Electric Racer Tokyo, AI For Nature, Dream Gardens, and More!

Hey climate heroes! Welcome to The Climate Roundup, where we round up the change, er the news about climate and the environment. As part of the Gen E community, we thank you for making climate action part of everyday life. (Reading this newsletter counts!)

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In Pop Culture:

🌸 Formula E raced through Tokyo last weekend, showcasing the future of motorsport with fully electric cars. To celebrate, Nissan launched a retro-style arcade game, NISMO Electric Racer Tokyo, where players zip through a pixelated city at 322kph, the real top speed of their EV. The game blends Japanese gaming nostalgia with Nissan’s clean tech push, part of a broader campaign as the team leads this year’s championship. Car racing arcade games were the only kind I liked as a kid, so with electric cars, cherry blossoms, and attack mode, my inner child is delighted about this game. And guess what? You can play it now on your desktop or phone here!!

Philanthropy At Work:

🧪 Surfrider’s beach testing hits a new record and uncovers serious pollution risks. In their just-released 2024 Clean Water Report, the Surfrider Foundation revealed that 80% of the beaches they tested last year showed at least one high bacteria result, meaning potential health risks for swimmers. Volunteers collected over 10,000 water samples from 604 sites, setting a new record for the nonprofit’s Blue Water Task Force. The report also identifies 10 Beach Bacteria Hot Spots across the US and urges action to protect EPA water quality funding. Because everyone deserves clean, safe beach days.

In Environmental News:

🌱 AI being used for good. The Bezos Earth Fund just awarded 24 climate and nature orgs $50K each to explore how artificial intelligence can protect biodiversity, design sustainable proteins, improve weather forecasts, and more. Projects include AI bird-tracking across Latin America, reef monitoring 700x faster than before, and fungi ID tools to find new protein sources. Later this year, up to 15 projects will receive $2M to scale. What makes this different is that the program matches real-world climate experts with tech talent to unlock AI’s potential for the planet. This is refreshing compared to what we see most everywhere else, where ‘tech minds’ alone are awarded and rewarded as the chosen ones to solve all the world’s problems. They won’t. Also, let’s note here that widespread and unnecessary use of AI is an environmental problem in itself. And if ‘the powers that be’ instead contained AI use for only scientific and important work like this, at least until we’ve fully transitioned to clean energy, and have figured out how not to use fresh water and valuable land for massive data centers, well then we wouldn’t have as much of a problem with it, would we?

🔥 Global forest loss hit a record high last year, driven by wildfires fueled by extreme heat. The world lost nearly double the amount of tropical primary forest in 2024 compared to the year before, emitting more carbon than four years’ worth of global air travel at 2023 levels. Brazil alone accounted for 42% of this loss. Fires now drive almost half of all tropical deforestation, surpassing agriculture. Experts warn we’re entering a dangerous climate feedback loop, where forests burn, emissions rise, and it all keeps spiraling.

☀️ Global solar generation is projected to surpass nuclear this summer for the first time ever. Solar has been the fastest-growing source of electricity since 2014, thanks to plummeting costs and soaring installation rates.

💧 EPA weakens drinking water rules for toxic PFAS chemicals. The EPA is rolling back limits on four “forever chemicals” in drinking water, aka PFAS compounds tied to cancer, heart disease, and immune system damage. The Trump administration will keep limits that Biden imposed for two of the most dangerous PFAS (PFOA and PFOS), but delay enforcement until 2031 and scrap regulations for the others while it “reconsiders” them. Scientists and environmental groups warn this is a win for polluters and a loss for public health, and they’re calling for PFAS to be regulated as a class, not one chemical at a time. It’s unbelievable that these chemicals, which scientists say are not safe for humans in any amount, have yet to be canceled.

♻️ A US startup solving fast fashion waste is taking its business to France. Virginia-based Circ has developed a game-changing way to recycle polycotton, fast fashion’s favorite cheap blend of cotton and polyester, a fossil fuel-derived and micro-fiber shedding villain of the apparel world. But thanks to Trump-era clean tech cuts, the world’s first large-scale plant won’t be built in the US. Instead, it’s headed to France, where incentives and strong circular economy laws made it a better fit. The $500M facility, opening in 2028, will process 70,000 tons of textile waste per year.

Dream Gardens

🪻 T Magazine compiled images of all the beautiful home gardens they’ve covered over the years. As the unofficial start to summer is here, it’s nice to imagine quiet days spent outside, surrounded by wild nature, perhaps right in your own backyard. Hope everyone is kicking off the season with some carefree vibes.