Our Favorite Podcast: What Does It Profit?
Solar Holler: Mining the Sun in West Virginia
In this episode, we are headed to West Virginia to flip the script on what we know about the energy business in the heart of coal country. We introduce you to a new type of energy and a new type of business. Meet Solar Holler, the “benefit corporation” that addresses some of the toughest economic issues in West Virginia.
Joseph “Joe” and Elizabeth Opoke are father-and-daughter descendants of miners who came to Marion County, WV in the turn of the 20th century. Their immigrant kin came from Hungary to work in the West Virginia coal mines. Family is important in a place like West Virginia. Joe and Elizabeth tell us about what the coal industry has meant to West Virginia and what headwinds are faced when trying to imagine a new kind of economy and a safer and healthier way of life.
One of those creative West Virginia dreamers facing these challenges is Dan Conant, the founder and CEO of Solar Holler.
In What Does It Profit? Dr. Dawn Carpenter talks with the world’s leading thinkers, researchers, entrepreneurs and executives, exploring the most innovative ways we can reconcile capitalism’s demand for profit with the long term well-being of people and the planet.
