Many of you who watched Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” back in 2006 were probably compelled by the overwhelming evidence that there is, in fact, a rather large problem confronting us all. But I was personally left feeling cynical when the closing credits suggested we take actions like:

Buy energy efficient appliances and lightbulbs

• Change your thermostat
• Ride a bike...when you can.

China permitted 2 new coal plants every week in 2022, and we are talking about lightbulbs and biking… “when we can”? 

In 2010, the media swarmed around the idea of eliminating plastic straws – and replacing them with paper straws (which work for about 0.5 seconds before collapsing into a disgusting mess). I was left feeling that we were collectively missing the point.  

Enter DR and Josh, entrepreneurs who were looking for the largest levers to solve climate change they could find.  They both had backgrounds in clean energy – DR as an investor and Josh as an operator – and they both had dogs (Griswold and Scout, respectively).  They quickly aligned around home electrification because it was so clear this was such low hanging fruit. 

The average annual US household’s carbon footprint is 48 metric tons of CO2 equivalent (this is equivalent to circumnavigating the world in your car almost five times!).  About 40% of US emissions are just powering homes and cars. If Josh and DR could reduce that, we would be well on our way to actually moving the needle on climate. 

So they formed Elephant Energy to help anyone electrify their home – heat pumps, EV chargers, appliances, everything. Their new rules of the road are pretty simple:

• Don’t burn stuff (for heat, for example)
• Don’t use energy made from burning stuff (to provide electricity, for example)
• Be efficient (keep your house well insulated, for example).  

As they come up on their third anniversary, Elephant has gone from an idea to the largest installer of heat pumps in Colorado, and they have helped hundreds of homes to reduce (and often eliminate) their carbon footprint.  We were able to provide them with a line of credit to better manage their working capital and extend their growth trajectory.  We are honored to partner with them in support of their mission to “electrify everything.” You can receive $300 off their first Elephant Energy project by starting here. Let them know you came from Walden! 

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