Cities across the U.S. have transformed themselves into living laboratories for clean technology as they race to decarbonize. With limited land available for wind farms or solar arrays, cities are forced to innovate — and a new project in New York demonstrates how quickly urban areas can turn the corner on renewable energy.

<h2>New renewable energy life for old gas power plant</h2>

New York City’s latest contribution to the renewable energy field comes through the company Rise Light and Power, a subsidiary of the diversified energy company <a href="https://www.lspower.com/about-us/" target="_blank">LS Power</a>. LS Power took form in 1990 with a focus on new markets and technologies, including natural gas. The company has since refined its focus to emphasize wind, solar and energy storage under the taline, “We don’t just talk about decarbonization, we make it happen.”

The new Rise Light and Power project demonstrates just how serious LS Power is about shedding its dependence on natural gas. 
Rise has begun the process of converting its 1960s-era, gas-fired Ravenswood Generating Station in Queens into Renewable Ravenswood, a distribution point for renewable energy including offshore wind as well as solar.

The news is significant because Ravenswood is not just any old gas-fired power plant. As described by Rise, the 27-acre facility is the largest generating station in New York City. With a capacity of more than 2,000 megawatts, it has been a “vital part of New York’s energy system” for decades, Rise says, and it represents a full a fifth of total electricity generation in the city.

Rise also points out that Renewable Ravenswood will need to meet a high bar for resiliency and reliability as well as raw generating capacity. The company notes that the gas-fired units at Ravenswood were instrumental in re-booting the grid after the massive regional blackout of 2003. Ravenswood has continued to operate reliably during major weather events including Hurricane Sandy as well as wild swings in hot and cold weather.

<h2>Making space for renewable energy</h2>

Rise has already retired 500 megawatts in gas-powered peaker units to make space for renewable energy at the site. Gas peaker plants are used for ramping up the supply of electricity temporarily, during periods of the day when demand soars. Apparently, Rise is on board with the emerging consensus that <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2019/energy-storage-finally-ready-tackle-wind-sectors-biggest-challenge/85301" target="_blank">new energy storage technology</a> can do the same job, without the need for gas peaker plants.

The review process for transforming Ravenswood into a renewable energy powerhouse has just begun. If the plans are approved by state regulators, the new facility will include large-scale energy storage systems on site, enabling it to connect to thousands of megawatts of renewable energy resources outside of the city limits, including both wind and solar.

The company also plans to repurpose the water intake facility at the site to provide zero-emission thermal energy to the local community.
<figure role="group"><img alt="Ravenswood Generating Station Queens NY will be converted into renewable energy" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="f9b7f336-e647-4053-bef9-705dd6ae944a" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Ravenswood%20Generating%20Station%20Queens%20NY%20will%20be%20converted%20into%20renewable%20energy.jpg" width="1000" height="600" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>The massive gas-fired Ravenswood Generating Station in Queens is set to become Renewable Ravenswood, a distribution point for renewable energy including offshore wind as well as solar.</figcaption></figure><h2>Who’s afraid of ESG?</h2>

While lawmakers on the Republican side of the aisle continue to ramp up their attacks on ESG (environmental, social and governance) in investing, LS Power and Rise are demonstrating that the partisan clamor is <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/anti-woke-legislation/764301" target="_blank">all performance</a> and no substance, at least not in terms of <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2022/anti-esg-office-holders/761261" target="_blank">responsible public policymaking</a>.

In a press announcement last July, Rise did not seem at all intimidated by the rising tide of anti-ESG rhetoric. Instead, the company made it crystal clear that ESG <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220712005458/en/Rise-Light-Power-Unveils-Plan-for-%E2%80%9CRenewable-Ravenswood%E2%80%9D-Transforming-NYC%E2%80%99s-Largest-Fossil-Fuel-Power-Plant-into-a-New-Clean-Energy-Hub" target="_blank">is front and center</a> in the redevelopment of the Ravenswood site. That means engaging with ESG stakeholders during the planning process, including “local labor leaders, government officials, and environmental justice and community advocates,” according to the company.  

As a result, Rise is proudly billing the renewable energy project as “New York City’s Largest-Ever Environmental Justice Project.” 
The company anticipates “unprecedented” benefits to the community. That includes the retraining and employment of Ravenswood workers at the facility, in coordination with the Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2, as well as cost savings and air quality improvements expected from the reduced use of fossil fuels.

“If approved by regulators, Ravenswood would power more than 2 million New York homes with renewable energy, in addition to providing clean heating and cooling for up to 15,000 local residences,” Rise emphasized.

<h2>The anti-ESG movement is destined to fail </h2>

Renewable Ravenswood is taking shape in a blue state dominated by Democratic policymakers who support renewable energy and ESG principles, but red states are also beginning to pull the rug out from under the anti-ESG movement.

One recent example is West Virginia, where some office holders are loudly clanging the anti-ESG bell while others arrange <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/iron-air-battery/764616" target="_blank">public-sector financing</a> to attract the iron-air battery startup Form Energy to the state. If all goes according to plan, West Virginia will export new energy storage technology to red and blue states alike, helping to accelerate renewable energy development all over the country regardless of partisan politics.

Similarly, the leading steelmaker Nucor is pushing back against the anti-ESG rhetoric of office holders in the red state of Kentucky. The company is touting its <a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2023/01/23/in-bluegrass-state-nucors-green-steel-trumps-anti-wokedness/" target="_blank">new “green steel” plant</a> in the state, which is designed to supply the U.S. offshore wind industry with steel for wind turbines.

Unless something drastic changes, energy storage systems and green steel from West Virginia and Kentucky will take the blame for helping to push fossil resources out of the nation’s energy profile, no matter what Republican policymakers have to say about ESG.

Image credits: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/V4cHacmEnW8" target="_blank">Florian Wehde</a> and <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/2f8SXXbP9nY" target="_blank">Sam Trotman</a> via Unsplash; <a href="https://flickr.com/photos/perspective23/3101861131/in/photolist" target="_blank">Christina Rose Howker</a> via Flickr

If Renewable Energy Can Make It in New York, It Can Make It Anywhere

The late comic George Carlin once said, “You don’t need a formal conspiracy when interests converge.” 

A recent assessment of the educational background of world leaders underscores Carlin’s quip, and it provides at least one explanation for global leaders’ consistent inaction regarding climate change: They all went to the same schools.

The <a href="https://1point5degrees.earth/" target="_blank">new project</a> by youth campaign group <a href="https://www.mockcop.org/" target="_blank">Mock COP</a> found that the 30 top universities in the world have not fostered the leadership skills and civic engagement necessary for our world leaders to navigate the impending ecological crisis.

Entitled "1.5 Degrees," referencing the solemn recommendation from climate scientists that the planet must not warm beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius to prevent catastrophe, the project demonstrates that current world leaders are birds of a feather — an idle feather at that.

Just as Carlin said, the converging interests of world leaders — who share common backgrounds, educations, worldviews, priorities and goals — has resulted in an informal conspiracy of inertia.

<h2>Top universities failed leaders, and leaders fail us</h2>

“The people with the privilege to study at the so-called ‘top’ universities, and go on to become key decision-makers across society, are being educated at institutions that do not act in the public good and do not ensure their graduates are prepared to lead a more just and sustainable future," the 1.5 Degrees website reads. 

The project includes a ranking that grades the world’s top universities on how their engineering, law, economics, politics and health courses, which are traditionally chosen by decision-makers, align with the actions needed to tackle the climate crisis.

The ranking of top universities includes Yale, Cambridge, Oxford and Stanford Universities, as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Imperial College London. No institution received a favorable grade. MIT, as well as Beijing's Tsinghua and Peking Universities, scored the worst at preparing their graduates for a low-carbon future.

The team of young activists at Mock COP ultimately concluded that the most educated among us are often the worst enablers of climate destruction. They further found that critical courses pertaining to environmental citizenship are “influenced by large corporates working against the advice of the world’s leading climate scientists."

By and large, leaders around the world are consistent in their approach to climate change — they don’t approach it at all. This can’t come as a surprise, though, once the common education factor is acknowledged. For example, Mock COP found that 20 current heads of state attended Harvard University. These schools shape their students’ worldviews, so if world leaders all went to the same few top universities, it is no wonder that they are acting in lockstep.

“World leaders consistently let us down at conferences like Davos, where they have the opportunity to create real, lasting change," said Josh Tregale, a mechanical engineering student and Mock COP campaign coordinator, in a statement — referring to the World Economic Forum's annual meeting earlier this month. "Had our leading decision makers undertaken university courses which effectively taught the facts of the climate crisis and instilled sustainable thinking, then they would understand the urgency and act accordingly. Instead they are uneducated on the facts and unprepared for climate leadership.”

This all adds up to world leaders are well-meaning and inept at best — and ill-intentioned and adept at worst. Neither is very reassuring, but now that the issue has been identified, Mock COP hopes to influence change.

<h2>Youth organizers at Mock COP push for curriculum reform to tackle climate change</h2>

Mock COP hopes this project will serve to influence curriculum reform and create more of an emphasis on civic duty and environmental engagement at these top universities. If the most exclusive and accomplished institutions begin to prioritize this sort of education, the rest of academia should follow suit. 

The team expects this information to help climate-minded young people decide where to study, as many students may think twice about attending these top institutions after Mock COP’s report.

The planet is not dying from ignorant people making mistakes. It is dying from self-interested, highly educated people making deliberate decisions that prioritize profits over planet. It is time to start teaching the people who have the power to save the planet that saving the planet is not only in their best interest — it’s in their job description.

Image credit: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/nxBucBB_ihQ" target="_blank">Christian Lendl</a>/Unsplash

Top Universities Fail to Prepare World Leaders for the Climate Crisis, Report Finds

There’s good news on the viability of President Joe Biden’s climate agenda, with <a href="https://www.evergreenaction.com/press/new-report-powering-toward-100-clean-power-by-2035" target="_blank">a new report</a> detailing how the U.S. could potentially come within reach of his 2030 objective to power 80 percent of the nation’s electrical grid with clean energy. Doing so would also meet U.S. targets to halve carbon emissions by 2030, using a 2005 baseline, and further reduce them to 77 percent below 2005 levels by 2035, <a href="https://www.evergreenaction.com/policy-hub/Powering-Towards-100-Clean-Power.pdf" target="_blank">according to the report</a> from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Evergreen Action.

Time is of the essence, however. And not just because of any impending climate <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn7950" target="_blank">tipping points</a>. The current administration isn’t guaranteed a second term. And, as the Washington Post's Maxine Joselow <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/23/how-biden-can-meet-his-100-clean-electricity-goal/" target="_blank">pointed out last week</a>, an incoming Republican president would likely reverse any last-minute changes. Ironically, rushing the conversion may also be the best way to end partisanship over the issue as <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/clean-energy-will-lower-household-energy-costs/" target="_blank">long-term savings become apparent</a> to businesses and consumers alike.

“President Biden committed to the most ambitious set of climate goals in American history,” Charles Harper, power sector policy lead at Evergreen Action, said in a statement. “Important progress has been made, but President Biden must take bold action this year in order to deliver on those commitments. By ramping up its work to transition the U.S. economy toward 100 percent clean energy, the Biden administration and state leaders can reduce toxic pollution, cut energy costs, create good jobs, and advance environmental justice. Let’s get to work.”

The report lists necessary measures which, based on modeling, could result in meeting the climate goals set out in the president’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) if they are implemented immediately. Researchers say setting new and stringent rules through the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air Act, as well as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), will be paramount. Other necessary courses of action include making the most of the IRA’s grant programs and tax credits, and promoting stronger state standards on emissions to match federal targets.

“We don’t need magic bullets or new technologies,” Manish Bapna, NRDC president and CEO, explained in a statement. “We already have the tools — and now we have a roadmap. If the Biden administration, Congress, and state leaders follow it, we will build the better future we all deserve. There is no time for half measures or delay.”

The report does not call for an end to new power plants that generate electricity from fossil fuels, but it does recommend that rule changes and emission standards be applied to existing gas and coal facilities as well. The transition away from fossil fuels is thus presented as more of a carrot than a stick situation — with funds from the IRA needed to encourage the expansion of renewables, as opposed to attempting to eliminate the construction of new fossil fuel-based plants. 

The increasing availability and <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/07/renewables-cheapest-energy-source/" target="_blank">cheaper cost</a> of renewable energy benefits not just consumers, but also the U.S. manufacturers and businesses that rely on all possible savings to remain competitive. The more that can be done to encourage the grid transition to renewables, the cheaper power will be for everyone. In time, then, partisan opposition to renewable energy should wane.

However, it’s important to remember that no type of consumption comes without consequences. Resources must still be extracted to build batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, etcetera in order to power the clean energy revolution. As such, we must be more careful not to create <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2022/evs-fewer-cars/760736" target="_blank">a whole new environmental disaster</a> in the process of slowing the climate crisis.

People in the U.S. use <a href="https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=87&amp;t=1#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20United%20States,of%20about%20604%20quadrillion%20Btu." target="_blank">four times as much energy</a> as the worldwide average. Cheaper power runs the risk of increasing total consumption, as seen with the connection between <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-28/the-high-price-of-cheap-gasoline" target="_blank">gasoline prices and driving habits</a>. With the impending <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/robots-automation-population-decline/764841" target="_blank">robotization of multiple industries</a>, increased power usage could be dramatically compounded and raise emissions above current modeling. Therefore, it is imperative that people in the U.S. look to reduce their consumption, in addition to cleaning up the grid. 

Many Americans are already willing to <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/lifestyle-choices-climate-change/764686" target="_blank">adjust their lifestyles</a> to combat climate change, but they need the tools to successfully lower their carbon footprints. Clean power is a big part of this, but so is a public transportation infrastructure that moves us away from the personal passenger vehicle — electric or not — as the primary mode of transportation.

Likewise, the backlash against remote work doesn’t just dismiss employee needs, but it also ignores the environmental benefits of fewer commutes and climate-controlled office buildings. By looking at the bigger picture, perhaps we will begin to understand that our planet does not have unlimited resources. No matter how we power things, we cannot do so from a thought process of ever expanding abundance with zero consequences. 

Image credit: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/h0z0ptvGVR8" target="_blank">Alexandru Boicu</a>/Unsplash

U.S. Climate Targets Are Within Reach, But Overconsumption Still Matters

Collectively, the senior leadership of corporate America does not resemble the country they are supposed to serve. As a consequence, too many of the mistaken assumptions about people of color still hold sway, making it difficult for people of color to advance in those environments.

Errol L. Pierre, a <a href="https://www.errolpierre.com/" target="_blank">corporate executive</a> in the healthcare industry, believes people of color must, and can, find ways to turn those assumptions to their advantage.

“If we turn what we think are these weaknesses to our strengths and find value in knowing that being unique is great and you don’t want to be like everybody else, it becomes something that you can leverage to help you grow and to help you distinguish yourself from everybody," Pierre told TriplePundit.

Pierre describes this strategy for advancement and many others <a href="http://www.errolpierre.com/book" target="_blank">in his first book</a>, "The Way Up: Climbing the Corporate Mountain as a Professional of Color," which he intended as a guide to help underrepresented individuals from all ethnic backgrounds to reach their professional goals.

A critical element in countering those assumptions, Pierre told us, is not to hide your background and your unique experiences.

The son of Haitian immigrants, early in his business career Pierre didn’t share much about his life away from the workplace, such as mentioning he attended a Haitian festival because “it was out of the norm and didn't fit in with what the other people were doing.”

"Now, I use the things that I’ve gone through on my path and the nuances of being black in America coming from immigrant parents as strengths,” Pierre said. "If you are in a mid-level position and you happen to have a unique background, a different ethnicity, share your story because you will never be forgotten. If you share your story with an executive that you bump into an elevator or when you meet them on a call, they will remember you. That’s how you differentiate yourself."
<figure role="group"><img alt="Errol Pierre - The Way Up Climbing the Corporate Mountain as a Professional of Color - book on career success for people of color" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="aafbacef-6628-4798-984e-88c96855e446" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Errol%20Pierre%20-%20The%20Way%20Up%20Climbing%20the%20Corporate%20Mountain%20as%20a%20Professional%20of%20Color%20-%20book%20on%20career%20success%20for%20people%20of%20color.jpg" width="1000" height="635" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>Errol L. Pierre is an executive at a nonprofit health insurer. His first book, "The Way Up: Climbing the Corporate Mountain as a Professional of Color," is out now. </figcaption></figure>Pierre, who is senior vice president of state programs for the not-for-profit health insurance company Healthfirst, said that although it can be daunting, underrepresented people must use their strengths to counter the microaggressions and bias they encounter.

"I remember walking into a conference room . . . with three other white employees to meet with a client, and the client immediately assumed someone else was the lead person," Pierre remembered. "Absolutely, these assumptions turn into one thinking that people will treat you a certain way, not even realizing who you are. These become like 100 paper cuts that add up to pain, dejection and disempowerment, which also leads to people to not even want to try."

Pierre worked on "The Way Up" during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. His initial motivation had been his feelings in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. That motivation shifted as he realized the pandemic was having a disproportionate impact on black and brown communities.

"As stories became more focused on the reasons for these disparities, not just in health, not just in income, but also in corporate America, I thought, 'Well then, what can I do to try to help address it?'" Pierre explained. 

"The Way Up" underlines the problems people of color face in corporate America. Some have said it excludes white people, but Pierre is surprised by that reaction.

Pierre said he has a "whole library of leadership books" that he learned from, but he never saw himself in them. Throughout "The Way Up," he credits white colleagues and mentors who have helped and encouraged people of color to seek closer connections to corporate leadership.

"I was surprised that people would take it that way, that I was excluding white people,” Pierre said. “If they read the book, they would realize I talk about many white people that helped me in my career, so there was no intention to exclude anybody."

More common is the positive reaction "The Way Up" has garnered thus far, with people writing to thank Pierre for sharing his tips for success and for being "vulnerable."

"That's how much it resonates with people, and I’m so glad that it is," he told us. "They felt like they didn’t have a leadership book out there that spoke to them. And the whole intent was to have a leadership book that speaks to people who feel underprivileged, underrepresented, undervalued, and I’m glad it’s reaching that market."

Image credits: Vasyl/Adobe Stock and Errol L. Pierre

Executive Pens Guide to Career Success for People of Color

In a first for U.S. carriers, Alaska Airlines <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alaska-airlines-eliminates-inflight-plastic-cups-west-coast-based-airline-becomes-first-us-carrier-to-replace-plastic-with-planet-friendly-alternative-301730158.html" target="_blank">announced</a> that it is once again shifting its inflight offerings, abandoning plastic cups in favor of eco-friendly replacements.

The airline will switch to <a href="https://us.fsc.org/en-us/certification" target="_blank">FSC-certified</a> paper cups in the main cabin and reusable glassware in first class. The move is part of a multi-year process to transition away from the airline's five greatest sources of plastic waste, including stirrers, bottles and cups, by the year 2025. 

In the airline's announcement, the managing director of guest products, Todd Traynor-Corey, stated: "This is another important step in our journey to eliminate single-use plastics and an important step for the industry to see how product innovations can chart a course to a greener future."

<h2>Alaska Airlines' five-step plan to address single-use plastic</h2>

While the switch away from single-use plastic is certainly a positive process, some find the gradual speed at which Alaska Airlines has implemented these changes to be surprising. After all, if the airline can recognize the environmental harm created by its single-use plastic products, it would surely replace those products immediately.

Unfortunately, it isn't so simple for a massive company to re-route its practices toward a more sustainable model. On top of that, the process of phasing out plastic products relies on cooperation and coordination with associated suppliers.

"It requires broad collaboration with our supply chain partners and inflight team to make new products and practices that move us toward a future with less plastic," Traynor-Corey said. "That progress only happens with a deeply shared commitment to care for our environment."
<figure role="group"><img alt="Alaska Airlines switches from plastic cups to paper cups" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="16a6943c-3d93-470e-a145-46b8a2e63b0a" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Alaska%20Airlines%20switches%20from%20plastic%20cups%20to%20paper%20cups.jpeg" width="1000" height="736" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>Alaska Airlines will switch from plastic to paper cups in a broader push to minimize single-use plastic waste. </figcaption></figure><h2>Performative or progress?</h2>

The significance of Alaska Airlines' decision remains unclear. When <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2019/jul/19/carbon-calculator-how-taking-one-flight-emits-as-much-as-many-people-do-in-a-year" target="_blank">each flight emits nearly a million pounds of carbon dioxide</a> into the atmosphere, it is difficult to celebrate the use of paper over plastic.

"No one at the airline is under the delusion that eliminating straws is a monumental achievement," TriplePundit founder Nick Aster <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2018/alaska-airlines-joins-war-plastic-straws-does-it-matter/12151" target="_blank">wrote in 2018</a> in response to Alaska's initial straw announcement. "It's rather seen as an incremental step in a long list of improvements, some bigger than others."

The numbers speak for themselves: Alaska claims that the shift away from using 55 million plastic cups annually, as well as its<a href="https://news.alaskaair.com/sustainability/boxed-water/" target="_blank"> partnership with Boxed Wate</a>r to replace plastic bottles, will combine to "eliminate 2.2 million pounds of plastic waste from landfills every year, the equivalent weight of 24 Boeing 737s."

<h2>Broader sustainability goals at Alaska Airlines</h2>

Alaska Airlines' five-part plan to phase out single-use plastic is one of the main components of the airline's broader goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.

The company is not just concerned with cleaning up its own procedures, and hopes to inspire its patrons to think more sustainably. Indeed, even as the airline takes measures to reduce its own use of water bottles, it also urges guests "join us in reducing waste by bringing their own water bottles to <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3765610-1&amp;h=610476495&amp;u=https://news.alaskaair.com/sustainability/fillbeforeyoufly-water-bottles/&amp;a=%23FillBeforeYouFly" target="_blank">#FillBeforeYouFly</a>."

Beyond plastics, Alaska Airlines frequently forays into new strategies to maximize carbon efficiency, and recently <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2021/artificial-intelligence-air-travel/723586" target="_blank">implemented an artificial intelligence navigation system</a> called Flyways AI to further reduce waste created and the fuel consumed by each flight.

Image courtesy of Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines Ditches Plastic Cups in Broader Push to Curb Plastic Waste

According to the Primordial soup theory, life originated in the ocean. Now, rising marine temperatures threaten mortal peril to oceanic species, and complications to life on land as well. 

Ocean temperatures reached record peaks in 2022, breaking the previous record set a year earlier, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00376-023-2385-2" target="_blank">a team of researchers reported</a> last week. Indeed, since 2018, scientists have observed record heat levels in the ocean, with each year eclipsing the last.

Since scientists began to document ocean temperatures in the 1950s, their research has revealed a steady rise in ocean heat levels. In fact, <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/chapter/summary-for-policymakers/" target="_blank">in a 2019 special report</a>, researchers with the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) wrote: "It is virtually certain that the global ocean has warmed unabated since 1970 and has taken up more than 90 percent of the excess heat in the climate system (high confidence)."

<h2>Rising marine temperatures are linked to human activity</h2>

Further, scientists believe that humans are directly fueling the "unabated" rise in ocean temperatures.

The IPCC <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/" target="_blank">followed up on its report in 2021</a>, outlining how the ocean warming processes it had previously detailed are increasing in frequency and severity. In its 2021 report, the panel declared: "Changes to the ocean, including warming, more frequent marine heatwaves, ocean acidification, and reduced oxygen levels have been clearly linked to human influence."

<h2>Effects on marine life</h2>

It's easy for humans to say, "if you can’t take the heat, get out of the ocean," but that doesn’t do much for the abundance of aquatic life reeling from endless marine heatwaves.

Coral reefs are perhaps the best publicized victims of oceanic heatwaves. A <a href="https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(21)00474-7" target="_blank">2021 study published in the One Earth journa</a>l found that the world has effectively lost half of its coral reef ecosystems since 1950. As the coral reefs decline, so do all the life forms reliant on the coral reef ecosystem. One Earth researchers found that "at least 63 percent of coral-reef-associated biodiversity has declined with loss of coral extent."

It is important to note that not all species will be negatively affected by a rise in oceanic temperatures alone. But the effects that rising marine temperatures have on ecosystems will ultimately create negative conditions even for those species that can adjust or even thrive with more heat.

For instance, while whale species are able to adjust physically to rising temperatures, <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/climate/whales-and-climate-change-big-risks-oceans-biggest-species" target="_blank">the warming waters are detrimental</a> to whale food sources like zooplankton. So, the change in distribution of these preferred food sources poses a significant threat, and means that whales must hunt more frequently, deeper and for longer periods of time. Meanwhile, warmer waters have altered the <a href="https://phys.org/news/2018-06-oceans-affect-sharks-brains.html" target="_blank">development of shark brains</a>.

These changes have profound implications for every living thing in the sea. It is no wonder that the IPCC described the effects of rising marine temperatures as observable "from the equator to the poles."

<h2>A ripple effect: How rising marine temperatures affect life on land </h2>

Oceanic life will continue to face the brunt of the consequences of rising marine temperatures, but the heating of the oceans also threatens humanity.

Regions that rely on fish (such as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/02/weather/fish-vulnerable-ocean-warming-climate-change-scn/index.html" target="_blank">Atlantic cod, salmon, brown trout, and Alaskan pollock</a>) for food and commerce will be especially impacted. And that’s just the tip of the (melting) iceberg.

Just as the water in a tea kettle expands as it heats up, so too does the water in the ocean as it grows warmer. As ocean waters expand, sea levels consequently rise — destroying homes, businesses, and coastal, tourism-based economies.

"Coastal areas will see continued sea-level rise throughout the 21st century, contributing to more frequent and severe coastal flooding in low-lying areas and coastal erosion," IPCC researchers warned in the 2021 report. "Extreme sea-level events that previously occurred once in 100 years could happen every year by the end of this century."

Some <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/09/climate-crisis-pushing-great-white-sharks-into-new-waters" target="_blank">scientists theorize</a> that warmer waters are sending shark species further north in search of colder waters, and that this in turn is leading to more encounters between sharks and humans. In 2021, the <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/effects-climate-change-sharks" target="_blank">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> found that sharks are swimming beyond their typical ranges, following fish populations as they shift northward in search of cooler waters.

Every life form on the planet will be significantly affected in one way or another by this steady rise in heat.

To preserve the various creatures living in the waters that once stirred the ingredients for life itself, humanity must acknowledge its role in climate change and work to mitigate negative effects on the bounty of species in our oceans.

Image credit: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/jH7EBc1GvCg" target="_blank">Sven Piek</a>/Unsplash

Humans Fueling Steady Rise in Ocean Heat Levels, Creating Adversity for Aquatic Species

Over 90 percent of business leaders are prioritizing long-term decarbonization — and 89 percent believe carbon markets will play a key role, according to a recent <a href="https://www.conservation.org/press-releases/2023/01/12/businesses-are-setting-strong-climate-targets-and-decarbonizing-and-say-carbon-credits-are-key-for-taking-climate-action" target="_blank">survey</a> of 500 sustainability managers conducted by Conservation International and the We Mean Business Coalition. 

A third of the business leaders surveyed are already investing in a voluntary carbon market, while over half are considering carbon credits as an option for the future.

<h2>Carbon markets come under criticism...</h2>

Carbon markets allow carbon-emitting companies and individuals to offset their greenhouse gas emissions through the purchase of carbon credits. These credits are meant to be tied to certified emissions reductions from projects designed to reduce, or in some cases remove, greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Credits are often from renewable energy projects, such as wind and solar installations, and nature-based solutions like reforestation and land restoration.

Carbon markets and credits have come under intense scrutiny in recent years due to lack of oversight and regulation. Companies and governments have been accused of greenwashing, as certain entities created fraudulent carbon credit programs that accepted payment, but never implemented carbon reduction projects. Other critics maintain that the carbon market allows companies to continue emitting greenhouse gases instead of finding methods to avoid emissions in the first place. 

A <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/revealed-forest-carbon-offsets-biggest-provider-worthless-verra-aoe" target="_blank">recent investigation</a> from the Guardian, Die Zeit and SourceMaterial found that more than 90 percent of rainforest carbon offset credits from a leading provider are likely to be “phantom credits” that do not represent actual greenhouse gas reductions, adding more fuel to the skepticism.

<h2>... But business leaders seem to still believe </h2>

Net-zero targets represent <a href="https://zerotracker.net/" target="_blank">more than 90 percent of global GDP</a>, and the vast majority of business leaders believe that carbon credits are a critical piece in the global decarbonization puzzle.

Over 80 percent of the business leaders surveyed by Conservation International and We Mean Business say they would like to accelerate their decarbonization plans beyond credits or offsets. They claimed to face barriers such as budgetary constraints, technological limitations, lack of collaboration, concerns about greenwashing, lack of transparency and regulation in the carbon market, and the quality of carbon credits available, which held them back.

To overcome some of the roadblocks and confusion around carbon credits, businesses are increasingly relying on carbon credit ratings agencies such as the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market and the Voluntary Carbon Market Initiative. Carbon ratings agencies help ensure the integrity of the carbon market through robust oversight, as well as stewarding a consistent taxonomy for businesses making carbon reduction claims.

"Without a transparent, high-integrity voluntary carbon market that functions at scale, we won't stay within 1.5 degrees [Celsius]," Annette Nazareth, chair of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market, said in a statement. "Companies' priority must be to decarbonize their own value chains. High-integrity carbon credits allow them to go further, accelerating climate mitigation beyond their value chain by providing finance to critical climate mitigation activities that do not otherwise meet the risk and return expectations of investors. We need to find a way to make it easy for investors to recognize and price a high-integrity carbon credit no matter which program issued it, what kind of credit it is, whether it is based on a removal or reduction, a nature-based solution, or an emerging technology."

Tackling challenges in the carbon market is urgent to the activation of climate finance. Another recent <a href="https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Why-Corporate-Investments-in-Nature-are-Urgently-Needed.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> from the We Mean Business Coalition found that if the world's top 1,700 emitting companies purchased carbon credits for just 10 percent of their emissions, more than $1 trillion would be activated for climate finance by 2030.

"Climate change is the greatest test of collective action in human history, and a crisis of that scale demands an all-hands-on-deck, all-of-the- above strategy," Dr. M. Sanjayan, CEO of Conservation International, added in a statement. "Carbon credits are [a] proven tool for immediately reducing emissions, while also pursuing longer-term decarbonization ambitions. And though it isn't always reflected in the headlines, this study affirms that private-sector buyers are indeed gravitating toward high-quality credits, placing a premium on transparency and accountability."

The challenges to decarbonization are myriad, and the carbon marketplace is not yet ideal. However, many business leaders still feel a functional, scalable carbon credit system could accelerate the reduction of carbon emissions, perhaps just in time. 

Image credit: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/YtqUWAlL2GE" target="_blank">aiokr chen</a>/Unsplash

Carbon Markets Are Far From Perfect, But Businesses Say They’re Essential

23 New Plant-Based Foods Coming to Market in 2023

A key decarbonization asset in the U.S. gathered rust during the Donald Trump administration, and after two years of hard work, it is finally fit for duty again. That is the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office, the small but highly influential <a href="https://www.energy.gov/lpo/loan-programs-office" target="_blank">government financial resource</a> that counts an early loan to Tesla Motors among its success stories.

<h2>The facts behind the Loan Programs Office</h2>

The Loan Programs Office was established by the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 during the administration of former President George W. Bush. It was tasked with providing loans and loan guarantees to innovative companies in the areas of fuel efficiency and clean energy.

The goal was to help bridge the gap between new, commercial-ready technology and the mass market. Its best-known success story is Tesla Motors, a company that seemed destined to languish in the luxury niche market when it first launched in 2006. Tesla only produced a total of 2,500 units of its first vehicle, the two-seat Roadster sports car, which it introduced in 2008 with a price tag that easily topped $100,000.

The picture was quite a bit different after 2010, when Tesla received a $456 million loan from the Loan Programs Office. By 2012, the company stopped production of the Roadster and was ready to produce the now-familiar Model S.

“Tesla's first vehicle, the Lotus-inspired Roadster, was first produced in 2008. This limited production model only sold 2,500 units. At that time, Tesla was a sleepy EV company – and it wasn't until 2012 with the Model S that the company was a household name. In the first year of production, Tesla sold 3,000 Model S units,” U.S. News and World Report noted last November in a <a href="http://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/features/how-many-cars-has-tesla-sold" target="_blank">recap of the company’s sales to date</a>.

That particular article failed to mention the $456 million loan that launched the Model S, but it did note that Tesla jumped production up to 22,477 in 2014, and went on to produce millions. 

Despite the <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2022/crisis-management-electric-vehicle/736987" target="_blank">reputational chaos</a> surrounding Tesla <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2022/boycotts-advertisers-twitter/760176" target="_blank">CEO Elon Musk</a> in <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2020/electric-vehicles-brand-reputation-not-sure-thing/120316" target="_blank">recent years</a>, the company’s success is widely credited with setting the stage for other startups and legacy automakers to produce electric vehicles for the mass market, along with a growing ecosystem of battery innovators, charging station manufacturers and related stakeholders.

Although the Loan Programs Office focuses on startups, it also provides loans to legacy firms that are innovating in new areas. One notable success story in that area is Ford Motor Co. Ford refused federal Recovery Act funding after the economy crashed in 2008, but it did take a $5.6 billion loan from the Loan Programs Office for factory upgrades in 2009.

Ford went on to <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2018/ford-brushes-doubts-about-electric-vehicles-11-billion-pledge/13661" target="_blank">ramp up its electrification plans</a> in 2015 and 2018, and it was the first mass market automaker to carve a path <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2022/ford-ev-battery-pickup/736526" target="_blank">from electric sedans to light-duty trucks</a> when it introduced the all-electric Lightening F-150 in 2021 to widespread acclaim. 

<h2>What happened to the Loan Programs Office?</h2>

The Loan Programs Office was launched under a Republican president, which should have sheltered it from partisan attacks. The financial success of the program creates more foundation for bipartisan support: Overall, interest on loans has more than offset losses from other recipients that went bankrupt.

In 2019, the Bipartisan Policy Center noted that “<a href="https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/financing-novel-energy-technologies-how-the-loan-programs-office-advances-american-competitiveness/" target="_blank">LPO projects have transformed</a> American energy infrastructure and accelerated growth in clean energy and electric vehicle markets,” creating or saving thousands of jobs, with projects generating a total investment of more than $50 billion. 

“Further, LPO projects have prevented 34.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions and saved 1.7 billion gallons of gasoline and counting,” they added. 

That gasoline-cutting achievement explains why the office became a target for fossil energy stakeholders and their allies in Congress after President Barack Obama took office in 2009. 

The Republican party took control of the House of Representatives in the 2010 midterm elections, and promptly tried to withdraw funding from the program. They also ginned up public opinion against the program by flogging the bankruptcy of the <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2011/us-chinese-trade-war-solar-panels-killed-solyndra/70551" target="_blank">solar panel manufacturer</a> Solyndra in public hearings.

To the surprise of no one, the Loan Programs Office was practically mothballed after Obama left office in 2016. Upon entering the White House, former President Trump repeatedly announced his intention to defund the program. The sole exception was a multibillion-dollar bailout for the <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2017/trump-admin-pours-12-billion-dying-nuclear-energy-project-georgia/15091" target="_blank">Vogtle nuclear power plant</a>, which continues to suffer from <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/vogtle-nuclear-vibrations-cooling-georgia-power-southern-company/640391/" target="_blank">delays and cost overruns</a>.

<h2>$350 billion more for clean energy projects</h2>

Someone in the Loan Programs Office was looking forward to a new administration, though. In December of 2020, just a few weeks after Trump lost his re-election bid, the Loan Programs Office publicized new guidance on loan applications, with a <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-issues-notice-guidance-potential-loan-applicants-involving-critical-minerals" target="_blank">focus on critical materials</a> needed for electric vehicles, solar cells, wind turbines and other clean tech.

In March of 2021, shortly after President Joe Biden took office, the office issued a solicitation for companies to proposed projects for achieving Biden’s goal of 30 gigawatts in <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2021/government-office-tesla/720441" target="_blank">new offshore wind capacity</a>.

Restoring trust in the office has been slow going, though. Last week, Bloomberg noted that the office has <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-17/billions-in-green-energy-funds-aim-to-scale-up-cleantech-solutions" target="_blank">received more than 100 applications</a> over the past two years but has made only four conditional loans or loan guarantees.

The head of the office, Jigar Shah, is seeking to raise awareness about the power of the program to vault innovators into the mass market. He has gotten a big assist from the Democratic members of Congress who voted for the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which passed into law with the support of exactly zero members of the Republican party.

As described by Bloomberg, the Inflation Reduction Act added another $350 billion to the office’s previous loan authority of $44 billion, for a total of $394 billon. In terms of success stories, that’s the equivalent of scores more Teslas, Fords and other innovators funneling new decarbonization technology into the U.S. economy.

Of particular note is a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act that removes a cap on the total amount of loans for auto manufacturing, under an existing division of the office called the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program.

Aside from benefitting car makers, <a href="https://www.energy.gov/lpo/inflation-reduction-act-2022" target="_blank">removal of the cap</a> sets the wheels in motion for a previously unfunded provision in the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/bipartisan-infrastructure-law/" target="_blank">Bipartisan Infrastructure Law</a> to take effect. That provision expanded the Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program to include medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, locomotives, maritime vessels including offshore wind vessels, aviation and hyperloop.

The Inflation Reduction Act also added funding for an entirely new program in the Loan Programs Office. The newly formed Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment Program aims to help “retool, repower, repurpose, or replace energy infrastructure that has ceased operations or to improve the efficiency of infrastructure that is currently operating.”

Some examples of qualifying projects could include <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2022/coal-west-virginia-solar-power/741456" target="_blank">converting fossil energy sites </a>to clean technology, <a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2019/08/19/old-wind-farm-has-a-secret-weapon-up-its-turbine-towers/" target="_blank">retrofitting older wind farms</a> with more efficient turbines, and replacing conventional solar arrays with <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/five-signs-agrivoltaics-revolution/763716" target="_blank">agrivoltaic systems</a>.

The Loan Programs Office is poised for a rush of new business under the Biden administration. As for what happens after Election Day 2024, that’s partly up to those in the business community who lend financial support to candidates for office.

The run-up to the 2024 presidential election cycle is already looming into view. The choice of which candidates to support should be clear to every business that seeks to court the <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/anti-woke-legislation/764301" target="_blank">up-and-coming generation of consumers</a>, clients and voters.

Image credit: Tesla (press use only)

U.S. Energy Dept. Revives the Loan Programs Office, a Tesla-Scale Decarbonization Tool

When red-state policymakers began to target ESG (environment, social and governance) investing for attack, it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt. As it happens, that someone is the local taxpayer. A new anti-ESG state law in Texas has already induced one city to miss out on the most competitive bid for its municipal bond sale. As for cities in blue states, growth in the market for municipal green bonds could help ensure economic health and resiliency in the era of climate change.

<h2>Somebody’s gonna get hurt: Small city loses $277,334 on bond sale</h2>

An early sign of trouble appeared last September when <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-16/citigroup-snubbed-on-muni-bond-deal-costing-texas-city-277-334" target="_blank">Bloomberg reported</a> that the city of Anna, Texas (<a href="https://www.texas-demographics.com/anna-demographics" target="_blank">population 16,792</a>) declined to pick the best bid for its bond sale. The bidder, Citigroup, apparently ran afoul of a new state law, SB 19. That law passed in 2021 with the goal of protecting gun industry stakeholders from being passed over by financial firms with ESG policies.

Citigroup is one such firm. In 2018, the company set a relatively mild "best practices" policy on gun sales for its retail clients. The new policy required background checks and a 21-year age threshold, and it limited the sale of extra-lethal equipment such as bump stocks and high-capacity magazines.

“It is not centered on an ideological mission to rid the world of firearms,” Ed Skyler, Citigroup's EVP of global public affairs, <a href="http://blog.citigroup.com/2018/03/announcing-our-us-commercial-firearms-policy/" target="_blank">said of the policy back in 2018</a>. “But we want to do our part as a company to prevent firearms from getting into the wrong hands.”

Skyler also noted that Citigroup's policy applied to retail clients only, not to the company's relationships with gun manufacturers, which he described as “few.” Even so, that was enough to set off alarm bells under SB 19. 

As described by Bloomberg, city officials in Anna rejected Citibank’s bid after discussing the matter with the state Attorney General. They dropped the opportunity to get the best deal, reportedly costing local taxpayers $277,334.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Earlier this month, a <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4123366" target="_blank">Wharton analysis</a> concluded that SB 19 and a similar bill, SB 13, will cost Texas municipal bond issuers <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/anti-woke-legislation/764301" target="_blank">$300 million to $500 million in additional interest</a> over the first eight months after enactment.

A follow-up analysis commissioned by Ceres and the investor group As You Sow also indicated that <a href="https://econsultsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Sunrise-ESG-boycott-Impact_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">similar losses are in store for cities</a> as a group of state policymakers consider similar laws. That group includes lawmakers in Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and West Virginia.

<h2>Picking winners and losers in the market for municipal green bonds </h2>

The prospect of a negative bottom-line outcome for city residents will probably not make red-state policymakers change their minds and stop the <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2022/anti-esg-office-holders/761261" target="_blank">crusade against ESG investing</a>. After all, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/08/politics/red-states-blue-cities-counties/index.html" target="_blank">punishing city dwellers</a> to make a point is par for the course among red-state policymakers.

In contrast, blue-state taxpayers can look forward to a competitive environment for their municipal bond sales, including municipal green bonds.

Earlier this month, an organization of international investors called the <a href="https://www.unpri.org/about-us/about-the-pri" target="_blank">Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)</a> released a report in support of the U.S. municipal market titled, “The thematic ESG approach in U.S. municipal bonds.”

“As the largest liquid sub-sovereign debt market in the world, the U.S. muni bond market merits consideration by ESG-minded fixed income investors,” PRI emphasized.

PRI is tasked with promoting the six ESG principles outlined by the <a href="https://www.unglobalcompact.org/take-action/action/responsible-investment" target="_blank">United Nations Global Compact</a> in 2006. More than 1,500 investment firms have signed onto the principles, with assets under management totaling an eye-popping $62 trillion.

In the report, PRI noted that municipal bonds are “well-positioned for investors pursuing a thematic ESG approach.” While cautioning that investors still need to exercise due diligence, the report's authors noted that thematic or “labelled” municipal bonds can “help investors assess and report on the environmental and social outcomes of their investments.”

PRI analyst Jasper Cox elaborated: “U.S. municipal bonds are useful for fixed income investors seeking to contribute to sustainability outcomes, since issuers of these bonds are crucial for the wellbeing of most Americans and also the transition to a low carbon economy.”

Based on data culled from PRI’s ESG reporting platform, the organization observed that momentum is growing for “thematic ESG investing in U.S. muni bonds due to increasing investor interest in environmental and social themes.”

Among other factors, the report also took note of “growing opportunities to fund climate-related projects.”

Indeed, some PRI signatories are using muni bonds to align investment objectives with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals or, alternatively, exclude bonds linked to revenue from certain sectors, such as tobacco.

<h2>Yes, interest in municipal green bonds is growing</h2>

Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs provided another indication that the outlook for municipal green bonds in the U.S. is a healthy one — at least for blue-state cities.

“The global bond market will be an important source of investment to drive the climate transition, and green bonds finance projects with positive environmental impact,” the firm’s lead portfolio manager for green, social and impact bonds, Bram Bos, wrote <a href="https://www.gsam.com/content/gsam/us/en/institutions/market-insights/gsam-insights/perspectives/2022/green-bonds-fixed-income-capital.html" target="_blank">in a company blog post</a>.

Bos explained that the market for municipal green bonds is expanding as the twin forces of investor interest and government policymaking come to bear. Though much of the activity has been centered in Europe, Goldman Sachs expects the pace to pick up in the U.S. and elsewhere in the coming years, Bos reported.

That outlook was affirmed back in 2021 by Fidelity, which issued a white paper noting that municipal green bonds were a <a href="https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/fixed-income/Green-Bond-White-Paper.pdf" target="_blank">small but growing segment of the market</a>.

“Provided that the bonds meet the investor’s current investment objectives and that the investor understands the associated risks, Green Bonds may present a unique investment opportunity,” Fidelity stated.

<h2>ESG is here to stay</h2>

<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/23/investing/premarket-stocks-trading/index.html" target="_blank">CNN ran the numbers</a> earlier this week and reported that “sustainable investing generated returns similar to the market” last year. That’s an interesting contrast with the New York Times, which ran a string of articles critical of ESG investing last year.

Among other data indicating strength in the ESG area, CNN cited the <a href="https://indexes.morningstar.com/our-indexes/details/morningstar-us-sustainability-FS0000CPHT?currency=USD&amp;variant=TR&amp;tab=overview" target="_blank">Morningstar U.S. Sustainability Index</a>, which fell 18.9 percent in 2022. That may look bad at first, but in the context of an overall market downturn, the Index actually did better than the S&amp;P 500 — which fell 19.4 percent.

Against this backdrop, the <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2022/anti-esg-office-holders/761261" target="_blank">anti-ESG, “anti-woke” movement</a> is simply another Republican exercise in performative politics, aimed at mollifying their supporters in the fossil energy and weapons industries while feeding the emotions of their angry base, regardless of the consequences for everyone else.

It's little wonder that the Republican Party underperformed expectations in the 2022 midterm elections by a wide margin. The world is passing them by, and that includes ESG investors and the voters who benefit from fact-based financial decision-making in the era of climate change.

Image credit: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/zLbx38fVZ7c" target="_blank">Perry Merrity II/</a>Unsplash

Municipal Green Bonds: The Next ESG Battleground

For decades, environmental scientists <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/01/us/the-unrealized-horrors-of-population-explosion.html" target="_blank">raised alarms</a> about overpopulation, its compounding effects on the climate and the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220905-is-the-world-overpopulated" target="_blank">inevitable limit</a> to the planet’s carrying capacity. And while the agricultural Green Revolution and lower birth rates put off mass starvation and allowed us to look away from the bigger problem of overconsumption in the Global North, now it seems <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/30/health/elon-musk-population-collapse-wellness/index.html" target="_blank">the shoe is on the other foot</a> with fears of population decline <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2023/01/17/the-countries-where-population-is-declining" target="_blank">making the news instead</a>. Nowhere is this about-face more obvious <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/18/china/china-population-drop-explainer-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank">than in China</a>, where concern over fewer births has come less than a decade after the country ended its one-child policy.

At best, the accompanying doom and gloom over labor shortages and supply chains appears foolhardy when taken into the context of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-robot-revolution-is-here-how-its-changing-jobs-and-businesses-in-canada-155267" target="_blank">the robot revolution</a> currently unfolding in just about every industry. At worst, these fears around population decline reflect a lack of vision beyond skyrocketing profits built on an ever-expanding base of consumers and cheap workers. But the convergence of a declining population with artificial intelligence (AI) capable of relieving the burden of labor actually presents a unique opportunity in human history — one in which everyone is free to pursue meaningful work with purpose.

It’s difficult to imagine such a scenario when the narrative of creating jobs has dominated politics and economics for as long as any of us can remember. Just as self-serve gas, ATMs and self-checkouts have rallied cries of lost jobs, the trend continues with robotization. So it’s no surprise that an AI-powered McDonald’s being tested in Texas has been accused of threatening “<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/first-ever-mcdonalds-served-robots-texas-1769116" target="_blank">millions of jobs</a>."

That may have been a reasonable concern when there were more workers than there were jobs, but it is baffling when taken into the context of a shrinking labor force. There are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-subway-chipotle-add-tech-robots-ai-to-speed-up-orders-2022-12" target="_blank">400,000 fewer workers</a> in the restaurant industry now than there were before the pandemic. Between the stress, low pay, unpredictable hours and poor treatment, restaurant jobs — and fast-food jobs in particular — could arguably be considered <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/florida/articles/2022-03-05/thousands-of-people-leaving-restaurant-industry" target="_blank">some of the worst out there</a>. With the U.S. population screeching towards <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/03/american-population-growth-rate-slow/629392/" target="_blank">zero growth</a>, the labor shortage in the industry is also unlikely to abate. So, why not automate?

Of course, the labor shortage isn’t limited to fast food or even restaurants in general. Other areas of hospitality and retail are suffering too, as are healthcare, education and transportation — with too heavy of a burden placed on too few staff. The resulting burnout has led to an exodus of workers, with not enough new ones available to take their place. Paige Ouimet, a professor of finance at the University of North Carolina, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/16/worker-shortage-strikes-economy/" target="_blank">told the Washington Post</a>: “When you look at the jobs that are having trouble hiring, it’s the ones with really long hours, inflexible schedules, not great pay and limited benefits.”

In other words, the jobs that can’t be filled are not great jobs to begin with. But by automating within these industries, some of the burden of labor can be relieved from the workers who are left, thus improving their job satisfaction.

By shifting our perspective away from creating jobs and focusing instead on how to get the work done most efficiently via AI in light of population decline, humankind can create an enormous opportunity for itself. But such an opportunity won’t just happen. It requires strategic planning to ensure the most miserable forms of labor are automated first — namely, those jobs that are often erroneously referred to as “unskilled” labor — along with the implementation of a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/10/24/universal-basic-income/" target="_blank">universal basic income (UBI)</a> and access to free job training, apprenticeship programs and education.

Naturally, such a scenario would be a nightmare for some of the loudest alarmists over population decline. It will be pretty difficult to round up enough <a href="https://reason.com/2022/01/19/elon-musk-artificial-wombs-and-the-impending-shortage-of-mars-colonists/" target="_blank">colonists for Mars</a> unless enough people are miserable enough to want to leave Earth after all.

The population doesn’t need to keep expanding in order to avoid collapse — we can do more with fewer people by harnessing the power of technology. In truth, automation will happen regardless. The choice is between embracing and planning for it so that we can create a world where all people can pursue work that gives them purpose, or falling into it at the mercy of whatever the market forces decide, potentially leading to mass unemployment and squandering our opportunity to change the nature of work for the masses of people not born into privilege.

Image credit: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/0E_vhMVqL9g" target="_blank">Andy Kelly</a> and <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/zwd435-ewb4" target="_blank">Andrea De Santis</a> via Unsplash

The Robot Revolution Will Negate Population Decline, Let’s Make the Most of It

The climate crisis is changing how some Americans think about their own futures, <a href="https://www.veolianorthamerica.com/barometer-ecological-transformation" target="_blank">according to a new survey</a> — with 1 out of 4 worried they may have to give up long-term goals like starting a family. It’s no wonder then that half of U.S. respondents said they're willing to abide by the vast majority of changes needed to restore our planet. Yet billionaires like Bill Gates have been shamelessly using their platforms to blame the state of the climate <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2022/bill-gates-degrowth/757006" target="_blank">on the masses</a>.

Gates reasserted his belief that it will be up to technology to save us from ourselves on his annual <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/109eze3/im_bill_gates_and_im_back_for_my_11th_ama_ask_me/" target="_blank">Ask Me Anything</a> Reddit thread this month, hinting at his earlier statements that regular people just aren’t willing to abandon their extravagant lifestyles in order to limit rising global temperatures.

While the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/" target="_blank">third richest man in America</a> is clearly out of touch with the rest of us, he continues to tell on himself by emphasizing products that consumers can buy instead of encouraging everyone to scale down. Gates’ response to one Redditor’s question — “What’s the biggest way an individual can contribute to the climate solution?” — failed to address any tangible lifestyle choices that people can make to significantly lower their carbon footprints. Even worse, the solution he offered would actually lead to increased emissions and environmental destruction if everyone took his advice. 

“You are a voter, a consumer, a giver and a worker. In every one of those roles you can help,” Gates wrote on Reddit, without offering any significant options for doing so beyond “buying an electric car helps” and “there will be options to pay a bit extra to offset your travel emissions coming soon."

But buying an electric vehicle (EV) prematurely — when the ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicle in the driveway is still running just fine — <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2022/evs-fewer-cars/760736" target="_blank">does not lead to a net reduction</a> in carbon emissions. Truly, if it were even possible for every American to ditch their ICE vehicle for an EV right now, meeting that demand would create a dramatic rise in global emissions and cause substantial environmental damage from mineral extraction.

Such flip suggestions miss the entire point of transitioning to cleaner energy and transportation, seemingly demonstrating Gates’ interest in keeping mass consumption rolling. He continued by mentioning that he already pays to offset his family’s travel — once again giving away the same “let them eat cake” mentality he has previously exhibited in regards to overshooting the targeted cap on global temperature rise at 1.5 degrees Celsius.

In fact, as we learned last year, Gates <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/29/bill-gates-youll-never-solve-climate-change-with-degrowth.html" target="_blank">spends $9 million annually</a> on carbon offsets to make up for his own lifestyle — an astronomical amount that begs two questions. Just how lavishly does he live? And does he do anything at all to limit his own carbon footprint? (It’s hard to imagine to what extent he does, considering <a href="https://www.therichest.com/rich-powerful/an-aerial-arsenal-inside-bill-gates-aircraft-collection/" target="_blank">the sheer number of private jets he owns</a>.) The billionaire was clearly speaking about himself when he <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-big-climate-bill-for-a-new-era-of-climate/id1621556928?i=1000580986614" target="_blank">told Bloomberg’s “Zero” podcast</a> that the people of Earth would be unwilling to give up their lifestyles to lessen the effects of the climate crisis.

Of course, as the recent survey — conducted by researchers from Elabe on behalf of the private resource management firm Veolia — demonstrated, he’s wrong. Half of U.S. respondents across age groups, genders and geographies said they're willing to make sacrifices to fight climate change — and 55 percent recognize that <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/climate-change/3816741-one-in-four-americans-considering-putting-off-major-life-decisions-out-of-fear-of-climate-change-survey/" target="_blank">technological advances will not be enough</a>. We have to change how we live, a concept that Gates and his peers choose not to comprehend.

Likewise, concerns from the financial elite about slowing population growth feel rather ironic when faced with the quarter of Americans surveyed who fear they may have to forego major life events like having children because the planet is on its way to becoming unlivable. What’s more, 52 percent of U.S. respondents want to see more conversations about climate change and its solutions, agreeing that it’s difficult to imagine “ecological transformation” without them. But that’s not surprising with billionaires like Bill dominating the dialogue. 

Image credit: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/jXPQY1em3Ew" target="_blank">Mika Baumeister</a>/Unsplash

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