📊 Climate Data Is Going Public

Big Polluters Can No Longer Hide

😊 The Good News - A coalition of climate experts called Climate TRACE launched an inventory of emissions data for public access last week at COP27, and the results are not surprising – the biggest polluters are oil and gas facilities, and they have significantly underreported their emissions to officials. Many experts have estimated that oil and gas facilities emitted more than they reported, but now we know for certain, thanks to Climate TRACE.

🥾 Follow This Path - I understand more than most how corporations manipulate data to make environmental issues seem less concerning; my role included this when I worked in the landfill industry, so it only makes sense that the biggest polluters have done the same. I’m quite excited about this project, because now big polluters have nowhere to hide, and I hope more people will step up and fight for climate action because of it.

Let There Be (Solar-Powered) Light!

😊 The Good News - Modhera, a low-income village in Western India, is now run entirely on solar energy thanks to a $10 million government project. Over 1,300 solar panels have been installed on commercial and residential rooftops, and residents are paid for any excess energy their panels generate. Even though the project was completed a few months ago, it is already improving income and stability for the residents.

🥾 Follow This Path - Projects like this are proving just how incredible decentralized renewable energy can be for the people and the planet. It can provide jobs, income, reduced emissions, and energy security. But I hope other low-income communities around the world follow in Modhera’s footsteps, especially ones in my own backyard in Appalachia that are struggling because of the dying coal industry.

You Wood Not Believe This

😊 The Good News - Researchers have developed an alternative to plastic, and it’s made of one of the most abundant materials in the world: wood. Plus, it’s transparent! This isn’t an entirely new technology though; it was originally developed in the 1990s, but now it’s being looked at again, as combating the climate crisis is more urgent than ever.

🥾 Follow This Path - So much of what we use in our daily lives is made of plastic that comes from fossil fuels, and plastic is a major climate problem we’ve failed to tackle so far. Plastic production emits large amounts of greenhouse gasses, and it is nearly impossible to dispose of them without creating microplastics (until we scale up some of the solutions I’ve discussed in previous newsletters). I hope transparent wood can be scaled up in a way that does not contribute to deforestation, so we can safely transition away from plastic and into a better future.

Hot Parked Cars Soon To Be Thing Of Past In France

😊 The Good News - France recently passed a law that will require all existing and new parking lots with over 80 parking spaces to be covered in solar panels. Parking lot owners will have up to 5 years to comply with the law, and officials believe it will generate around 11 GW of renewable energy – which is enough to power over 8 million homes.

🥾 Follow This Path - Ideally we would not have large parking lots since the most sustainable transportation options are public transit, walking, and cycling, but making communities less reliant on cars can take years, if not decades. This law will help make cars more sustainable in the meantime, and it will also help the country transition to renewable energy at a faster pace. I wonder if laws like this will encourage developers to make their projects more walkable to avoid the extra cost of adding solar panels. But, either way, I hope more countries require solar panels to cover parking lots, which are typically a waste of space.

An Invisible Waste Gets A Visible Solution

😊 The Good News - A startup in Massachusetts called Phoenix Tailings has found a way to repurpose the nearly 280 billion tons of mining waste found around the world. Traditional mines will discard the minerals they aren’t actively mining for. Phoenix Tailings has developed a technology that extracts those leftover minerals while eliminating any hazardous byproducts, and the whole process runs on renewable energy.

🥾 Follow This Path - Nearly everything we need to transition to clean energy, like electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, and electronic components, requires mined minerals, and as we continue to implement these changes we must find ways to make the mining process more sustainable. I believe Phoenix Tailings’ technology can greatly help with that issue, and I will be watching them closely as we continue to fight for climate action.

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Written in partnership with Pique Action. Tired of doom-scrolling? You've found your people. Find Pique's positive, educational climate content on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube.