> 00:49:10,875
Yeah, you bring up a great point. I think

1427
00:49:10,875 --> 00:49:13,750
a lot of times when scientists like

1428
00:49:13,750 --> 00:49:16,041
myself or even like conservationists like

1429
00:49:16,041 --> 00:49:18,250
myself and others, when we hear investors

1430
00:49:18,250 --> 00:49:20,500
were like, oh, money, oh, they can maybe

1431
00:49:20,500 --> 00:49:22,416
they'll pay for my project to happen. Oh,

1432
00:49:22,416 --> 00:49:23,750
if they did this, maybe they can help

1433
00:49:23,750 --> 00:49:25,333
that. But I think you're right. I think

1434
00:49:25,333 --> 00:49:27,208
it's the first idea is just to connect

1435
00:49:27,208 --> 00:49:27,916
and build that

1436
00:49:27,916 --> 00:49:30,583
relationship and just be patient.

1437
00:49:31,625 --> 00:49:33,708
And who knows, maybe there is a common

1438
00:49:33,708 --> 00:49:36,333
thread here, but like I guess when you're

1439
00:49:36,333 --> 00:49:37,541
speaking to business leaders and

1440
00:49:37,541 --> 00:49:39,875
investors, a lot of the times they're

1441
00:49:39,875 --> 00:49:43,916
looking to get an ROI out of some type of

1442
00:49:43,916 --> 00:49:46,083
transaction that happens, right? Whether

1443
00:49:46,083 --> 00:49:48,708
that be from a monetary standpoint or

1444
00:49:48,708 --> 00:49:50,333
whether that be from an environmental

1445
00:49:50,333 --> 00:49:52,625
standpoint, they're looking at an ROI.

1446
00:49:52,666 --> 00:49:55,000
Is there a certain way that you in your

1447
00:49:55,000 --> 00:49:57,083
experience, like scientists and

1448
00:49:57,083 --> 00:49:58,708
conservationists should be able to

1449
00:49:58,708 --> 00:50:02,041
approach an idea like that where they're

1450
00:50:02,041 --> 00:50:03,875
not just looking for money to try and get

1451
00:50:03,875 --> 00:50:06,375
an investor, but also think in the place

1452
00:50:06,375 --> 00:50:07,958
of that investor or business leader?

1453
00:50:09,458 --> 00:50:11,500
Yeah, I mean, and it's not a space that I

1454
00:50:11,500 --> 00:50:13,583
have a lot of direct experience in, but I

1455
00:50:13,583 --> 00:50:16,166
think it comes back to the idea. I mean,

1456
00:50:16,166 --> 00:50:18,625
there's a million ideas or at least there

1457
00:50:18,625 --> 00:50:20,416
are a million apparent ideas that a lot

1458
00:50:20,416 --> 00:50:21,625
of especially investors are getting.

1459
00:50:21,833 --> 00:50:24,083
Investors are getting pitched at all the

1460
00:50:24,083 --> 00:50:25,916
time and you know, there's it's a limited

1461
00:50:25,916 --> 00:50:28,041
number of even though from the other

1462
00:50:28,041 --> 00:50:29,458
perspective may seem like well, this is

1463
00:50:29,458 --> 00:50:31,000
this is the potential source of my

1464
00:50:31,000 --> 00:50:33,500
research or my projectors. I think it's

1465
00:50:33,500 --> 00:50:36,791
really almost see yourself as as as not

1466
00:50:36,791 --> 00:50:38,708
the potential recipient of anything but

1467
00:50:38,708 --> 00:50:41,083
more as what can I give this person? What

1468
00:50:41,083 --> 00:50:43,125
can how can my expertise and background

1469
00:50:43,125 --> 00:50:46,000
enhance their life and and it's that kind

1470
00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:47,916
of giving culture kind of my mentality

1471
00:50:47,916 --> 00:50:51,333
where if you're contributing in a way to.

1472
00:50:51,625 --> 00:50:53,416
To helping them make their investment

1473
00:50:53,416 --> 00:50:57,041
decisions were easy. Then at some point

1474
00:50:57,041 --> 00:50:58,791
that battle that'll open doors that'll

1475
00:50:58,791 --> 00:50:59,750
make everything kind of

1476
00:50:59,750 --> 00:51:01,291
flow in the right direction.

1477
00:51:01,625 --> 00:51:04,083
I love it. Last question for you, Peter.

1478
00:51:04,458 --> 00:51:06,250
This is a bit of a prediction question.

1479
00:51:07,083 --> 00:51:09,083
You know, 2030 is a big it's the end of

1480
00:51:09,083 --> 00:51:11,625
the ocean decade. It's a big date for a

1481
00:51:11,625 --> 00:51:13,458
lot of environmental things going on like

1482
00:51:13,458 --> 00:51:15,125
30 by 30 and so forth.

1483
00:51:15,666 --> 00:51:18,791
Where do you see Earth X in in four to

1484
00:51:18,791 --> 00:51:20,875
five years and even even further than

1485
00:51:20,875 --> 00:51:23,708
that as an event as an organization

1486
00:51:23,708 --> 00:51:25,708
moving forward? Big question. Don't

1487
00:51:25,708 --> 00:51:27,666
expect a long, long, long answer. But

1488
00:51:27,666 --> 00:51:29,875
like, where do you see this playing a

1489
00:51:29,875 --> 00:51:32,000
role in and does it continue to play this

1490
00:51:32,000 --> 00:51:32,833
type of role or does

1491
00:51:32,833 --> 00:51:33,625
it expand on that role?

1492
00:51:34,625 --> 00:51:35,958
Yeah, I mean, I think we've been sort of

1493
00:51:35,958 --> 00:51:37,500
touching on it in little ways throughout

1494
00:51:37,500 --> 00:51:40,000
our conversation and it's I see if

1495
00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:42,250
anything it's people seeing Earth X less

1496
00:51:42,250 --> 00:51:44,208
as an event and more as the event is

1497
00:51:44,208 --> 00:51:46,875
being the culmination of Earth X's year.

1498
00:51:47,625 --> 00:51:49,000
There's a lot of things we've been doing

1499
00:51:49,000 --> 00:51:51,458
even in the last seven, eight months of

1500
00:51:51,458 --> 00:51:53,500
terms of having smaller convenings

1501
00:51:53,500 --> 00:51:55,375
outside of April that we're bringing to

1502
00:51:55,375 --> 00:51:56,375
people together in different

1503
00:51:56,375 --> 00:51:57,583
environments. We're going to different

1504
00:51:57,583 --> 00:51:59,625
cities and meeting them where they are.

1505
00:51:59,625 --> 00:52:01,291
Like we were out in Denver a few weeks

1506
00:52:01,291 --> 00:52:03,500
ago meeting with the consort of federal

1507
00:52:03,500 --> 00:52:06,125
labs talking about some of the same

1508
00:52:06,125 --> 00:52:07,541
things we were talking about. We were in

1509
00:52:07,541 --> 00:52:10,041
New York about a month ago meeting with

1510
00:52:10,041 --> 00:52:11,708
Fortune 500 leaders. I think there's a

1511
00:52:11,708 --> 00:52:13,291
lot of ways where and what we're hearing

1512
00:52:13,291 --> 00:52:16,500
too is this sort of brand of being an

1513
00:52:16,500 --> 00:52:16,625
inclusive sort of all-time.

1514
00:52:16,666 --> 00:52:23,166
And so I could see us growing in our

1515
00:52:23,166 --> 00:52:25,291
year-round programming thinking more

1516
00:52:25,291 --> 00:52:27,208
about how our programming feeds impact

1517
00:52:27,208 --> 00:52:29,541
projects. And then the event every April

1518
00:52:29,541 --> 00:52:31,500
being that that's touchstone where we get

1519
00:52:31,500 --> 00:52:33,500
together and sort of take stock of what

1520
00:52:33,500 --> 00:52:35,125
we've gotten to and where we're going and

1521
00:52:35,125 --> 00:52:36,333
how we can drive things forward.

1522
00:52:36,583 --> 00:52:38,791
And I think you mentioned 2030 ocean deck

1523
00:52:38,791 --> 00:52:42,666
decade. A lot of the benchmarks that have

1524
00:52:42,666 --> 00:52:43,625
been put through the international process. I think if anything, I think we're going to be able to do that.

1525
00:52:43,666 --> 00:52:47,625
I think if anything, what we've learned

1526
00:52:47,625 --> 00:52:49,708
as some of those things seem poised to

1527
00:52:49,708 --> 00:52:51,083
come up a little short of their ambition

1528
00:52:51,083 --> 00:52:53,416
is there needs to be more more ways of

1529
00:52:53,416 --> 00:52:54,666
moving these things forward. It's not

1530
00:52:54,666 --> 00:52:56,791
it's not this or that. It's a sort of

1531
00:52:56,791 --> 00:52:58,208
there's a lot of different ways we can

1532
00:52:58,208 --> 00:53:00,125
all be participating and helping keep

1533
00:53:00,125 --> 00:53:01,416
momentum around a lot of

1534
00:53:01,416 --> 00:53:02,500
these benchmarks and goals.

1535
00:53:04,625 --> 00:53:05,166
And so we're going to be listening to

1536
00:53:05,166 --> 00:53:07,583
this episode and they're really

1537
00:53:07,583 --> 00:53:10,666
interested in not only following Earth X,

1538
00:53:10,666 --> 00:53:13,375
but attending Earth X 2026. Where should

1539
00:53:13,375 --> 00:53:15,000
they go to learn more?

1540
00:53:22,833 --> 00:53:24,458
First word on everything that we have

1541
00:53:24,458 --> 00:53:26,458
going on. Awesome. And I always love to

1542
00:53:26,458 --> 00:53:28,250
end with sort of like an optimistic

1543
00:53:28,250 --> 00:53:32,250
outlook on things. Where do you see like,

1544
00:53:32,250 --> 00:53:34,000
what are you optimistic about right now

1545
00:53:34,000 --> 00:53:36,375
in terms of environmental solutions or

1546
00:53:36,375 --> 00:53:37,625
the future of environmental solutions?

1547
00:53:37,625 --> 00:53:41,000
Oh, man, I was just asked this question

1548
00:53:41,000 --> 00:53:43,500
the other day and I thought I had an

1549
00:53:43,500 --> 00:53:46,208
answer that was pretty okay. But no, I

1550
00:53:46,208 --> 00:53:48,416
mean, it's tough because I think, you

1551
00:53:48,416 --> 00:53:52,000
know, we live in kind of stress,

1552
00:53:52,666 --> 00:53:54,458
stressed, concerned kind of uncertain

1553
00:53:54,458 --> 00:53:57,250
times. But I really think it's it's it's

1554
00:53:57,250 --> 00:53:58,250
it's seeing all the new

1555
00:53:58,250 --> 00:53:59,625
ideas that come through.

1556
00:53:59,666 --> 00:54:01,458
I mean, it's hard for me to think of, you

1557
00:54:01,458 --> 00:54:03,958
know, because we have upwards of 350

1558
00:54:03,958 --> 00:54:06,083
people that something like a recap. And

1559
00:54:06,083 --> 00:54:08,333
out of those, you know, a good hundred of

1560
00:54:08,333 --> 00:54:09,791
them would be like inspiring people that

1561
00:54:09,791 --> 00:54:12,291
are doing incredible work trying to, you

1562
00:54:12,291 --> 00:54:14,375
know, bring new ideas to fruition.

1563
00:54:14,583 --> 00:54:17,625
I just think there's the it's always

1564
00:54:17,625 --> 00:54:18,916
comes back to like we do have the

1565
00:54:18,916 --> 00:54:20,916
technology and the ability and the the

1566
00:54:20,916 --> 00:54:22,708
capacity to solving a lot of these

1567
00:54:22,708 --> 00:54:25,333
things. A lot of the issues that we face

1568
00:54:25,333 --> 00:54:26,916
aren't aren't aren't.

1569
00:54:27,666 --> 00:54:29,791
Yeah, the issue, we don't know how to fix

1570
00:54:29,791 --> 00:54:31,333
them. It's just getting the right amount

1571
00:54:31,333 --> 00:54:33,041
of political will and the amount of

1572
00:54:33,041 --> 00:54:34,833
mobilization and the right scaling and

1573
00:54:34,833 --> 00:54:36,375
the right amount of investment and

1574
00:54:36,375 --> 00:54:38,541
bringing them into into reality. And so

1575
00:54:38,541 --> 00:54:40,791
knowing we have the tools at hand, and we

1576
00:54:40,791 --> 00:54:42,208
just have to work to bring everyone to

1577
00:54:42,208 --> 00:54:43,666
start rowing in the same direction.

1578
00:54:44,291 --> 00:54:46,000
I think that is a way to be optimistic

1579
00:54:46,000 --> 00:54:48,750
about the future. I love that. That's

1580
00:54:48,750 --> 00:54:50,125
that's wonderful. Thank you so much,

1581
00:54:50,125 --> 00:54:52,208
Peter, for joining us on today's episode.

1582
00:54:52,666 --> 00:54:54,916
This has been great. I'll put the links

1583
00:54:54,916 --> 00:54:56,625
down below in the show notes for people to be able to see what's going on.

1584
00:54:56,625 --> 00:54:56,833
I think it's a great opportunity for

1585
00:54:56,833 --> 00:54:59,291
people to be able to get access and

1586
00:54:59,291 --> 00:55:02,208
register for the event. Good luck with

1587
00:55:02,208 --> 00:55:03,916
with the event. I hope it's I hope it

1588
00:55:03,916 --> 00:55:05,375
works out really well. And we get some

1589
00:55:05,375 --> 00:55:07,125
more collaborations. We get some more,

1590
00:55:07,125 --> 00:55:09,208
you know, market based solutions coming

1591
00:55:09,208 --> 00:55:11,333
to to the to the forefront.

1592
00:55:11,833 --> 00:55:13,041
And we get to see some great things for

1593
00:55:13,041 --> 00:55:14,541
the environment. So thank you so much for

1594
00:55:14,541 --> 00:55:16,500
not only hosting EarthX, but for being

1595
00:55:16,500 --> 00:55:18,750
here with us today and doing the great

1596
00:55:18,750 --> 00:55:20,666
work. Thank you. Appreciate you. Thanks

1597
00:55:20,666 --> 00:55:21,416
so much for having me.

1598
00:55:22,625 --> 00:55:23,666
We're going to end today's episode of the

1599
00:55:23,666 --> 00:55:24,916
how to protect the ocean podcast. It was

1600
00:55:24,916 --> 00:55:27,583
great to have you on always nice to have

1601
00:55:27,583 --> 00:55:29,958
somebody on from that puts on a

1602
00:55:29,958 --> 00:55:33,083
conference that is so amazing and so

1603
00:55:33,083 --> 00:55:35,291
broad ranging, you know, 20 conferences

1604
00:55:35,291 --> 00:55:37,750
in one. It's really kind of cool that we

1605
00:55:37,750 --> 00:55:39,125
see that now in this conversation.

1606
00:55:39,625 --> 00:55:42,250
You know, this highlight something that I

1607
00:55:42,250 --> 00:55:44,458
think is becoming impossible to ignore.

1608
00:55:44,833 --> 00:55:47,458
If we want to solve ocean problems at

1609
00:55:47,458 --> 00:55:50,041
scale, we need more than just science. We

1610
00:55:50,041 --> 00:55:51,708
need business. We need an investment. We

1611
00:55:51,708 --> 00:55:53,958
need collaboration and we need better

1612
00:55:53,958 --> 00:55:56,291
storytelling. We talked about all that in

1613
00:55:56,291 --> 00:55:58,041
this week's episodes earlier this week.

1614
00:55:58,041 --> 00:55:59,875
So if you want to find out more, you can

1615
00:55:59,875 --> 00:56:01,625
have a deeper dive in that.

1616
00:56:01,666 --> 00:56:06,708
Because solutions don't just need to

1617
00:56:06,708 --> 00:56:08,333
exist. They need to be spread. They need

1618
00:56:08,333 --> 00:56:11,000
to be implemented and spread. And that's

1619
00:56:11,000 --> 00:56:13,208
what the space is like EarthX are trying

1620
00:56:13,208 --> 00:56:15,291
to do. You know, bring the right people

1621
00:56:15,291 --> 00:56:17,708
together to make that happen. And over

1622
00:56:17,708 --> 00:56:19,500
the last few episodes, I broke down some

1623
00:56:19,500 --> 00:56:21,791
of the themes from this conversation,

1624
00:56:21,791 --> 00:56:23,541
including how startups are changing the

1625
00:56:23,541 --> 00:56:26,333
game, why collaboration across sectors

1626
00:56:26,333 --> 00:56:28,500
matters and how storytelling drive

1627
00:56:28,500 --> 00:56:30,625
drives. We can drive real action. Make sure you're doing that.

1628
00:56:30,666 --> 00:56:32,791
Action make sure you are following this

1629
00:56:32,791 --> 00:56:35,041
podcast so you don't miss any other

1630
00:56:35,041 --> 00:56:36,875
episodes that we talk about in terms of

1631
00:56:36,875 --> 00:56:39,875
oceans and look, it's going to be fun

1632
00:56:39,875 --> 00:56:42,250
every week. We do five episodes per week

1633
00:56:42,250 --> 00:56:45,750
and we look at a theme on every week and

1634
00:56:45,750 --> 00:56:47,000
it's, you know, we did. We've done

1635
00:56:47,000 --> 00:56:48,333
fisheries. We don't really protect the

1636
00:56:48,333 --> 00:56:50,333
areas. We've done how businesses can help

1637
00:56:50,333 --> 00:56:53,708
scale actual ocean solutions. So if you

1638
00:56:53,708 --> 00:56:55,375
want to find out more, hit that follow

1639
00:56:55,375 --> 00:56:57,958
button and continue to look back every

1640
00:56:57,958 --> 00:57:00,250
weekday for a new episode. I want to

1641
00:57:00,250 --> 00:57:00,625
thank you so much for watching.

1642
00:57:00,666 --> 00:57:02,625
So I want to thank Peter for joining us

1643
00:57:02,625 --> 00:57:04,000
on today's episode of the how to protect

1644
00:57:04,000 --> 00:57:06,208
the ocean podcast. If you want to go to

1645
00:57:06,208 --> 00:57:09,041
EarthX 2026, you can just go. You can

1646
00:57:09,041 --> 00:57:11,208
just you can just look in the show notes.

1647
00:57:11,958 --> 00:57:13,958
And if you have any questions or anything

1648
00:57:13,958 --> 00:57:16,208
like that around EarthX 2026, you can hit

1649
00:57:16,208 --> 00:57:18,166
me up on either if you're on Spotify,

1650
00:57:18,166 --> 00:57:20,333
leave a comment or if you want to hit me

1651
00:57:20,333 --> 00:57:22,583
up speak up for blue.com forward slash

1652
00:57:22,583 --> 00:57:25,916
feedback. That's speak up for blue.com

1653
00:57:25,916 --> 00:57:28,041
forward slash feedback. I'd

1654
00:57:28,041 --> 00:57:29,208
love to hear your questions.

1655
00:57:30,041 --> 00:57:30,541
I'm sure you can get a little bit of a

1656
00:57:30,541 --> 00:57:32,708
comment, whatever that might be on that.

1657
00:57:32,916 --> 00:57:34,500
You can leave a voicemail or you can type

1658
00:57:34,500 --> 00:57:35,833
it in. So thank you so much for joining

1659
00:57:35,833 --> 00:57:37,333
me on today's episode of the how to

1660
00:57:37,333 --> 00:57:39,250
protect the ocean podcast. I'm your host,

1661
00:57:39,250 --> 00:57:40,333
Andrew Lewin. Have a great day. We'll

1662
00:57:40,333 --> 00:57:41,083
talk to you next time

1663
00:57:41,083 --> 00:57:42,125
and happy conservation.