Space-Based Solar, Cancel Keurig, A Positive Mining Outlook, 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:

🗳 Actress Antonique Smith (Rent, Luke Cage) and Rev Yearwood (Hip Hop Caucus, climate justice advocate) have joined forces to create a nonprofit called Climate Revival, focused on getting black communities to vote on climate. They plan to use joyful activities like music, celebrity engagement, and faith to inspire people to take action to protect the environment by voting.

In Enviro News:

🎤 Yet again, climate change was barely mentioned at a presidential debate. There was just one question about it, and it was the very last question. In 2024. As we’re officially living in the Climate Crisis Era. But Taylor Swift picked a side, so there’s that.

🛰 Have you heard of space-based solar power? Once and still a fringe concept, this new industry is something to watch, as several countries are investing in research to essentially build an Earth-orbiting solar power plant that converts the sun’s rays into microwaves that get sent back down to Earth for a theoretical always-on source of energy. If it sounds like sci-fi, it’s because it is for now, as there’s a long way to go for this concept to become reality. Cypher has a two-parter on the industry and how solar space power would work, which is a fun read for space nerds. But also, how about we first exhaust the potential of terrestrial-based clean energy before investing in yet another distraction that may never come to fruition, eh?

☕️ Keurig was fined by the SEC a paltry $1.5M for its not-so-true claim that its single use plastic pods are recyclable. Turns out, two of the country’s largest recycling companies won’t accept them, and with the single digit plastic recycling rate in this country, it’s highly likely most of these K-Cup pods are never recycled. Yet Keurig leans heavily on this recyclable claim in its marketing, and the SEC thinks it could inflate shareholder value. In response to the fine, Keurig Dr Pepper didn’t address its misleading claims or its plastic problem. They simply said that they are “pleased to have reached an agreement that fully resolves this matter.” Not even close.

🚫 The Hague in the Netherlands became the first city to ban ads from fossil fuel companies and from carbon-intensive activities like cruises and flights, taking inspiration from similar ad bans against tobacco companies decades ago. It makes sense, as oil companies and their enablers have essentially turned planet Earth into an incessant chain smoker, and every living thing now suffers from the secondhand smoke. Watch for more cities to adopt similar ad bans.

🔋 The transition to clean energy and zero emissions requires significant amounts of mined metals – also likely part of a talking point used by fossil fuel lovers to try to dirty up the image of clean energy. Well here’s an interesting tidbit for your rebuttal bank: even with the 5x demand for these metals by 2050, global mining extraction will be a fraction of what it is now, mainly because we’ll be kicking our dirty, destructive coal habit. “In fact, all the refined metals needed to reach net zero by 2050 will add up to less than the amount of coal mined in 2023 alone, according to think tank Energy Transitions Commission.” Crazy! Plus we can and do recycle these metals, which further reduces the amount of extraction needed from our Earth. This is in comparison to the single-use nature of fossil fuels. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, deniers!

🤖 Last week the White House hosted an AI infrastructure-focused roundtable discussion between top US officials and execs from Big AI and Big Tech (redundant?). The talks centered around AI and its infrastructure (land use) and energy needs to “achieve shared national security, economic, and environmental goals.” Results from the meeting include the creation of an AI Infrastructure Task Force, scaled up technical assistance with data center permitting, and fast-tracking data center permitting plus clean energy sourcing, aka lots of hand-holding and ‘collaboration’ coming together quickly. At least clean energy seems to be at the forefront of the massive expansion this industry is scheming. Glad to see this evidence of a public-private kumbaya to solve an unnecessary and completely avoidable future problem, while an existing and snowballing existential crisis is still waiting in the queue to be properly addressed.

Climate-Friendlier Food For Thought

🍫 NPR is doing a series on climate solutions that focuses on food innovation and impact on our diets. Stories include: making chocolate with ingredients other than the vulnerable cocoa bean, reducing our meat and dairy intake to help preserve the Colorado River, and baking bread with so-called climate-resilient whole wheat.