Beyond the Yuck Factor: Cities Turn to ‘Extreme’ Water Recycling
July 22nd, 2023
Via Yale e360, a report on how San Francisco is at the forefront of a movement to recycle wastewater from commercial buildings, homes, and neighborhoods and use it for toilets and landscaping. This decentralized approach, proponents say, will drive down demand in an era of increasing water scarcity. In downtown San Francisco, in a cavernous […]
Read more »California’s Electric Cars Can Feed the Grid and Help Avoid Brownouts
July 21st, 2023
Courtesy of Jefferson Public Radio, a look at how – through bidirectional charging – owners of electric cars can sell energy to the grid or use it to power their homes: An electric school bus is charging at Grant Union High School in Sacramento on July 20, 2023. The chargers are bidirectional, which means they […]
Read more »On the Grid: How Old Coal Plants Could Help Fuel A Renewable Boom
July 15th, 2023
Via E&E News, an interesting look at the potential for old power plants and their links to the grid to be repurposed to bring renewables online faster and aid nearby communities? And if so, which companies will benefit? When Pennsylvania’s largest coal plant closes Saturday, it will leave behind more than towering smokestacks and mounds […]
Read more »The Rise of Electric Heat Pumps
July 15th, 2023
Courtesy of Harvard Business School, an independent project with Professor George Serafeim to assess the viability of a heat pump: In the U.S., 17% of homes have an electric heat pump installed. In the South – in states such as North Carolina and Alabama – this number is above 40% [1]. It is clear that […]
Read more »This New Neighborhood Will Be Net-Zero, Off the Grid, and Leaves Room for the Forest
July 15th, 2023
Via Fast Company, a look at a new 67-home neighborhood in Ontario which will be walkable, run off community battery systems, and will protect nearby forests and wetlands In a new neighborhood that will be surrounded by forests in rural Canada, you’ll be able to live fully off the grid—and potentially avoid much driving, despite […]
Read more »Even ‘Safe’ Places Are Experiencing Climate Chaos in America
July 13th, 2023
Courtesy of The New York Times, commentary on recent flooding in Vermont and the need to develop responsive infrastructure: The capital of Vermont — the state that often tops those “best states to move to and avoid climate change” lists — was, until Tuesday afternoon, mostly underwater. Swollen by record-breaking rainfall, the Winooski River claimed nearly the entire […]
Read more »'Black Swans' are highly improbable events that come as a surprise, have major disruptive effects, and that are often rationalized after the fact as if they had been predictable to begin with. In our rapidly warming world, such events are occurring ever more frequently and include wildfires, floods, extreme heat, and drought.
'Green Shoots' is a term used to describe signs of economic recovery or positive data during a downturn. It references a period of growth and recovery, when plants start to show signs of health and life, and, therefore, has been employed as a metaphor for a recovering economy.
It is my hope that Black Swans / Green Shoots will help readers understand both climate-activated risk and opportunity so that you may invest in, advise, or lead organizations in the context of increasing pressures of global urbanization, resource scarcity, and perils relating to climate change. I believe that the tools of business and finance can help individuals, businesses, and global society make informed choices about who and what to protect, and I hope that this blog provides some insight into the policy and private sector tools used to assess investments in resilient reinforcement, response, or recovery.