Exclusive: Lime adds environmental policy vet Carol Browner

The prominent environmental policy veteran Carol Browner is joining Lime as an adviser as the dockless bike and scooter company ramps up its focus on sustainability and climate change.

Why it matters: Browner is a well-connected figure in green circles after heading the EPA under President Clinton and serving as the White House "climate czar" under President Obama. She arrives as the industry is making the case for its environmental bona fides and seeking to improve its initially rocky relationships with cities and other layers of government.

The big picture: Brown's arrival as sustainability adviser comes 2 months after Lime pledged that all rides on its electric scooters and bikes will be "carbon neutral" — the first part of a wider environmental initiative called "Lime Green."

Browner tells Axios that she's excited about the emissions-cutting role that bikes and scooters can play, noting at one point that the number of car trips of a mile or less is "amazing."

• "It's exciting to be working directly on how to reduce carbon emissions. Transportation is a significant piece of the puzzle," she says.
• “It’s not just carbon dioxide benefits. It’s conventional pollution benefits,” Browner adds.

Details: Browner is already drawing on her experience as an environmental regulator to think about the role that bikes and scooters can play.

• For instance, she says it's worth looking at how states can incorporate them into EPA-mandated plans for meeting air quality standards for pollutants like sulfur dioxide and soot.
• “It’s not inconceivable that you would give credit for alternative forms of transportation that don’t produce pollution.”

One fun thing: Browner admits that she'll be playing some catch-up, telling Axios: “I am waiting for one of my millennial children to give me a lesson on how to use the scooter.”

Go deeper: Lime pledges zero-carbon scooter and bike fleet