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 [...]
Hot Idea: Meet The Swedish Firm Trying To Shake Up Heat Pumps
May 27th, 2024 Via The Economist, a look at one company’s view on a big opportunity with an old technology: Heat pumps, a type of reverse-refrigerator used for warming homes, are not the type of tech that [...]
Schools That Never Needed AC Are Now Overheating. Fixes Will Cost Billions.
May 24th, 2024 Via The Washington Post, a report on the growing need for air conditioning as heat waves creep north, baking schools that previously did not need air conditioning: Nearly 40 percent of schools in the [...]
Extreme Heat In 2050: New Report Outlines Worrisome Future
May 23rd, 2024 Via the Los Angeles Times, an article on a new report examining the impact of extreme heat on disadvantaged communities by 2050: The next quarter of a century will bring considerable climate danger [...]
New Research Shows How More Trees Could Cut ER Visits During Heatwaves
May 22nd, 2024 Via Anthropocene Magazine, a report on a team of heat experts known as Los Angeles Urban Cooling Collaborative who calculated exactly how much of a difference low-tech solutions like trees and white [...]
How Cool Pavement, Heat Risk Data are Helping a Texas City Prep for Summer
May 20th, 2024 Via Smart Cities Dive, a report on how cool pavement, heat risk data are helping a Texas city prep for summer: Dive Brief: To target its heat mitigation efforts, San Antonio plans to use the findings [...]

ABOUT
BLACK SWANS GREEN SHOOTS
Black Swans / Green Shoots examines the collision between urbanization and resource scarcity in a world affected by climate change, identifying opportunities to build sustainable cities and resilient infrastructure through the use of revolutionary capital, increased awareness, innovative technologies, and smart design to make a difference in the face of global and local climate perils.

'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.