Nowhere in America Is Safe From Climate-Fueled Storms and Fires
October 4th, 2024
Via Bloomberg, a look at how billion-dollar weather disasters have touched every corner of the US in the past five years: Forecasters had warned for days that Hurricane Helene was likely to cause widespread devastation. But when the powerful storm struck Florida and barreled through the eastern US last week, killing more than 180 people […]
Read more »On-the-Move Americans Are Unwitting Storm Chasers
September 20th, 2024
Via the Wall Street Journal, a look at – as more people relocate to states exposed to natural disasters – the property investors following them are assuming bigger risks: Is it better to inherit property in Miami or Detroit? Florida’s much higher home prices mean the answer is obvious today. But intensifying storms and rising sea levels […]
Read more »How To Make Climate Risk Good Business
August 28th, 2024
An interesting TEDx talk examining h0w – by leveraging massive data stores that can be parsed and used predictively in the same way investors rely on these insights for stocks and interest rates – climate risk can turn into financial opportunity: The risk profiles of many real estate markets are rapidly increasing globally. Insurers and […]
Read more »How Insurance Collides With Climate Change: The Risky Business of Predicting Where Climate Disaster Will Hit
August 9th, 2024
Courtesy of Bloomberg, a look at how on how climate tech companies can tell you the odds that a flood or wildfire will ravage your home. But what if their odds are all different? Humans have tried to predict the weather for as long as there have been floods and droughts. But in recent years, […]
Read more »EVs Will Power Buildings In Colorado City’s Transformative Pilot
May 31st, 2024
Via Smart Cities Dive, a report on an innovative pilot project which will inform how vehicle-to-everything charging technology can be used in areas at high risk of prolonged outages due to natural disaster or emergency events: Xcel Energy and Fermata Energy — working with the city of Boulder, the nonprofit Colorado CarShare and Boulder Housing Partners […]
Read more »Why Heat Pumps Are the Future, and How Your Home Could Use One
April 14th, 2024
Via the New York Times, a report on heat pumps, highly efficient devices considered by many to be powerful tools in combating climate change: Heat pumps, which both warm and cool buildings and are powered by electricity, have been touted as the answer to curbing greenhouse gas emissions produced by homes, businesses and office buildings, […]
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.