Lab-Grown Salmon, 3 More Years For 1.5°, Clean Energy Cuts, 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!)

Sign up for The Climate Roundup weekly newsletter here

In Pop Culture:

🧊 Not once, but twice, mentions of glaciers melting surface in season 2 of Hulu’s “Nine Perfect Strangers”. Why is this worth mentioning here, you ask? Because it’s an example of climate action, tucked into the script of a mainstream show with a high-profile cast. The plot has nothing to do with climate change, yet just by including a line or two casually helps normalize the facts about Earth’s most urgent crisis. Most viewers won’t notice. But subconsciously, it plants a seed that the symptoms of climate change are in fact things that people think about and talk about. So I applaud the writers for taking this action. Every mention counts.

Philanthropy At Work:

🚫 The more you know: NRDC compiled this fact sheet on microplastics called “10 ways to lessen exposure to microplastics”. It’s important to read about it and to do what we can to avoid exposure to this tragically ubiquitous toxin. While the effects on human health are still being studied, early results and common sense say it ain’t good. I’m personally horrified to learn that a single tampon can release billions of micro and nanoplastics. Not even sure what to do with that one…

In Environmental News:

☠️ The majority of the IRA clean energy tax credits are as good as dead if the latest version of the Senate’s draft bill passes. If this happens, it’s a devastating blow to our country’s integrity as a human population on a shared planet (or what was left of it), to our economy and all the clean energy jobs that would’ve been (some estimates say 400K jobs will be lost with the cuts), and to all other species and future generations who will suffer from the additional fossil fuel pollution our country will be responsible for. Scientists think this American decline in energy transition progress will seal the deal for global temperature rise of 3°C by 2100 – a catastrophic existence that many humans today will live to see. Meanwhile, the Senate bill has fossil fuel companies getting a new $1B tax break. I haven’t seen any coverage on existing fossil fuel subsidies in relation to this bill, which is all about the cutting of things. So the annual ~$20B in direct subsidies to Big Oil seems like a major point the Dems should be screaming about.

🥼 On the science front, I saw two separate quotes from two different scientists commenting on two different studies that “there is no silver lining” in the grim findings. We are truly living through the tipping point, folks. If you understand the concept that global temperature increases as more greenhouse gas is released into the atmosphere, then you understand the concept of our planet having a ‘carbon budget’. The world agreed to limit warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels, and to do that we only have so much carbon and other greenhouse gas left to release until we warm the planet to that level (130B tons to be exact). Well, an annual report from top climate scientists, using the best data aligning with the UN IPCC reports says we have about 3 years left in our carbon budget until we breach the 1.5° goal. That means if we still want a shot at 1.5°, and we keep polluting at our current levels, we’d have to get global emissions to zero in three years – a ludicrous statement when 2024 saw emissions at their highest ever. It was also the hottest year on record, a fact that has failed to change the course of humanity to the level of urgency required in this most pivotal moment. The report also found that excess heat trapped in our atmosphere has increased 25% in the past decade, with most of that being absorbed by our warming oceans. Warmer water expands in volume, leading to sea level rise, which has doubled in the past decade.

🏟️ What’s green, fake, and full of micro-plastics and PFAS? Astroturf. Big Turf doesn’t want you to know that truth, so they’re suing people who are trying to educate the public on the many scientific studies proving that this grass replacement is toxic. I trust that once parents find out about this one, they’ll be all over it, taking real grass stains over cancer any day.

🏘️ An Oakland, CA neighborhood tried ditching gas together. In a first-of-its-kind experiment, 15 homes in East Oakland joined UC Berkeley’s EcoBlock pilot to electrify their appliances, add solar panels, and slash emissions as a community. The $8M state-funded project cut costs by buying in bulk, and researchers learned a lot of lessons along the way. It’s an interesting experiment to read about in terms of reasons why or why not certain neighbors joined the project, and whether this is a scalable model.

🍣 Lab-grown salmon is here! Wildtype just became the first company in the world to sell cultivated seafood, starting with sushi-grade salmon grown from fish cells. The FDA gave its stamp of approval after a six-year science-driven review, calling the product as safe as traditional fish. If lab-grown seafood can scale, it would ease pressure on wild fish stocks and fragile ecosystems, while avoiding the pollution and climate impact of industrial fish farms. I personally cannot wait to see this on a menu near me.

🌳 8,000 acres saved, not sawed. A biodiverse stretch of Alabama forest once slated to become a wood pellet mill will now be permanently protected as the E.O. Wilson Land Between the Rivers Preserve, named after the legendary biologist and Alabama native. Located in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, dubbed “America’s Amazon”, the land is home to bears, alligators, and over 300 bird species. Conservationists say it will serve as a critical anchor in a wildlife corridor stretching from the Gulf to the Appalachians. Click through to read more and for some pretty pics of this American gem. Good stories do exist.

Achieving Zero Waste In Food Services

🇲🇽 In Mexico City, restaurant Baldío does things differently. They are the city’s first zero waste restaurant, which means no garbage cans, and they embrace a regenerative food model by working closely with local farmers using ancient methods that are truly sustainable. Baldío recently earned a green Michelin star in recognition of their environmental commitments. This beautiful passage from their website says it all: “Against daily haste, the pauses of the seasons; against irrational land exploitation, agroecological processes; against anonymous mass production, the visibility of farmers; against indiscriminate waste, zero waste.” This article has more.