So I just graduated from my BS in Computer Science, and while I was there I did a project for the Clean Energy Ambassador's Network, on marine plastic bioremediation using genetically modified mycoplankton. The biology professors were all really impressed with my project and wanted me to come back to do a PhD in biology and do my proposed project for my phd thesis. The thing is that that would take forever, and I would like to try to find a way to make this happen without having to do a PhD program to do it.

So historically, before humans ever showed up or a single tree was ever cut down, between 85%-95% of carbon capture and photosynthesis on the planet was done by phytoplankton. It's currently estimated by the UN that because of microplastics and over whaling, the oceans are only accomplishing about 0.1%-0.01% of the carbon capture and photosynthesis they're capable of, but they're still doing about 70% on the planet.

Conventionally the way carbon capture and photosynthesis in the ocean works, is that whales dive down to eat krill and such, and kick up sediment full of phytoplankton from the ocean floor into the photozone. The photozone is the clearest region of water in the ocean, in which about 90% of photosynthesis and carbon capture occurs. Historically the photozone was about 14 feet deep, but because of microplastics, has been reduced to 8 millimeters. Also we have 1/1000th the number of whales we had historically.

There are already three types of plankton, zooplankton (animal), phytoplankton (plant), and mycoplankton (fungi). Mycoplankton is unique because as far as we can tell, mycoplankton actually begins in freshwater streams and riverbeds and eventually makes its way down to the ocean, so even if something happened that caused wiped out the mycoplankton population in the ocean, it would eventually be restored by the sources in freshwater.

Now there are already edible fungi which eat plastic, and the gene that allows them to do this has been isolated. There are also plankton with the genes for red and blue bioluminescence, the two wave lengths of light phytoplankton need to photosynthesize. The idea is to put these 3 genes in mycoplankton along with gene drive. This would allow the mycoplankton to change the potential energy in the plastic and oil in the ocean into light energy for the phytoplankton to use to photosynthesize, while the zooplankton would also be able to eat the mycoplankton, allowing for all that potential energy in the plastic in the oceans to go back into the oceans' food web. This would allow the phytoplankton to capture enough carbon to reverse climate change, and also allow the zooplankton to feed the food web and restore it so that when the plastic is all removed from the oceans, the normal carbon capture cycle would be repaired able to take over.

I tried emailing the Climate Emergency Fund, but I haven't heard back yet. This is going to take a lot of money to test it for efficacy and safety. Does anyone have any suggestions on organizations to partner with?

I was recently downvoted to all hell for suggesting that solving the climate crisis would be easier under a growth scenario than a degrowth scenario. This surprised me, as I knew degrowth was a thing, but always thought it was some what of a fringe idea. But I would love to turn this into a learning experience.

My personal view is that to beat this, we need to

1. curb emissions by pivoting to clean energy sources, and
2. create innovative solutions like new energy sources, decarbonisation, PtX, etc.
3. keep society from collapsing/societal unrest in the meantime, which I fail to see would not become a huge risk in a degrowth scenario, which is basically humanity being in a recession forever.

As I see it a lot of major economies have already decoupled growth and emissions, and the trend is only accelerating: https://ourworldindata.org/co2-gdp-decoupling

Very interested to hear people’s thoughts on degrowth - do you subscribe to it? And if you do, how do you see it unfold? Looking forward to hear everyone’s thoughts! Thanks in advance.

This is a big year for elections. More and more voters on both sides of the aisle care about climate change.

Just wondering what presence the climate movement will have at the political conventions in Milwaukee and Chicago this summer.

I haven't heard about any marches or protests and it seems like we need to get out there en masse.

Anybody got any scoop?

1. Protest against corporate and government policies that have the highest impact on climate change.
2. Vote for government policies intended to reduce climate change.
3. Boycott corporate goods and services that have the highest impact on climate change.
4. Divest from corporations whose products and services have the highest impact on climate change.

I know there’s a lot to be said for focusing on your own corner of the planet, and I’m signed up for all the local activism newsletters, I’m on board with local trash cleanups & planting native plants, I’m signing all the petitions —

It’s just hard to feel like any of that is truly addressing the real problem, particularly because I live in one of the most environmentally conscious areas in the country. There’s still plenty of work to do where I live, sure. I’m not arguing that.

But is there something else / other things I should be prioritizing? What’s actually going to make the most difference at this moment in time?

Now I know its not exactly worldwide and to some extent it is a straight anti-encombant shift or anti-establishment shift, but there has been a strong rightward shift in many places in the world.
In response to the inflation issues most places people have been dealing with after the pandemic and other cost of living people are focusing on solving short term issues. So many conservative (or worse) parties running on removing all climate change regulations claiming it as the cause of raised prices supported by a whole lot of fossil fuel money looking to cut regulations.

If we lived in a sane world they would both agree of the importance of climate action and fight over literally anything else.

i'm an immigrant in a country where I don't speak the language very well and i definitely cannot afford getting arrested (i'd be deported). i don't vote here neither.

what are some ways beyond individual action (like recycling, buying less, etc) that I could do to push for system change in the country I live in? I'm finding it really hard to participate in activism and direct action with the language and social/cultural barriers.

UPDATE: thanks everyone for the answers! here's what I've done so far (not including individual action)

• signed up for citizen meetings at our village townhall where decisions about making our village more sustainable/communal are taken
• volunteering for an international organisation that works in english 2hrs/week
• volunteering for a local organisation 1hr/week doing graphics design and video editing (support role, so i don't need language excellence)
• marching whenever there's non-violent, approved protests

Thank you for all your comments!

There are several congressional districts in play this election cycle, and several of them are also EVP states. Turning out climate voters in these states can help make climate a priority, since lawmaker priorities tend to mirror voter priorities.

Looking just at the competitive districts (the toss-ups and leans), the following EVP states have a congressional district that could decide control of the House:

Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia

^((those in italics have) ^(more than one congressional district in play)^(. Those in bold are also) ^(Presidential tipping point states)^(.))

EVP has a proven track record for turning out climate/environment-first voters. As an EVP volunteer, you are helping climate and environment-first voters get their voices heard. Consider signing up now for one of the opportunities linked above, or find additional volunteer opportunities at https://www.environmentalvoter.org/get-involved

^(If you live in one of the above states and would rather register young people to vote, check out) ^(https://www.rockthevote.org/get-involved/)

While I have always loved fast food I have been beginning to realize that the impact of which people's health and surroundings are greatly impacted. I have been wanting to help change this by thinking about going vegetarian, however the dillemia that I have is a) most of the animals have been already killed, b) the quality of the food is lower, c) socially it's seen as weird which would make it more harder for me since I am disabled which is already weird. Is their some way we can have major corporations spend time making vegetarian products that taste good and market it in a way that people will by that

https://nypost.com/2024/06/10/us-news/climate-activists-try-to-blockade-nyc-citi-bank-hq-in-summer-of-heat-on-wall-street/

If you want to join the actions in person, you can sign up on summerofheat,org

If you want to support them from home: donate, share their content and even take direct online action calling out the banks fuelling the climate crisis.

Culprit #1 is Citibank: https://web.chilli.club/actions/567477dc-a273-4711-8dd6-2de09ee394cd

As of this writing, six out of the eight likeliest tipping point states for the 2024 election are in states targeted by the Environmental Voter Project, meaning climate voters, and climate volunteers like us, could decide the next election.

From https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2024-election-forecast/ with EVP states marked. Notice tipping point probabilities are arranged in descending order, so the most likely tipping point states are at the top.

EVP states have a high proportion of non-voting environmentalists, so turning out enough of these voters could decide the election. In fact, there's roughly a 2/3^(rds) chance that the tipping point will be one the following 10 EVP states: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Virginia, New Hampshire, and New Mexico.

EVP does not endorse candidates or issues, just targets nonvoting environmentalists to get out and vote. So, as a volunteer, you do not have to be knowledgeable about any of the states' local politics, and can just follow the script that EVP provides to get nonvoting environmentalists out to vote (it's mostly about the mechanics of voting, like how to find your polling place, other voting options like mail-in and ballot drop box, etc.).

Besides calling or canvassing voters, you could also work to register voters if you live in any of the above states.

Check for more volunteer opportunities at

https://www.environmentalvoter.org/get-involved

Given that I'd like to retire someday, getting some sort of return on my savings seems like a necessity. But I'd like to do that in the most ethical way that I can. Now, many people have told me, "If you care so much about the environment, just dump everything into a broad index fund and donate some of the profits to an environmental group". While there is a certain logic to that, I just can't make peace with the idea of profiting from oil companies. So I've been tinkering for the past few years, and I think I finally have a long-term green portfolio that I'm happy with, which I'll list below. I am FAR FROM a financial expert, so I'm not suggesting anyone copy my portfolio. But I'd be happy to have a discussion with others who have been thinking about this topic; maybe we'll all learn something. So here's what I'm working with these days:

90% in ETFs that have an A rating on Fossil Free Funds and 10% in individual stocks that have some sort of positive environmental impact (about 1% each). I also have an emergency fund and some money in lower-risk bonds, but I'm considering those as a separate pool of money for purposes of this discussion.

The ETFs:

VanEck Environmental Services (EVX)

Vanguard Health Care (VHT)

Vanguard Communication Services (VOX)

Nuveen ESG Large-Cap Growth (NULG)

Vanguard Real Estate (VHQ)

The Stocks:

Albemarle (ALB) - lithium

GFL Environmental (GFL) - waste management

Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital (HASI) - what the name suggests

NextEra Energy (NEE) - solar

Nucor (NUE) - recycling

Ormat Technologies (ORA) - geothermal

Limoneira (LMNR) - sustainable agriculture

Rivian (RIVN) - electric vehicles

Trane Technologies (TT) - energy efficiency

Xylem (XYL) - water treatment

Alternate Stocks to Consider: APD, LII, OC, OLED, CARR, FSLR, PWR, SQM

Most of the above have had decent performance combined with decent dividends. I could get more into my reasons for each, but this post is long enough as it is. Interested to hear what others have to say.

Does anyone have experience using software (or spreadsheets) to do a Carbon fotoprint audit for the household? We want to take a methodical approach with targeted measures based on a solid knowledge base to reduce our footprint, and we want to be able to compare the results of our efforts from month to month. Are there currently such solutions available for private individuals, or do we have to go about it manually and create our own spreadsheets and databases?

Hey guys. I recently came across Klima’s brand new Fight Climate Change app that tracks a person’s carbon footprint through their GPS movement. That’s incredible, isn’t it.

The carbon calculator assesses the environmental impact of one’s daily activities and helps them identify areas where they could reduce their carbon footprint.

The app also gives recommendations based on actions, such as switching to renewable energy sources, minimizing waste, opting for sustainable transportation, etc. App users have been able to significantly reduce their energy consumption, lower their monthly utility bills, and decrease their overall carbon emissions.

Now here’s a tangibility that I’d pay for. Being able to track progress over time and set goals for reducing newer emissions is a fantastic way to gamify one’s sustainable journey.

Would you? I’m interested in learning if you’ve heard of a carbon footprint tracker, or ever a carbon calculator?

If yes, would you include it in your daily life? Do you think these calculators miss some important aspects, such as how we or corporations can reduce their environmental impact?

Love to hear your thoughts!

Hello! I am attempting to collect examples of micro ways that climate effects are felt each month of the year. This is for an art/journalism project I am working on on the topic. An example would be, for the month of October, that migratory monarchs in the north east US have fallen by about 60% (October being the month that they pass through the north east). I typically see climate change talked about in macro ways (rising sea levels, rising temps). I am searching for micro effects please - on specific animals, plants, building materials, towns, etc. Like, does a crop typically ripen in August but now it ripens in July? Does a lake now stay frozen in February that typically was thawed by then? The more specific the better, please! I am hoping to attach effects to specific months in the year, for a project.

Having a conversation about climate change, this is something I’m sure many of us here. What is the best link you would provide in response to this?

The End of the World as We Know It (and I feel fine)

There is some debate about the meaning of this song, but let's assume the obvious: it is about "the end of the world". My impression from the song is a dystopian stream of consciousness reflecting a world trying to come to grips with reality. More like "the end of rational thought" versus "the end of existence".

I think it is fair to say that we have missed the 1.5 degree C target that would have avoided extensive climate related problems. But it's not the end of our existence, not yet.

I've kept a log of climate related news stories from the last few weeks - the links are below. This is bad, but it is not actually dystopian. For new humans this is their new normal. We need to keep fighting for the best possible outcome for future generations. As individuals we should feel fine if we are doing everything that we can do, and do even more when we can.

Swarms of Mormon crickets invade towns in the West

Houston storms leave 7 dead, buildings shattered and power outages may last weeks

Building heat & humidity to turn dangerous for those without power following deadly Houston storms

Explore Climate Change in the American Mind

Alaskan rivers turning orange due to climate change, study finds — Guardian US

'A great sadness': Venezuela is first Andean country to lose of all its glaciers — NBC News

At least 21 dead after tornadoes, severe storms batter 4 states as Monday storms move east — USA TODAY

Mexico is about to experience its 'highest temperatures ever recorded' as death toll climbs | CBC News

Mexico City and millions of its residents could run out of water in weeks — The Washington Post

6th house collapses into ocean along North Carolina's Outer Banks — CBS News

Deaths mount and water rationed as India faces record heat

A German Climate Activist Won’t End His Hunger Strike, Even With the Risk of Death Looming

Cicadas are back, but climate change is messing with them — CBS News

Panama prepares to evacuate first island in face of rising sea levels

If you are looking for a way to help influence our political leaders, consider joining a bipartisan organization promoting sound environmental policies, like Citizens Climate Lobby. Change will only happen if we influence our leadership to address CO2 pollution from fossil fuels. They will continue to ignore the disaster headlines, but they can't ignore a voting majority.

best practice: climate communications

For any folks out there who’s job it is to talk about climate change and raise awareness:

What are some of the best tips & best practice you can share? i’m looking especially for communication strategies that can help 1) behavior change AND/OR 2) belief change.

Thank you and have a nice day!

Heads up: if you live in IA, MT, NJ, NM, or SD your state & presidential primaries are 6/4/24. If you live in ME, NV, ND, or SC, you have state primaries on 6/11/14. If you live in OK or VA you have state primaries on 6/18/24. Finally, if you live in CO, NY, or UT your state primaries are on 6/26/24. Please plan to vote in the Democratic primaries in your state. And to help you pick the best candidate, load the address you are registered at at the Blue Voter Guide website. This website provides you all Democratic candidates running down to county levels AND the organizations endorsing them. In the General Election, Dem leaning non-partisans are provided for school board and judges.

www.bluevoterguide.org

Hello everyone!

I am a communicator and digital marketing specialist who wants to collaborate on environmental issues, preferably in tech innovation for climate action. I am looking to do a 3-month part-time internship in an organization related to these areas.

I completed an executive level course at MIT on sustainability for industry and have worked on some projects related to these topics. I am seeking this internship to gain experience in this field.

Any suggestions for my search would be appreciated!

My experience includes B2B communications, strategic planning, and user-centered cross-platform content creation and management. I can contribute to strategic lead generation guidelines, SEO and SEM strategies, email marketing, planning and production of online and offline content, and more :).

Petition to Transition All Government Vehicles to Electric Vehicles to Combat Climate Change

To [Government Entity/Official],

We, the undersigned, urge the [government entity, e.g., Federal Government, State Governments, Local Governments] to take immediate action in transitioning all government-owned vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs). Given the urgency of the climate crisis, it is crucial for our government to lead by example in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Supporting Arguments:

1. Environmental Impact:

   - Government vehicles constitute a significant portion of the vehicles on the road. Transitioning these to electric vehicles will substantially reduce emissions, contributing to cleaner air and a healthier environment.    - EVs produce zero tailpipe emissions, which means less pollution in our communities.

2. Economic Benefits:

   - Though the initial investment in EVs may be higher, the long-term savings on fuel and maintenance costs are significant.    - Electric vehicles can be powered by renewable energy sources, reducing dependency on fossil fuels and enhancing energy security.

3. Leadership and Innovation:

   - By adopting EVs, the government will demonstrate leadership in combating climate change and encourage the private sector to follow suit.    - This initiative can spur technological innovation and growth in the EV market, creating jobs and promoting sustainable economic development.

4. Health Benefits:

   - Reducing vehicle emissions can decrease the incidence of respiratory diseases, heart conditions, and other health issues caused by air pollution.    - A cleaner environment contributes to the overall well-being of the population.

Call to Action:

We call on the [government entity] to:

1. Develop and implement a plan to transition all government vehicles to electric vehicles immediately, with a significant percentage transition (e.g., 50%) within the next 2 years and complete transition within 3-5 years.
2. Allocate necessary funds and resources to support this transition.
3. Establish partnerships with EV manufacturers and charging infrastructure providers to ensure a smooth and efficient transition.
4. Provide incentives for government agencies to adopt EVs and offer training programs for employees on the benefits and use of electric vehicles.

Conclusion:

By transitioning to electric vehicles immediately, the government can take a bold step toward mitigating climate change, protecting public health, and fostering a sustainable future for all. We urge immediate action to ensure a cleaner, greener, and healthier world for current and future generations.

Signature Section:

Name | Address | Email | Signature

President Biden has taken significant steps for Earth Day 2024, including launching climate corps programs in Vermont, New Mexico, and Illinois. These programs will work with the American Climate Corps on community-led projects. Additionally, the Solar for All program aims to bring solar energy to low-income households, reducing energy costs and carbon pollution.

Read more here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/22/fact-sheet-president-biden-marks-earth-day-2024-with-historic-climate-action/

Hi, I'm 20 years old and I can't watch our planet die anymore. I want to become active. I hope to draw attention to myself with this post and make contacts. I have all kinds of skills that I'd better not mention here

Hi everyone - I'm working on a solution to help people take action on climate change and hold companies accountable for their behavior. I'm looking for some volunteers to take a look through an early prototype and give me their honest feedback / reactions. If you're open to a quick (15-30min) convo where I show you the prototype could you respond to this message or DM me? Thanks!

In 20 days, the Summer of Heat campaign will launch. Between June 10-14, we will shut down Citibank's HQ every day, for an entire week. And that's just the beginning! We will be taking action week after week, month after month, all summer. Sign up here to participate: https://www.summerofheat.org/

To me the solution seems obvious... Although easier said than done of course! Basically collective traffic to lessen the amount of rubber from tyres that enter nature. It'd not solve truck transport of goods but as long as we greatly lessen personal car usage it'd be a win. Truck transport of goods is essential, but EVERYONE having a car in a bloody city...? Also rural people need to actually use cars, city people do not. And also, hear me out here, forbid or otherwise disadvantage polyester clothing from for example the notorious store Shein.

That wouldn't solve plastic bottles etc... But it'd be a good start.

SB 1497 cleared committee, which means that the whole state Senate will vote on it.

Getting it to pass means getting enough of them to actively vote for it. That means calling and telling them you want it to pass.

Look up your state Senator here, and find their phone number here

Then call their Sacramento office number, and say:

"My name is ______ and I live in _______. I am calling to urge the Senator to VOTE FOR SB 1497. Make oil companies pay for the damage they have caused to our state. They made the mess and made record breaking profits doing it -- they should pay to clean it up.