“[Mr. Polakovic] is a unique individual adept at blending public policy, environmental science and communications into meaningful and actionable strategies.” - Jack Broadbent, executive officer, Bay Area Air Quality Management District
Clients
California Environmental Protection Agency
Under Gov. Schwarzenegger’s administration, we partnered with the executive team at Cal-EPA to develop and launch the California Green Chemistry Initiative — the nation’s first comprehensive toxic chemicals policy. Working with government officials, university scientists, industry representatives and environmental groups, we helped devise and communicate pollution prevention strategies and produce the Phase I options report.
Bay Area Air Quality Management District
As executive strategist to the executive officer and the board of directors, we provide policy guidance, strategic planning, research and analysis, lobbying and communications services on issues ranging from greenhouse gas reductions to seaport emissions to residential wood smoke in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Calleguas Municipal Water District
Working with Ventura County’s chief water importer, we developed strategies that increased public participation in the 343-square-mile Calleguas Creek watershed cleanup — one of the biggest environmental restoration projects in Southern California.
Environmental Defense Fund
We partnered with the EDF to produce Clean Energy Pioneers, a web-based narrative story-telling project to show how green technology works as an engine of economic transformation across the mountain West and to build political will for the Western Climate Initiative.
South Coast Air Quality Management District
We provide the executive office of the Los Angeles-based AQMD – the nation’s largest regional smog-fighting agency – with strategic communications solutions for various air pollution control programs.
Hydrogen Energy California
We work with a team of experts to build political support for Hydrogen Energy California, the first low-carbon fuel power plant featuring carbon capture and storage and enhanced oil recovery. The project, a joint venture of BP and Rio Tinto with participation from Southern California Edison and Occidental Petroleum, is proposed for Kern County, Calif.
Passport Foundation
Working with a group of San Francisco Bay Area hedge fund managers, we developed an outreach strategy that demonstrates how support for environmental health lags compared to other conservation philanthropy to help the Foundation leverage millions more dollars from donors to pay for programs that protect people from contaminants.
California Attorney General’s Office
As California expands its climate protection program, we joined a distinguished cadre of experts in science, energy, urban planning and transportation working pro bono to counsel Attorney General Jerry Brown and his senior staff on strategies to reduce greenhouse gases, reckon with skeptics, and communicate climate science to new audiences.
International Council for Clean Transportation
Earth has one billion cars and soon it will have two billion. To reckon with so much tailpipe exhaust, the Council works with the 10 largest vehicle markets in the world to reduce emissions. We helped grow this work by providing strategic communications counsel and website development
Cleaire Advanced Emission Controls
Heavy-duty diesel engines produce the most conspicuous and intractable air pollution – soot. Who hasn’t been grossed when buses and trucks belch black smoke? We partnered with the company that manufactures the most state-of-the-art diesel particulate filters to lobby Congress to require construction equipment used to build federal highway projects use best available technology filters.
U.C. Berkeley School of Public Health
As people of color reckon with a disproportionate share of toxic pollution, reducing “cumulative impacts” from a multiplicity of contaminant sources confounds regulators, health officials and lawmakers. But fixing the problem requires explaining the arcane realms of epidemiology, chemistry and regulatory policy in the context of the urban social experience. We partnered with scientists, activists, regulators and physicians to harness the power of narrative storytelling to promote understanding among factions and build political will for policy solutions.