The Executive Orders, M. Bloomberg Steps Up, Snowflake Shapes, 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:

🔥 This article in Vox argues how the parasocial relationships that many people have with celebrities may help them feel an emotional connection to larger issues that their fave celebs face themselves. Case in point, obsession over celebrities who lost their homes in the LA wildfires can wake more people up to the link between wildfires and climate change, as long as media coverage makes that connection clear. Fans of high profile victims will have an increased emotional investment in the situation, pay attention longer, and may end up with a greater awareness about the realities of human-caused climate change. It may also wake up more of the entertainment industry. This could help bring the topic into more of its storytelling, which tends to have an outsized influence on the American gaze. Filmmaker Adam McKay (Don’t Look Up) said he’s had several people say to him (about climate change) “I didn’t know it was coming this soon”.

Philanthropy At Work:

🚛 Stand.earth is bringing attention to New York’s Clean Deliveries Act, which would require mega-warehouses to lower emissions. These e-commerce delivery hubs are causing a rise in toxic pollutants from the hundreds of trucks making daily deliveries, and a quarter of New Yorkers live within a half mile of these unregulated warehouses. Sign to let lawmakers know you want this passed.

The Executive Orders:

Deep breath. We have now officially entered the insane times. It’s going to consume a lot of mental energy and it requires an extra focus on personal wellbeing and being intentional about what we allow into our purviews. As you may or may not have noticed, I only bring Trump into this newsletter when I think it’s necessary – when he does something with real consequences that we should be aware of, as it relates to the health of our planet. I sure hope there are many weeks where he’s not mentioned here at all. But this week is not one of them. It’s important to know about the slew of Executive Orders he signed aimed at accelerating the demise of a livable planet. There will be legal battles surrounding most of it, plus most of these orders require approvals and reviews from federal agencies and the courts. Here’s what he did last week…

👺 He took us out of the Paris Agreement again, which will take one year to process. The US joins Iran, Yemen, and Libya as the only countries in the world who dismiss the global pact to keep global temperatures below catastrophic levels. BUT the honorable Michael Bloomberg has stepped up to lead the charge for US climate action by ensuring that our cities and states will continue their good work to reduce emissions, just as they did during the last Trumpian downturn in US climate leadership. And Bloomberg Philanthropies will fill the financial gap left by Trump, by covering the US’s share of the UN climate budget.

👺 He declared a ‘national energy emergency’. There’s not one. The title of this article sums this one up: “Trump Wants to Unleash Energy, as Long as It’s Not Wind or Solar”.

👺 He paused offshore wind lease sales, and paused both onshore and offshore wind approvals, permits, and loans for projects on federal lands and water. Why? Because he “hates wind”. The only reprieve is that most onshore wind projects are on private land, so…can’t touch that.

👺 He paused disbursement of remaining funds from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law spanning a host of clean energy and decarbonization projects. China says thanks. All the clean investment doled out under Pres Biden has kickstarted a resurgence in American manufacturing, much of it providing job growth and economic development in Republican districts, so the party is not aligned on this one.

👺 He’s trying to strip away the EPA’s ability to regulate emissions from oil wells, power plants, and cars.

Aaaand cut! We made it. Now on to better news…

🌞 Power on…the country’s largest solar and battery storage facility will break ground on farmland in Oregon next year, and is set to power 800K homes with clean energy.

😎 In the EU, solar is their fastest growing power source. It overtook coal for the first time in 2024, now making up 11% of the bloc’s electricity mix.

🛶 In Seoul, South Korea, they turned a highway that ran through the city center into a beautiful urban stream that’s now one of the city’s main attractions, with benefits such as cooling the air and helping with flood management.

❄️ Learn about the science of snowflake shapes, one of nature’s most beautiful delights, in this interactive article.