Earth Finance Acquires Climate Policy Firm Molecule LLC - PR Newswire
Earth Finance Acquires Climate Policy Firm Molecule LLC
Earth Finance, Inc.
11 Oct, 2023, 08:10 ET
Renewable Fuels and Decarbonization Policy Leader Tim Zenk Joins Earth Finance as Managing Director
SEATTLE, Oct. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Earth Finance, a leading climate strategy and finance firm, today announces the acquisition of Molecule LLC, a Seattle-based climate advocacy firm founded and led by Tim Zenk. Zenk is a well-known industry leader who has worked in government, private sector and entrepreneurial ventures to advance renewable energy and renewable fuels, regenerative agriculture, sustainable aviation fuel, broadband access and carbon reduction programs and policies.
Zenk joins as a Managing Director within Earth Finance and now leads Earth Finance's renewable fuels and public policy teams.
"Tim's thought leadership and deep domain expertise in transportation decarbonization is unmatched. He has worked globally with leaders in the highest levels of the private sector and government as an entrepreneur in renewable fuel technologies," said Hon. Reuven Carlyle, Co-Founder of Earth Finance. "Tim adds depth and breadth to our climate policy domain expertise to help clients and partners accelerate the global journey to a sustainable economy."
Prior to founding Molecule in 2019, Zenk spent much of his distinguished career shaping public policy and business. Most recently, for ag-biotech company Phytelligence, he worked to establish a World Bank program to revitalize a 100-year-old fruit industry in Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir India. Prior to that, at Sapphire Energy, he was a senior executive of the Gates-funded executive team in development of renewable crude oil from algae, working closely with the USDA and USDOE to secure $100 million+ in federal funding to build an extensive demonstration Green Crude farm in New Mexico. Zenk was a member of California's advisory committee on implementation of the low carbon fuels standard in California. He has also served in various leadership roles in both federal and state governments as deputy press secretary and campaign chairman, as White House advance staff for President Clinton and Vice President Gore, district chief of staff, defense appropriations, intelligence and interior appropriations representative for Rep. Norm Dicks, and for Washington state's 19th Governor, Booth Gardner.
Tim joins Earth Finance's three founding partners - institutional investment executive Bryan Weeks, former Washington State Senator Reuven Carlyle, and climate strategy expert Garrett Kephart - and a growing team of climate focused professionals.
"Earth Finance's unique model of integrating policy with science and investment is critical to achieving a 1.5-degree future," said Zenk. "The opportunity to scale our work in collaboration with the Earth Finance team is exciting for me, my colleagues, and Molecule's client partners."
About Earth Finance
Earth Finance is a leading strategy consulting and climate investing firm accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy. For more information visit www.earthfinance.com or engage on
SOURCE Earth Finance, Inc.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”