Dear Friends,
You can’t make this stuff up. In a page from an absurdist play, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation in May to delete climate change from state policy and stop programs that support conservation and renewable energy.
Florida has been ranked the most vulnerable state to climate change due to its extreme vulnerability to sea level rise, excessive heat, monster hurricanes, mosquito-borne diseases, heavy rainstorms, and drought – all which are becoming bigger threats with climate change.
In a year when Miami’s high temperatures are already off the charts, when home insurance in the state (and elsewhere) is becoming an almost unaffordable luxury, when scientists predict a worrisomely active hurricane season in the Atlantic because the oceans are so hot, and when so many people are moving into harm’s way – 2.4 million Floridians live within four feet of the high-tide line – this legislation is a “gutsy” political feint.
In the big picture, we are not Democrats or Republicans. We are humans, sharing a common fate. Proclaiming that climate change doesn’t exist and that it is somehow “woke” to care about it won’t make us safer: finding ways to lower our emissions while continuing to have a good quality of life and vibrant economy will.
As always, great strides are happening in new technologies and processes that can allow us to have vibrant economies and a safer future. We can and should debate the best way to reform our energy and land use systems. But this unnecessary and dangerous politicization of the issue could prevent us from getting there.
We have the ability to direct the plot of this absurdist play. Raise your voice. Insist that your political leaders – on both sides of the aisle – bring solutions forward. Reward companies that are doing the right thing. Encourage action at the local and state level. Vote. Talk about your climate concerns to your friends and family. Let’s write a happier ending together.
Sincerely,
The C-Change Conversations Team
Notable Quote
“Our country is facing an unprecedented surge in demand for affordable electricity while confronting extreme weather threats to the reliability of our grid and trying to stay one step ahead of the massive technological changes we are seeing in our society. Our nation needs a new foundation to get badly needed new transmission planned, paid for and built. With this new rule [see below], that starts today.”
– Willie Phillips, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman
News of Hope
As the energy transition faces a setback in Florida, the federal administration made its biggest, most impactful climate move since the IRA with historic regulations aimed at bolstering our grid for the long haul and strengthening it against the increasing number of extreme weather events. For the first time, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is addressing the need for long-term planning and cooperation across regional lines by U.S. utilities and grid operators.
Also in May, the administration moved to protect its major investment in clean technology by hiking tariffs on goods imported from China – including electric vehicles, solar panels, and battery components. In some ways, this was a controversial move. China has invested heavily for a long time in these technologies and holds a competitive price advantage. The tariffs will keep costs for American consumers higher and could slow emission decreases, but will foster American jobs and provide greater economic security – keeping a rival country from controlling our energy manufacturing and processing. No one said this transition was going to be easy!
On a smaller level, Vermont lawmakers have set an ambitious timeline to fully decarbonize the state’s grid by 2035. Vermont will join 24 other states in leading the net-zero transition with tangible 100% renewable energy goals.
It’s achievable on a state scale, and on a countrywide scale – seven countries now generate almost 100% of their electricity from renewables, and 40 other nations, including 11 in Europe, are hitting at least 50%. Scientists say solar is at a tipping point, now cheap enough that it will become the world’s main energy source by 2050. The U.S. still lags, generating only about 22% of electricity from renewables in 2023, although that number is steadily increasing.
Wind and solar are providing an increasing share of electricity in part because more batteries are coming on line. These can be charged when renewable costs are very cheap and can be discharged at peak times when wind and solar are less available. California has installed more of these than any country except China and take a look at this: on one day in April, the batteries supplied more than a fifth of the state’s electricity and, at peak, generated power equal to the output of seven nuclear reactors.
And using this cleaner grid to power transportation and lower our use of petroleum makes good sense. Which is why we are watching new innovations, like turning city street lamps into EV charging stations, with real interest. One of the handicaps for EVs is that apartment dwellers have a harder time accessing chargers (most EV users charge at home). Repurposing street lights to play double duty seems like a smart solution.
Another innovative solution? Using Medicaid dollars to prepare and protect vulnerable citizens from climate change risk – acting ahead of the storm, if you will. Oregon is testing whether providing air conditioners, air purifiers, and power banks to those most at risk will prevent greater costs in deaths and emergency health care after a weather emergency. With these live-saving devices already available, the most at-risk people have a much greater chance of surviving wildfires, extreme heat, and other climate-related events that are becoming so much more frequent.
We’re turning things on their heads. Instead of continuing to clear-cut Amazon forests for cattle grazing, carbon capture companies are working with ranchers to change their business model and to reforest their land. The goal is to use carbon credits and land improvement to enable farmers to make more on forestry than they currently make on cattle. It could be a win-win business design, especially when Brazil has been hammered by climate impacts, lending more urgency to finding new solutions.
Another way to naturally sequester more carbon in the ground? Rewilding. Introducing species into the environment can have unexpectedly huge climate payoffs. For example, a small herd of bison reintroduced in Europe is driving up carbon absorption on its grazing lands by compressing the soil with enormous hooves – sequestering carbon equal to the annual transmission of 43,000 cars.
We are making strides.
News of Concern
But are we striding fast enough? What we saw in May is just the beginning of what’s coming as climate change threatens our very ability to survive. The month’s extreme heat in India, which hit a record high temperature of 52.9°C (127.2°F) in Delhi, and other parts of South Asia was made 45 times more likely by human-caused climate change, approaching temperatures so high that even healthy humans can’t survive if exposed for long periods of time. And while India, for example, is building its renewable power generation capacity – and trying to reduce coal dependance – at an impressive clip, is it fast enough to win out in the race against climate change?
We’re seeing, in real time, the effects of climate change on the crops that sustain us. While a few areas in cooler climes have been able to expand their production (wine grown in Sweden!), many countries are facing food challenges from climate change. The crops most impacted this year include soybeans, olives, rice, potatoes, and cocoa. For example, Spain, a major olive oil producer, experienced average temperatures 2.5 to 4°C higher than normal, significantly depressing crops and raising prices. An exceptionally strong El Niño has played a role, but climate change continues to amplify its effects.
It’s not just food. We can no longer take for granted the systems that keep us healthy, even in the wealthiest of countries. As rising sea levels increase water tables throughout the American South, millions of septic systems are at risk of failure. One expert called this issue a “ticking time bomb” that could compromise the health of millions of people.
And lest we forget, we are not the only species struggling to adapt and stay safe. Howler monkeys toppled dead out of trees as heat soared in Mexico in May and migrating birds can’t adjust to changes in their environments. Fish are shrinking around the world and now experts are concerned about “dramatic declines” in aquatic life in Alaskan rivers that are turning orange as the thawing permafrost releases toxic metals from deep in the Earth into what had been pristine waters.
But while the month had its share of concerning news, we saw glimpses of a silver lining in the details. Take the news that oil companies are increasing drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The longer we use fossil fuels, the more damage we cause – no question. But in making this particular move, the companies say they chose the Gulf because drilling there releases less greenhouse gas than drilling on land. It’s a recognition, at least on some level, that climate change is happening – and that our actions are driving it.
Finally, we can even see a glimmer of progress in the news that the U.S. industrial sector is set to take the lead on carbon emissions. It means the previous top two carbon-emitting sectors – transportation and electricity – have dropped due to our transition to EVs and cleaner power sources. Factories are not moving quickly enough toward slashing emissions, it’s true, but that transition is more difficult. Here’s where we rewrite the absurdist play, with innovation and forward-thinking policy, not headline-grabbing, partisan obfuscation.
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As climate change supercharges wildfires, floods, and other extreme weather events, our energy and defense facilities, weapons sites, and power plants are increasingly at risk. Experts are particularly concerned about the safety of sites that handle (or are contaminated with) radioactive material, like the Texas panhandle’s Pantex Plant, which was in jeopardy during the massive wildfires earlier this spring.
