India’s Big Bet On Electric Buses
April 18th, 2024
Via Yale Climate Connections, a report on India’s decision that its fast-growing cities need electric buses if the country is to meet its climate goals: Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that arrives earlier to wait for a smoother, […]
Read more »$830 Million To Fix Broken U.S. Infrastructure
April 16th, 2024
Courtesy of Wired, a discussion withUS transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg about recent grants to fix ancient roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure before it’s too late: There’s one word that will get any American fuming, regardless of their political inclination: infrastructure. Pothole-pocked roads, creaky bridges, and half-baked public transportation bind us nationally like little else […]
Read more »Adaptation: World’s Unheralded Tool to Deal With Climate Change
April 14th, 2024
Via Bloomberg, a report on adaptation: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a cut-and-dry way to stop climate change. But how the world responds to the impacts already taking place is a whole other can of worms — a large can, and one that can seem incomprehensible. Dubbed climate adaptation, the field doesn’t rely on a […]
Read more »Homeowners Face $25T Bill from Climate Change
April 14th, 2024
Via The Economist, a report on the risk that climate change poses to property owners: The residents of northern Italy had never seen anything like the thunderstorm that mauled their region last summer. Hailstones as big as 19cm across pummelled Milan, Parma, Turin and Venice. Windows were broken, solar panels smashed, tiles cracked and cars dented. […]
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 »Inside the Rise of Groundwater-Based Geothermal Heat Pumps
April 12th, 2024
Via Utility Dive, an article on the rise of groundwater-based geothermal heat pumps: The technology, which is cost-effective across 75% of the U.S. landmass and ideal for space-constrained users, could eventually displace utility gas service, proponents say. A few steps from the front door of Rochester, Minnesota’s city hall, two newly drilled wells plunge hundreds […]
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.