‘Landman’ Lies, Wins for Grizzlies, Climate Cases, Alaska, 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:

🛢 Have you tried watching “Landman”, Taylor Sheridan’s latest show? When I first heard about it, I was planning to give it a shot to see how Sheridan (creator of “Yellowstone”) was portraying the fossil fuel industry and to know what his massive audience would be ingesting. But after viewing many promos for the show, it smelled rotten to me, and for the sake of my own mental health, I decided not to take this one for the team. Sounds like I chose right. Sammy Roth from the LA Timesoutlines and fact checks how Sheridan is spewing fossil fuel propaganda in the show. And sure, it’s fictional entertainment. But in these times with rampant misinformation, raging climate change, and many people not understanding fact from fiction, it’s irresponsible to portray renewable energy in a negative, primarily false light, which is what the show is doing so far.

I know from watching “Yellowstone” that while Sheridan will include characters representing various sides of an issue, he gives very little airtime to the environmentally-friendly POV and tends to portray those characters as weak and naive (see Piper Perabo’s environmental activist character, and the ever-so-subtle Indigenous scenes of environmental protection). The heroes in Sheridan’s world are the tough and grimy hard-working men keeping this country running by doing the back-breaking, exploitative work that is their god-given right. Their duty is to exercise dominance as a species. It seems that’s his view for himself as a creator too, and while that’s his right, it’s providing fuel for the cult of climate deniers, as they are making “Landman” disinformation go viral, as if it’s gospel. Taylor Sheridan, like it or not, you are part of the problem.

Philanthropy At Work:

✍️ Take 30 seconds and send a message to the World Bank telling them to stop funding fossil fuel projects and only fund clean energy projects, via The Climate Reality Project.

🤓 Read our latest journal post – an interview with Surfrider Foundation NYC’s Chapter Manager. You can now support them with Gen E!

In Environmental News:

🙅‍♂️ Biden made one more move to protect additional federal land and water from oil drilling, this time for 3M acres in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve. He added the land to an existing policy that protects half the reserve, a tactic that will make it more difficult for Trump to reverse. Using smarter strategies like this versus simply signing easily reversible Executive Orders has been a theme in recent months, and if anything, it makes me feel better.

☀️ The Department of Energy released a report that finds if we were to build floating solar panel systems on top of the country’s federally managed reservoirs, we could power 100M homes! The right, clean way of doing things is just so obvious and accessible, if only mass attention were paid…

👨‍⚖️ The Supreme Court denied pleas from oil companies trying to throw out cases from states suing them for climate damages. Keeping these cases at the state vs federal level has proven more successful in holding Big Oil accountable for their planet-warming pollution. So for now last year’s win in Hawaii and other current cases across New Jersey, Colorado, and California can remain.

🐻 Grizzly bears scored a win by retaining their protections for now, despite Republican leaders petitioning to delist them from the Endangered Species Act list. Grizzly populations have rebounded from near extinction in the ‘70’s, but need more time to rebuild before hunters and ranchers have free reign.

🚙 In the US, the number of public electric vehicle chargers doubled over Biden’s term to 207K. When public chargers aren’t available, you just might find a friendly private owner willing to share their home charger. Bloomberg has the story of people all over the country opening up their home chargers for EV travelers in need, plus the apps to help find them. What a lovely culture taking shape- this is the climate-friendly future we want!

🚨 A new report projects a 50% decrease in global GDP between 2070-2090 if the world continues with the status quo of burning fossil fuels and destroying nature.

Two Things To Stave Off Tomorrow’s Doomsday Vibes

🧘‍♀️ Watch nature instead. Or better yet, get outside in it.

✊ Take to heart President Joe Biden’s words on climate change from his farewell address. And keep going.

“Right now, the existential threat of climate change has never been clearer. Just look across the country, from California to North Carolina. That’s why I signed the most significant climate and clean energy law ever, ever in the history of the world.

And the rest of the world is trying to model it now. It’s working, creating jobs and industries of the future. Now we have proven we don’t have to choose between protecting the environment and growing the economy. We’re doing both. But powerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence to eliminate the steps we’ve taken to tackle the climate crisis, to serve their own interests for power and profit. We must not be bullied into sacrificing the future, the future of our children and our grandchildren. We must keep pushing forward, and push faster. There is no time to waste.”