🍀 MARCH 2024

Hi everyone,

CATF has accomplished extraordinary things during the last several years, but we have heard clearly that we need to make changes and build capabilities to continue to succeed in the future. Based on all we have learned over the course of the last year, and the many engagements and feedback we have received in the last couple of months, we are launching the FUTURE CATF INITIATIVE. 

This org-wide initiative will engage all staff to help drive CATF’s future in a process that we strive to make as inclusive, collaborative, and transparent as possible. The goal is an improvement in organizational health, impact, and efficiency and touches on many aspects of our daily experience from processes to strategy to culture. Staff will have the opportunity to nominate their colleagues or volunteer themselves to support a variety of efforts by serving on steering teams or staff committees dedicated to specific workstreams as part of this initiative. 

Please sign up for an Info Session at this link to learn more about the initiative and how to get involved.    

If you have any questions in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out directly to me or Ashley. 

Sincerely,  

Armond

If last month’s newsletter got lost in your inbox, you can find a copy here. And if you have any comments, questions, or feedback, please reach out to Kara Hunt.

HR, Development, and IT
News & Updates

Human Resources

For a full list of current CATF staff, take a look at our staff directory. You can find your coworkers’ information by last name, team, or vertical.

Present Your Work!

Please sign up to present on your work at an all-staff watercooler! These presentations can range from overviews of your team’s work to deep dives into a specific solution, to an explanation of the policy landscape in a specific region, or anything else you think may be interesting to staff. They do not need to be long or formal. It’s all about sharing your expertise and work with the CATF community! The link to sign up can be found in the CATF Team General channel under the “Forms” tab, and please feel free to sign up well in advance of your planned presentation date. Watch a recording from this month's watercooler here.

Performance Management Program Update

CATF’s new Performance Management Program will establish a standardized process that ensures consistent and equitable feedback on performance across the organization. 

In 2024 we will have two discussions between each staff member and their people manager. HR has designed guidelines and will provide subsequent training throughout this process. By the end of April 2024, individuals will have a meeting to agree on their 2024 objectives. This part will focus on WHAT you will work on as a priority between now and the end of the year. 

HR is hosting sessions for individuals through April to prepare you for that discussion. Ten training sessions have already been conducted. We invite you to sign up for those sessions here. 

People Managers received training during December 2023/January 2024. You are welcome to reach out to HR for individual preparation sessions. 

Compensation Benchmarking Initiative Update

We are nearing completion of the Compensation Benchmarking initiative. The objectives of the initiative included designing a compensation benchmarking strategy that addresses pay ranges and benefit offerings.  

• February 26 – March 13: HR team met with Directors and People Managers to review the new grading system and confirm their teams’ positions are assigned to the appropriate level. 
• March 13 – March 26: HR team will work with the validation committee to review recommended adjustments, validate changes, and confirm budget. 
• April 1: Implementation. The new grading system is in effect. CATF will adjust those individuals whose salary is below their grade’s salary range. 

Going forward, the new salary levels and structure will be used for all positions, with adjustments made as needed. We will update the salary ranges for each level on an annual basis, based on market survey data. 

Once this initiative is completed in April, the HR team will move to the next step of working with People Managers and the validation committee to finalize an equitable promotion process. We are estimating this to be completed and ready to launch as of June 1, 2024. 

Development

With recent staffing changes on the Development team, please direct all inquiries about grants and other foundation support to Harlan Cutshall. Harlan can also help field inquiries about major donors, development partnerships, and development events. 

Please help us recruit for our four open positions! 

IT

Salesforce Update: Due to recent staffing changes, we have paused Salesforce for Programs. After reviewing Development Salesforce reporting functionality and finding issues, we are engaging Prolocity for a full audit of the Development Salesforce Data, including the 60,000 account and contact objects currently extant. After the audit is completed and issues are resolved, we will restart the Salesforce for Programs project. 

IT Knowledge Base Updates: IT is continuing to build out new functionality in the ITKB SharePoint Site. Please see our Essential Skills section, covering basic functionality of our core software, and the Email Lists page to see what lists house what staff. 

Endpoint Management: We are moving forward with Endpoint Management for Mac systems, having enrolled almost all the windows system in InTune. Expect communication from IT starting in April on how to download and install the JAMF agent. For more information, see our SharePoint page on Endpoint Management. 

Knowledge Management Program: With Liz Grace’s departure, we are in an evaluation mode for the Knowledge Services Program. We will be looking at budgets for renewals soon and want to make everyone aware that unused platforms will be trimmed down. Please see the Knowledge Services Program SharePoint Page for information about the KSP. 

Upcoming CATF Holidays

See here for the full holiday lists for all countries.

• Monday, April 1: Easter Monday (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ghana, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, United Kingdom) 
• Monday, April 8 – Wednesday, April 10: Eid al-Fitr (United Arab Emirates) 
• Wednesday, April 10: Eid al-Fitr (Nigeria, Ghana) 
• Monday, April 15: Patriot’s Day (United States) 

Events & Meetings

What's Happening at CATF? 

Find out more by viewing the 2024 Events Master Calendar

• Reminder: Please add your speaking engagement, sponsorship, exhibit, webinar, or CATF-hosted event or meeting to the calendar. All staff should have access. 
• To start planning a new event or meeting, please review the Intake Form and FAQ. This is required for any event/meeting where CATF has a hosting role.

Event Operations

While the organization moves towards finalizing budgets, please feel free to reach out to the Events team for guidance on securing venues for internal/team meetings. 

Many thanks to all who have been recording your events in the Master Calendar. Your cooperation helps us better understand how CATF delivers mission impact. 

Event Spotlight

Nearly 50 constituents from 17 countries attended CATF’s Nuclear Energy in a Low-Carbon Future course this week in Prague, Czech Republic. This three-day course provided an opportunity for participants from a variety of industries and backgrounds to improve their knowledge of nuclear energy technologies and their potential roles in addressing important social needs, especially responses to climate change. The robust agenda included presentations from 11 expert speakers; social opportunities for strategic networking; and a tour of Research Centre Rez, which hosts unique experimental infrastructure, including research reactors LVR-15 and LR-0, technological loops, hot chambers, and a spectrum of top-quality laboratories. Staff was also invited for a private meeting with the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. A similar course will be held in Boston, Massachusetts later this year. Staff are encouraged to add contacts to our invitation list, here.    

Upcoming Events

⚠️ The events tracker is on Monday.com! View it here.

• April 1-2: Q1 CATF Board Meeting (Washington, DC) 
• April 4: Federal Transmission Permitting Barriers Webinar (Virtual)  
• April 10: CO2NNECT Conference (Austin, TX) 
• April 10: Donor Dinner (Boston, MA) 
• April 10: CCS Roadshow in Warsaw (Warsaw, Poland) 
• April 10: Three Seas Business Forum Side Event (Vilnus, Lithuania) 
• April 11: C40 SWS Webinar: Methane State of Play (Virtual) 
• April 16: Donor Dinner (London, England) 
• April 23-24: Ecuador Solid Waste Methane Workshop (Quito, Ecuador) 
• April 23-24: International Geothermal Association Global Geothermal Impact Summit (Fokker Terminal, The Hague, The Netherlands) 
• April 23: CCS Congress (Poznan, Poland) 
• April 24: H2 Poland Hydrogen Valleys Summit (Poznan, Poland)

Program & Regional Advocacy
Team Updates

Highlights

• The Superhot Rock Energy team launched a first-of-its-kind modeling tool highlighting the vast energy potential of superhot rock energy, receiving coverage across numerous high impact media outlets, including an exclusive in the Financial Times. Read the press release here. 
  • The team also debuted region-specific story maps that highlight the financial and economic potential that could be unlocked if superhot rock energy was fully commercialized in specific regions.
  • Terra Rogers attended CERAWeek, where she spoke on a panel on the future of geothermal energy and highlighted CATF’s new modeling tool.
  • Jenna Hill published a blog on the Department of Energy’s latest liftoff report on geothermal energy.   
• The European Advocacy team launched two reports outlining CATF’s vision and actionable recommendations for Poland’s clean energy transition. The reports are accompanied by an interactive dashboard, which offers a hands-on experience in exploring Poland’s energy transition scenarios.  
• Armond Cohen, Lee Beck, and Malwina Qvist attended the first-ever Nuclear Energy Summit at the head of state level in Brussels, hosting a private dinner and roundtable convening on the sidelines of the IAEA Summit with EFI Foundation and NTI to explore what is needed to jump-start global nuclear energy scale-up, including the application of options and recommendations from the Global Nuclear Playbook launched at COP28. CATF worked with EFI Foundation and NTI to launch a global NGO declaration on the future of nuclear energy, calling for efficient and responsible scaling of nuclear energy.  
• The Clean Energy Infrastructure Deployment team published the report Contextualizing Electric Transmission Permitting: Data from 2010 to 2020 in collaboration with the Niskanen Center which underscores the need for a comprehensive review of current federal permitting processes in the U.S. to promote the development of electric transmission infrastructure. 
  • The team published thought leadership on policy considerations around dual-use solar, the second in a series of blogs on dual-use solar, as well as a blog post summarizing comments submitted by CATF, NRDC, Earthjustice, and other stakeholders on DOE’s National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) Phase I Guidance pushing DOE to consider designating several DOE-identified offshore transmission corridors as NIETCs. 
  • At ACP’s Siting and Permitting Conference in Colorado, Natalie Manitius moderated a panel and Alex Breckel participated in a panel preceding the conference highlighting CATF’s Science of Siting workshop series. At the conference, Nelson Falkenburg and Natalie presented a poster on CATF's upcoming State Siting Policy Inventory database. 
• The Carbon Capture and Storage team published its latest U.S. state fact sheet providing an overview of carbon capture and storage in Colorado. In Europe, Toby Lockwood published policy briefs on decarbonizing steel in the EU, as well as a UK case study on regulating carbon capture and storage infrastructure.  
• The Methane Pollution Prevention team published analysis on lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of natural gas and coal powered electricity following the Biden administration’s suspension of authorization of new LNG exports to countries with whom the U.S. doesn’t have a trade agreement. Read Lesley Feldman’s blog on the analysis here.  
• Brandon Locke published thought leadership in the Spring edition of European Energy Innovation, analyzing Europe’s leap forward to cut methane emissions in the oil and gas sector.  
• Holly Reuter met with high level DOE officials to discuss IIJA and IRA implementation, challenges, and opportunities. Holly also attended an informal IRA roundtable with members of the Treasury to discuss the implementation of IRA.  
• The Land Systems and Legal teams submitted comments to the USFS for their Land Management Plans for Old-Growth Forest Conditions and to the CFTC for guidance on the voluntary carbon market. 
• NEW! Superhot Rock Energy website launched in partnership with the international NGO Cascade Institute, laying out the potential future of superhot rock energy as holding a transformative role in a prosperous, carbon-free global economy. 

All program & advocacy updates →

Full List of Publications This Month

Blogs

• Shoring up transmission: How an under-explored option could unlock the promise of offshore wind – Nicole Pavia 
• Focus on geothermal innovation heats up with DOE's new liftoff report – Jenna Hill 
• CATF Analysis: Exported gas climate impacts are complicated, but a focus on mitigation is key – Lesley Feldman 
• Advancing the nuclear energy agenda: Highlights from the Brussels Summit  

Press Statements

• CATF releases vision to decarbonise Poland’s power system, with new analysis and recommendations  
• SEC climate disclosure rule takes positive step, but ultimately comes up short 
• U.S. State of the Union underscores importance of clean energy deployment and strong pollution controls 
• U.S. aims to tackle transportation emissions through launch of holistic strategy to decarbonize freight networks by 2040 
• Superhot rock geothermal energy could unlock terawatts of clean, firm power worldwide, finds CATF 
• DOE aims to tackle industrial emissions with demonstration projects spanning heavy industry like steel, cement, and concrete 

Reports

• A Vision for Poland’s Clean Energy Transition 
• Decarbonising Poland’s Power System: A Scenario-Based Evaluation 
• Contextualizing Electric Transmission Permitting: Data from 2010 to 2020 
• Clean Energy from the Ground Up: Energy Communities in the European Union 
• Analysis of Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Natural Gas and Coal Powered Electricity 
• The Building Blocks of Energy Innovation in Europe 

Policy Briefs

• Risk Allocation and Regulation for CO2 Infrastructure 
• Transforming the European Steel Sector to Net Zero 

Fact SHeets

• Federal Funding Programs that Support Alternative Fuel Corridor Implementation and Decarbonization of the Long-Haul Trucking Industry 
• Carbon Capture and Storage in Colorado 

Declaration

• NGO Declaration on the Future of Nuclear Energy 

Comms Corner

Adjustments to CATF’s Design Process

As of January 1, 2024, we have moved a large share of our creative design work in-house. Under our new system, the Comms team centrally manages design requests from across the organization and determines which projects CATF will execute on with our existing capacity and which are better suited for our retained external creative service provider, 5IVE. This change allows us to reduce the number of retained hours (i.e., reduce costs), collaborate more efficiently with requesting parties on outputs, improve tracking, and build in-house design capacity within the CATF Communications team. Please see Troy’s email from February 22 for further details, and a few helpful links are below:  

• Project Request Form 
• Content Guide 
• General Timing Guidelines 

CATF in the News

• Terra Rogers rocked the energy scene at CERAWeek, highlighting the potential of superhot rock technology in the Houston Chronicle and showcasing CATF’s groundbreaking modeling tool in an exclusive with Financial Times, unveiling the vast possibilities of superhot rock geothermal energy. The tool was also spotlighted in Canary Media, Nature World News, Hart Energy, and Newsweek. 
• Frank Sturges completed a successful press tour, sharing CATF’s stance on the EPA’s power plant rule delay and changes in The New York Times, Bloomberg, Associated Press, Reuters, Heatmap News, and Inside Climate News.  
• Tamara Lagurashvili and Malwina Qvist joined Sam Morgan and Kira Taylor on FORESIGHT Climate & Energy’s podcast, The Jolt, discussing a bold vision for Poland’s clean energy transition. 
• Axios highlighted Prudence Dato, Lily Ordano, Brian Mukhaya, and Moussa Blimpo’s review on energy transition modeling research in Africa, finding that nearly two-thirds of the papers written were by authors outside of Africa. 
• In an article for European Energy Innovation magazine, Brandon Locke wrote about Europe’s leap forward to cut methane emissions in the oil and gas sector with the EU Methane Regulation passed last year.
• Jonathan Banks was quoted in CBC News and James Turitto was featured in Global News Canada on the launch of a new satellite that will track methane emissions from the oil and gas industry on a global scale. 
• In We Don’t Have Time and UNEP’s Climate and Clean Air Coalition panel discussion, Jonathan Banks talked about the urgent need to reduce methane emissions now to slow the pace of global warming. 
• Kathy Fallon shared where the SEC fell short on its final climate disclosure rule for publicly traded companies in Heatmap News, NPR, and on NPR’s All Things Considered podcast. 
• Lee Beck spoke on The Jolt podcast on the shifting attitudes toward nuclear power in Europe, emphasizing that it’s time to move from the ‘what’ to the ‘how’ on advancing nuclear technology. 
• In an op-ed for the Hellenic Association for Energy Economics, Lee Beck laid out how European policymakers can advance Europe’s climate policy from the ‘what’ to the ‘how’. 
• John Carlson was quoted in E&E News on Climate Pollution Reduction Grants and how those grants are helping states generate hundreds of pathways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

View all press coverage →

Staff Pet Photo of the Month

Bruno is the first born son of Methane Pollution Prevention’s Kendra Hughes. He is named after a Bruno that her family had in her childhood, not after Bruno from Encanto. He is very large and strong but the biggest lovebug. 

If you have a pet you’d be willing to share, please submit a pet photo for the newsletter! You can do so by filling out this Teams Form.

That’s all for this month. If you made it this far — thanks for reading!