Bill Gates’ old climate lobbyists launch a new firm

Back in March, Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy organization disbanded its energy policy team, cutting dozens of staffers. Now some of them have founded a new organization, the nonprofit Clean Economy Project.

Similar to Breakthrough Energy, the organization is betting that clean energy can beat fossil fuels on cost, if not today, then in the near future. 

Gates cut Breakthrough’s lobbying group after deciding it wouldn’t make much headway with the Trump administration, according to a New York Times report in March.

CleanEcon, as it’s informally called, is backed by an undisclosed group of more than 10 funders that includes philanthropists and venture capitalists. The team, which is 10 strong, says it has three goals: “building energy projects faster; accelerating innovation to lower costs; and derisking private investment into clean industries,” it said in a press release.

Aliya Haq, who was vice president of U.S. policy and advocacy at Breakthrough Energy for nearly six years, is the organization’s president.