VA Approves Balcony Solar, Chile Protects Its Ocean, & Viva La Revolution Wind

Welcome to The Climate Roundup newsletter. Your weekly edit of the climate and environmental stories shaping our planet and our culture and how the two are deeply connected. We live in a global ecosystem shaped by human decisions. Let’s make good ones.

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To Anthropomorphize, Or Not To Anthropomorphize, That Is The Question

Should we anthropomorphize animals for our own benefit? Last night I saw the Jeep Grand Cherokee commercial where wild animals in nature are interviewed about their takes on the car’s features. They give rave reviews of this gas-guzzler that’s usually depicted trampling through their wilderness. It pissed me off. Jeep shouldn’t be allowed to speak for these creatures. And I recognize the hypocrisy in my next comment, but I think I know better than Team Jeep what these animals would actually say about this foreign, human-created object disturbing their peace and sometimes turning them into road-kill. They’d say “get the f*ck off my land”, and then bite that interviewer’s head off. Keep reading.

Philanthropy At Work:

🌳 If you’re curious to know a bit about the people behind the great nonprofits we support, here’s one example. Federica Bietta is the co-founder and managing director at Coalition for Rainforest Nations. Their work focuses on keeping the world’s rainforests standing and unlocking private sector finance to do it. Read about Federica and why she’s committed to this cause.

Environmental News:

🌱 Spring is arriving earlier these days. Based on scientific records starting in 1981, the scientific research nonprofit Climate Central has put together an interactive map to see how much sooner the first leaves of spring are appearing in your area. In my hometown of NYC, for example, spring is blooming 16 days earlier than it was 45 years ago.

🚶 A new scientific study has found that the number of days in a year that are too dangerously hot to be outside has doubled since 1950. This is important because extreme heat causes illness and death, and as we age, we become less tolerant to very high temperatures. And we all know that in our warming world, the number of days with extreme heat and their intensity are increasing. The study found that on average across the globe (and it’s worse in some climates), people aged 65 and older are losing one month per year of their freedom to simply live normally, meaning for an aggregate of one whole month it’s too dangerous for them to go outside and do normal daily activities, like going for a walk. Time is precious. This framing of lost days to live life to its fullest is intriguing as a call to action.

🥳 Revolution Wind, an east coast 65-turbine offshore wind farm, has just begun generating power for the people of Rhode Island and Connecticut! This is one of the projects that Trump tried to shut down with bogus national security claims. But hallelujah, the project was able to complete. Smart pro-clean energy politicians would be wise to use this timely example of wind energy coming online to contrast the price volatility and insecurity of dirty energy, especially amidst the backdrop of war.

☀️ Virginia just became the second state, joining Utah, to officially pass a balcony solar law allowing residents to BYO-solar panels home to make their own electricity. Let the good times roll! PS: I think this balcony solar movement has potential to be the tipping point for mass bipartisan citizen support for solar energy in this country.

😷 In 2025, under Trump’s reign of pollution, special attention has been given to keeping the ultra dirty coal industry alive. Well, here are the results from last year: coal use increased 13% after years of decline, smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution increased 12%, and lung-damaging, acid rain-forming sulfur dioxide increased 18%. Our air quality, and therefore our health, is much worse off because of Trump. How is it that not every citizen is outraged by this?

🇨🇱 Chile is a global leader in marine conservation. They’ve recently announced full protection for an additional 360K square kilometer area of ocean around the country’s Juan Fernández Archipelago. Combined with their adjacent protected areas, they’ve now formed the world’s third largest Marine Protected Area. This intelligent decision to protect the area’s marine life and the land-based life that benefits from healthy, undisturbed oceans also means that Chile now has protection for a whopping 50% of its oceans. Countries of the world agreed to protect 30% of their land and 30% of their water by 2030, so huge kudos to Chile for not only executing, but going above and beyond. I bet they’re not even done.

🇨🇳 China remains committed to environmental protection and beautification with a sweeping new environmental lawannounced last week. The new law streamlines an array of existing laws to more effectively regulate air and water pollution, create new national parks, and punish corporate polluters, among other things. Between this prioritization of the environment and their renewed commitment to growing and owning the clean energy economy per their latest Five-Year Plan, it’s hard not to be impressed, especially in contrast to the anti-environmental movement dictating our country right now.

🤑 Michael Bloomberg topped the list of America’s 50 biggest donors last year, giving $4.3B to nonprofits. Much of his philanthropy focuses on climate change, because he is awesome like that. He’s made a point to help fill gaps left by Trump’s delinquency in fulfilling our country’s commitment to chip in on global initiatives for climate adaptation and aid to underdeveloped countries. Mr. Bloomberg also financially supports efforts to cut methane emissions, and to help communities address local climate impacts.

Climate Meets Culture

🍻 In honor of St. Patrick’s Day and its beer-loving culture, Climate Central published a short video segment about breweries using a new, more climate-resilient grain for their beer. Because as is the case with much of our beloved food sources, the climate crisis impacts the ability to grow what we love by way of droughts, water shortages, and high temperatures. Savor it all.