Welcome to this week's issue of Chris’s Climate Log, your source for high fiber, low bs, easily digestible climate news...
In case you missed our last op-ed, here's a link to Friday's Climate Log:
The Not-So Cold Open
The “Empire State of Mind” is getting drowned out
Climate change - influenced weather catastrophes are pushing NYC infrastructure to it’s breaking point
*Queue a drowned out Alicia Keys singing Newwwwww Yooorrkkkkkk
Recently New York City experienced severe flooding, subway closures, and travel disruptions as heavy rainfall, reaching over 6 inches in some areas, inundated the metropolitan area.
Imagine being in an underground subway and still getting rained on...
The event was so bad, New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency across several regions, and Mayor Eric Adams urged heightened alertness. The extreme weather was attributed to climate change, stressing that the city's sewer systems weren't designed for such heavy and dense rainfall. This event comes after Hurricane Ida caused devastating floods in the region in September 2021, emphasizing the increasing frequency of extreme weather events due to climate change.
Read more here: Bloomberg
Climate Culture
Klimate4Kids
What my adorable god-daughter teaches us about climate change
Yes, you heard that right- I'm a proud god-father, and this adorable little climate-activist above is my god-daughter. Now imagine the smile on my face as I received this video of her talking about the environment and why we need to protect our resources all on her own. Climate education for kids is so important because it shapes the behaviors and norms they build on as they become adults, and then they impart those same behaviors on the next generation. It's pretty clear I'm not doing the best job on the religious front of being her god-father, but who knows, maybe I can make up for that on the environmental side 😀
Climate Capital
Bloomberg’s Three Climate Challenge/Opportunity Areas for Startups
BloombergNEF's annual Pioneers awards are on the hunt for climate tech startups addressing three major challenges: buildings, bottlenecks, and better fuels – the 'three Bs' of climate change problem-solving.
- Bottlenecks: As renewable energy capacity triples, the race is on to efficiently get this power onto the grid while addressing peaks and troughs in generation.
- Buildings: Efforts to reduce emissions from construction materials and operations are crucial, as building emissions hit an all-time high in 2022.
- Better Fuels: Startups are tackling the creation of next-gen net-zero fuels, with innovative approaches ranging from waste product conversions to synthetic fuels.
Despite a dip in climate-tech funding, incentives like tax credits and regulatory reforms are poised to support these startups in their mission.
Read more here: Bloomberg
My Take: I love traveling, specifically when I get to take ubers or lyfts that, more often than not, turn into Q&As for my driver to ask me questions on climate change and the work that I do. It both helps me better understand my work and spread the word on how climate tech will benefit us. On a recent trip to SF, I got into an engaging conversation with one of my drivers about the need for solar and how it can drastically help our energy grid and provide benefits beyond just providing clean energy; better grid stability, lower cost energy, and more reliable capacity. Relieving bottlenecks for the renewable energy transition is going to be vital especially as new economies begin to adopt and scale. I learned that solar is one of, if not the leading source of energy in Brazil and how Brazilians have taken advantage of its benefits to greatly reduce regular blackouts.
Similarly with all my flying I noticed airlines like United advertising their future plans of using waste to create sustainable jet fuel and new developments from startups exploring electric planes for short-haul flights. On the buildings front, I've recently gone on a tangent of watching youtube videos on how to build zero-carbon houses. It's really interesting to understand the measures we can go to beyond just LEED certified buildings, and how we can utilize new materials, old building methods, and strategic planning to drastically lower the carbon footprint of our homes. One video in particular that fascinated me was from Patagonia, where they cinematically showed how our ancestors had it right by using straw for insulation instead of the inconspicuous materials we use today.
Watch Patagonia build sustainable homes here: Patagonia Films
Better Living
Just because it’s green doesn’t mean its good
Understanding Greenwashing and how you can spot it in your daily life
Look - whether you're ready to admit you're seeing the impacts of climate change or not, you can't shy away from the increasing presence of "green" in products, packaging, and press releases lately. To most people, the language, certifications, designs, and marketing can be really confusing - especially if we aren't sure what true sustainability really is. This is a key issue, especially as more companies "cash in" and start to market to the climate conscious consumer. But it's important to separate the real from the fake (sounds like a J Cole line), and in here, I want to provide some tips to you, as a consumer, on how to spot fake sustainability claims (called greenwashing) in your every-day.
What is Greenwashing?
- Definition: Greenwashing is a way for companies to piggyback/profit off of consumer's concerns about climate change without really doing much about it. Broadly speaking, its when companies questionably claim environmental attributes to their products to attract more business or draw less scrutiny.
- Scrutiny: There's always two-sides to every story, and unfortunately with greenwashing companies will often bite-back in order to avoid coming across as un-trustworthy to consumers. Larger environmental organizations have thus far been at the forefront of calling out greenwashing, however regulatory bodies are beginning to take note too. At the end of the day to avoid scrutiny, we want to look at the claims being made, and the tangible impact that can be realized by purchasing the product, packaging, or service.
How to Spot Greenwashing:
- Climate jargon & vague terminology: Greenwashing presents itself most potently in hollow claims, vague terminology, and eco-ish language that doesn't hold up past basic logic. Green-colored packaging, images of plants and wildlife, and phrases such as "make a change" or "greener choice" hold little to no value in explaining the sustainable benefits of the product and instead just stand to confuse consumers. An easy way to sort out real sustainability efforts vs fake, is looking for cohesive and descriptive explanations of how exactly the product is more sustainable. These descriptions will likely tie back to the overarching and long-term climate commitments made by companies and help progress real change. Even if you don't fully understand the description, companies may likely offer website addresses, QR codes, or resources where you can find more information regarding a companies sustainability commitments and how your purchase made a difference. Remember this next time you see a random leaf in a circle or "bio" written randomly on a product's packaging.
- Certifications & Labeling: Certifications and labeling play a huge role in how we differentiate the climate impacts or attributes to our products. Unfortunately, some companies and industry groups have gone as far as creating their own fake certifications to help capture more of the "sustainable consumer" market. They're calling you dumb, I said it. But you're not dumb, you read Chris's Climate Log, so you know what to look out for now. Certifications and labeling in sustainability is a critical issue that will need it's own dedicated article one day, but in the short form here's how you can better understand and make an impact -
- Compostable - Compostable packaging does not mean it will biodegrade any quicker than regular packaging if thrown in the landfill/garbage bin. Compostable packaging is only beneficial if you have an active curbside composting service that accepts the product or packaging, seeing as most compostable packaging is not even at-home compostable.
- Recyclable - Recyclability is an extremely complex area. Unfortunately in the US, as long as there is some possible way to recycle an object (gently abbreviating here), it is considered recyclable - however there is a chance it may not actually be recyclable in your local facility, especially for flimsier, harder to recycle plastics. If you want to be more aware of what is and is not recyclable in your area, it may be worth taking a look at your municipality's waste management service website which should disclose more information.
- Can't go Wrong - If you want an easy answer here to keep in mind as you shop, look for products or packaging labeled with a giant B for Certified B Corp. A B Corp Certification essentially designates that a business meets high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency all the way from employee benefits to supply chain practices and sustainability for the most part.
Article based on: Bloomberg
A note from Chris:
Thanks for reading this week's issue of my newsletter, please feel free to comment any news, topics, or discussions you'd like to hear in upcoming emails. As well, please let me know how you're liking it, if it helps you, entertains you, or how I can improve! Any feedback helps.
Sincerely,
Chris
