Itselectric: Democratizing Electric Vehicle Charging via City Buildings
November 28th, 2023 Charging infrastructure isn’t keeping up with rapid EV adoption. Itselectric has turned to an abundant city resource: buildings. It’s a way to increase access, especially in underappreciated [...]
Extreme Heat Will Bake America’s Cities
November 28th, 2023 Via The Economist, a look at the impact of extreme heat on U.S. cities and how they may prepare: The monsoon is late again. Without the almost biblical rains, there is nothing to break the heat [...]
How Norway Brought Heat Pumps In From The Cold
November 27th, 2023 Courtesy of The Guardian, a look at how Norway accelerated the installation of heat pump technology nationwide: When Glen Peters bought a heat pump for his home in Oslo he wasn’t thinking about the [...]
Bettering The Built Environment
November 26th, 2023 Via Gates Notes, a reminder that buildings represent significant opportunities for energy efficiency improvements: Buildings waste a lot of energy: Because of inefficient windows and gaps in what’s [...]
Climate Havens: May Be Closer To Home Than Initially Thought
November 22nd, 2023 Via Grist, commentary on why ‘climate havens’ are not something nature hands us, but something we have to build ourselves: Moving is never easy — and it’s even harder in the era of global [...]
The Next Power Plant Is on the Roof and in the Basement
November 22nd, 2023 Courtesy of The New Yorker, an article on a new Department of Energy report promoting a new system that could remake the energy grid: On any given Monday in Vermont, Josh Castonguay, the [...]

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.