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!)
In Pop Culture:
Camila Cabello and Hans Zimmer collaborated on a song for the BBC’s Frozen Planet II, narrated by David Attenborough. According to the BBC, “Cabello’s lyrics paired with Zimmer’s music echo both the fragility and jeopardy of the series’ subject matter – the world’s coldest regions, Tundras and mountain tops where the planet’s most enigmatic beasts reign supreme – despite the animals and lands finding themselves on the cusp of huge change and ever-increasing threat.” Ooh, sounds like it’s gonna be a real banger in da club!
GETTING DOWN TO CLIMATE BUSINESS:
📣 Starting off with a little good news, Americans are WAY underestimating how popular climate policy is. That means we’re not as divided as we seem! Unfortunately, the misconception that other people don’t care about climate change is also preventing us from taking greater collective action. So be loud and proud about your climate activism to show other people they can be, too!
📽️ Of course, there are still SOME Americans who don’t believe in climate change, despite the fact that many of them are already profoundly affected by extreme heat and weather events. Two French documentarians explored the contradictions of the American climate denial movement in this two-part video series.
🧮️ With the passage of the IRA, economists are realizing they were wrong about their climate change analysis. Historically, economists have devoted their research and policy recommendations to putting a price on carbon, rather than the IRA’s more incentive-focused strategy. Economists must reflect now on why they neglected policies that were more likely to survive Congress, and how they can adjust their climate strategy for the future. In the words of Dr. Ian Malcolm, they were so preoccupied with whether or not they could (put a price on carbon) that they didn’t stop to think if they should.
💸 The White House has published its first-ever estimate of climate-related damage savings. Government officials used a pretty complicated model to project that the Inflation Reduction Act could save as much as $1.9 trillion on things like disaster relief, flood insurance, and wildfire suppression, among other things. And as someone who recently got a $500 electric bill just to keep my apartment at a liveable temperature, I say the savings can’t come soon enough 🫠
️0️⃣ MIT says we need to fundamentally rethink the idea of “net-zero,” a term pushed by corporations to allow them to continue unsustainable behaviors. In theory, “net zero” means that a corporation will cancel out any emissions created in its operations, but in practice, there’s almost no reliable way to measure how much if any of their emissions are being cancelled out. The authors suggest 6 alternatives to net zero. Hey, back off MIT – lists of 6 is OUR thing.
🎓 Aside from simply being the right thing to do, helping girls around the world stay in school has major climate benefits. The nonprofit Drawdown calculates that “family planning programs, together with universal high-quality education, could reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases by 68.90 gigatons between 2020 and 2050.” Plus, if girls can’t go to school, where are they going to learn the, “Miss Susie Had A Steamboat” song?
SOME STATS:
4.34M: CUBIC METRES OF METHANE GAS BEING FLARED EVERY DAY BY RUSSIA. (BBC)
80%: THE PERCENTAGE OF SURVEY RESPONDENTS ACROSS AFRICA WHO BELIEVE THEY CAN PLAY A ROLE IN LIMITING CLIMATE CHANGE. (WAPO)
Recycled In Translation
Due to certain cultural practices, Japan is a huge consumer of single-use plastic*. One American journalist living in Tokyo documented her experiences trying to forego single-use plastic while living abroad.
*Before you get all high and mighty, the US is still number one. If you happen to know any Japanese writers, maybe they can come here and do an article about us.
Thanks for reading! – Nicole
