What Would Happen if Every American Got a Heat Pump
March 21st, 2024
Via Wired, a report on the projected impact of widespread adoption of heat pumps in the U.S.: One of the most powerful weapons you can wield to fight climate change is … an appliance. A heat pump is a fully electric device that transfers warmth from outdoor air into a building, then reverses in the summer to […]
Read more »Heat Pumps That Fit In Apartment Windows Promise Big Emissions Cuts
March 19th, 2024
Via AP News, a look at how heat pumps that fit in apartment windows promise big emissions cuts: For 27 years, the heat in Regina Fred’s Queens apartment building came from a noisy steam radiator that she couldn’t control and sometimes didn’t come on at all, leaving her shivering. Sometimes, the radiators ran so hot that […]
Read more »How One New Jersey Beach City Went From ‘Worst to First’ In Reducing Flood Risk
March 17th, 2024
Via Smart Cities Dive, a look at Sea Isle City’s success in reducing flood risk and building resilience: Sea Isle City, New Jersey, had a dismal flood management reputation for a long time — one so bad that the beach community almost got booted from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Flood Insurance Program in the […]
Read more »Where Heat Pumps Win — And Where They Lose
March 11th, 2024
Via Heat Map Daily, a report on five key findings from an extremely thorough study by the National Renewable Energy Lab: Some Americans install heat pumps because they care about climate change. But most people aren’t going to make the switch until it makes sense economically. Pinpointing where and for whom heat pumps make sense […]
Read more »Sinking Cities Push Sea Level Rise Into Overdrive
March 6th, 2024
Via CNN, an article on how sinking cities are pushing sea level rise into overdrive: Dozens of cities along the US coastline are sinking at alarming rates, leaving them far more exposed to devastating flooding from sea level rise than previously thought, scientists reported Wednesday. As oceans rise and the coasts sink, up to 343,000 acres of land will […]
Read more »Pressed for Space, Solar Farms Are Getting Creative
March 6th, 2024
Courtesy of Bloomberg, a report on how – from retired landfills to decommissioned golf courses and murals on the sides of buildings – solar installations are proliferating in unexpected places: Solar power is expected to dominate global electricity markets in the next few decades, and already accounts for three-quarters of renewable energy capacity, according to the International […]
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.