Topic: Climate Resilience

A major rain and wind storm struck the state at the close of October, knocking out power to some 115,000 customers. Among those affected, 1,100 homes managed to keep the lights on thanks to pilot programs specifically designed to promote resilient backup power with energy storage.

Finance for measures to cut climate-changing emissions and adapt to a hotter planet has grown to more than half a trillion dollars a year, but a “tectonic shift” is still needed to green economies and rein in global warming, analysts said.

In a nutshell, the state needs utilities that partner with communities to maximize local resilience and self-sufficiency, and whose financial fortunes are tied to their performance in that pursuit.

New York skyline — New York City / Daniel Mennerich / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

A conference convening 450 investment professionals, 40 speakers and more than 30 sponsors, Sustainable Investment Forum 2019 sparked debate and introspection among its attendees. The event focused on the importance of climate resilience, climate-aligned investment and how the financial sector can play its part to ensuring a swift global energy transition.

Bill Johnson is a utility executive, not a climate scientist. That didn’t stop the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) CEO from wading into California’s complex climate conditions. Noting that Northern California’s wildfire risk has grown exponentially in recent years, Johnson placed much of the blame on climate change, not PG&E’s compromised electricity grid.

Northeast states participating in a regional carbon pricing compact are cutting power sector emissions and growing their economies faster than most states. As the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative turns 10, though, some analysts and advocates warn against attributing too much recent progress to the program.

Smokestacks — Lowell, MA / Curran Kelleher / CC BY 2.0

What if excess carbon in the atmosphere could be converted to more useful forms? That’s the ultimate goal of carbon conversion companies such as Opus 12, a startup in Berkeley, California. Making stuff out of carbon dioxide could be a trillion-dollar industry by 2030, and it creates an economic incentive to start removing carbon from the atmosphere sooner rather than later, which is a critical piece of most scenarios for limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.

A new survey finds Ohio voters support a broad array of policies to address climate impacts and increase production of renewable energy in the state, and want their elected officials to support those policies.

A BMW i3 charging / Karlis Dambrans / CC BY 2.0

To support decarbonization efforts, we will have to overhaul our transportation system. Over the course of the past century, we used fossil fuels to revolutionize the way we move from place to place — creating unprecedented mobility, but substantially contributing to climate change. About 30% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation. But we can look to key states for a glimpse of what climate leadership on transit looks like.