The Unloved L.A. River Just Prevented A Flood Disaster. Can More Of Its Water Be Saved?
February 14th, 2024
Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times, a look at the Los Angeles River and possibilities for more stormwater capture: As intense atmospheric rivers become more common in a warming world, so too do questions about stormwater capture in Los Angeles. Each year, when rain pours down and the L.A. River roars back to life, Angelenos want […]
Read more »Is This The Most Energy-Efficient Way To Build Homes?
February 11th, 2024
Via MIT Technology Review, a report on how passive homes – airtight and super-insulated – use around 90% less energy: When the Canadian engineer Harold Orr and his colleagues began designing an ultra-efficient home in Saskatchewan in the late ’70s, responding to a provincial conservation mandate during the oil embargo, they knew that the trick […]
Read more »Boston’s First Networked Geothermal Project Will Electrify 7 Public Buildings
February 10th, 2024
Via Smart Cities Dive, a report on how geothermal systems are a promising approach to transitioning communities off fossil fuels for heating and cooling: Dive Brief: Boston will electrify seven federal public housing buildings with the city’s first networked geothermal pilot project, Mayor Michelle Wu announced on Jan. 25. Networked geothermal uses underground pipes to heat and cool buildings in […]
Read more »These States Are Basically Begging You to Get a Heat Pump
February 8th, 2024
Via Wired, a look at how nine U.S. states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of this climate superhero: Death is coming for the old-school gas furnace—and its killer is the humble heat pump. They’re already outselling gas furnaces in the US, and now a coalition of states has signed an agreement to supercharge the gas-to-electric transition […]
Read more »Neighborhood-Scale Building Decarbonization
February 7th, 2024
Via Smart Cities Dive, a look at two approaches to neighborhood-scale building decarbonization: Communities must shift to a neighborhood-scale approach to building decarbonization if they want to meet federal and state climate goals, speakers said at a Jan. 25 webinar organized by the Building Decarbonization Coalition. This emerging strategy focuses on decarbonizing entire street segments, developments or neighborhoods at once. The […]
Read more »The Promise of Passive House Design
February 5th, 2024
Via Yale Climate Connections, a look at the promise of passive design – the extraordinarily energy-efficient building method slashes climate pollution from homes, hospitals, schools, and high rises: Imagine a home so efficient that it could be heated with a hair dryer. That’s the promise of a passive house, a design standard that’s becoming increasingly […]
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.