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March 23, 2023
Greetings!
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We wish you a happy Spring Equinox or Fall Solstice this week - depending on which hemisphere you are in! Spring or Fall are both times of year that invite us to reflect more deeply on our lives, to imagine new possibilities and to invite changes.
Most of us reading this know the situation on our planet is dire. A new report from the United Nation's on climate change released this week confirms this, and then some. It emphasizes the existential moment that we are in and the urgency for transformational systems change to avert pushing the planet past the point of catastrophic warming.
As important as it is to know where we stand, it also always presents us with the motivation to turn crisis into opportunity. Pathways exist to reduce emissions and to create more equal and healthier communities. The power for change is in our hands - by harnessing both individual and collective actions. Individual "Small Doable Actions (SDAs)" include shifting to plant-based diets, reducing plastics, walking/biking, and restoring habitats where we live. Collectively, individuals can collaborate to press governments and industries for system-level change in key areas such as transportation, food, energy, and others.
In this issue we share about the problems we face and how people are coming together to work for grassroots and large-scale change. Here's what you'll find:
- New UN/IPCC report on climate
- Join in the 2023 Earth Hour taking place on March 25th
- An Annual Decarbonization Index report ranking 30 investor-owned utilities and their decarbonization progress
- New blog articles on Decarbonizing the US Energy System to Save Lives; Hawaii Youth Launch Landmark Climate Case Targeting Transportation Pollution; and Microgrids in Cambodia - Promoting Rural Energy Access
- Welcome to our new LE Ambassador Program Coordinator, Sudhanshu Jindal
- Call for Abstracts for Behavior, Energy, & Climate Change (BECC) conference
- Green Jobs Opportunities
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At Leaders in Energy (LE), we are working to get the word out on news and events that we think point us toward making the transformational changes needed for a sustainable planet and society. Join us by subscribing to this newsletter, becoming part of our LinkedIn group, and following our social media. | |
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New UN/IPCC Report on Climate Change Alerts
World Approaching Cataclysmic Threshold
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This week the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released an important new report. It is an synthesis of six key pieces of research completed over the past five years. (The IPCC is the scientific body that advises the UN on rising temperatures.)
Per the report, it is likely that the world will fall short of its most ambitious climate target - to limit warming by the early 2030s to 1.5 degrees Celsius or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial temperatures.
The planet has been transformed by human activities at a pace and scale unprecedented in recorded history causing irreversible damage to communities and ecosystems. Global emissions continue to rise, and insufficient progress has been made to stem the increase of greenhouse gases to ward off climate catastrophe.
The IPCC expresses the need for system transitions to achieve rapid and deep emissions reductions. These include the deployment of low- or zero-emission technologies; reducing energy demand through infrastructure design and access, socio-cultural and behavioral changes, increased technological efficiency and adoption; social protection; and protecting and restoring ecosystems.
The report cautions that the window of opportunity on climate resilience is rapidly narrowing to secure a livable and sustainable future for all. However, the report also provides a message of possibility on how efforts to fight climate change can benefit society in countless other ways ranging from providing new employment opportunities, to improving air quality, to enhancing ecosystems, to boosting public health.
Hoeusing Lee, Chair of the UN IPCC, states that "The choices we make now and in the next few years will reverberate around the world for hundreds, even thousands of years."
Find links to the UN/IPCC report, press release, and presentation here.
The BBC wrote a great summary of the report which you can find here.
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Join the Biggest Hour for Earth
EARTH HOUR is March 25th - 8:30 pm local time
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After the urgent news from the UN report, please consider participating in Earth Hour 2023. It takes place this Saturday, March 25th, from 8:30-9:30 pm local time.
Begun in 2007, Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). It asks individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off all non-essential electric lights for 60 minutes (one hour) during Earth Hour - as a symbol of commitment to the planet.
During that same hour, people are asked to use the time on behalf of the planet!
Would you like ideas on what to do with your Earth Hour? Visit the Earth Hour website to discover educational resources and links to a diverse array of eco-events that have been initiated by localities around the globe. The Earth Hour movement has a presence in over 190 countries and territories!
WWF wants to make this one of the Biggest Earth Hours yet! It is coordinating community events all around the globe to harness the power of the people turning a single Earth Hour into thousands and millions of hours of action and awareness, instigating a domino effect for change that can continues well beyond the 60 minutes and into our daily lives.
Thanks to Sushmita Senmajumdar, our LE Ambassador in India, who reminded us to let LE members know about this year's Earth Hour. She notes that: "It's a way to highlight solidarity, individual empowerment, and collective action."
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BOOKMARKED: Annual Decarbonization Utility Report | | |
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The decarbonization progress and efforts of the 30 largest investor-owned utilities in the United States is ranked in the Annual Utility Decarbonization Report, from the National Public Utilities Council in collaboration with Visual Capitalist. The report uses data-driven analysis to provide utilities, administrators, investors, and utility customers with insights on the status of decarbonization among U.S. utilities.
The utilities were assigned a score between 1 (lowest) and 5 (highest), indicating whether they are trailing or leading in decarbonization respectively. The score is based on six individual metrics relating to factors such as the utility’s fuel mix, amount of CO2 emissions, and the intensity of emissions per unit of electricity, in addition to their decarbonization targets. Learn more and access the report here.
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Welcome to New LE
Ambassador Program Coordinator
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Please join us in welcoming Sudhanshu Jindal to
our LE leadership team as the Ambassador Program Coordinator.
In this role, Sudhanshu will facilitate connecting
LE community members, who are working on clean energy and sustainability initiatives, with the LE Ambassadors Program, where we are endeavoring to exchange lessons learned and best practices in the US and around the world.
Sudhanshu is an accomplished professional with a diverse range of experiences, including business development, entrepreneurship, and renewable energy. He is currently pursuing an MS in Renewable Energy, Enterprise and Management at Newcastle University in the UK.
Sudhanshu is also a professional mountaineer, certified by the Government of India, and has spent time in the Indian Himalayas and with local communities in that region. As a result of these experiences, he has cultivated a keen interest in the climate change field and is dedicated to pursuing a career in renewable energy and sustainability.
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Call for Abstracts
Behavior, Energy, & Climate Change Conference November 12-15, 2023
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This year’s Behavior, Energy, & Climate Change (BECC) conference is calling for abstracts. The conference will take place in person in Sacramento, California on November
12-15, 2023.
The focus of this BECC conference is on driving transformation—new ideas, new policies, new methods of changing behavior towards mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.
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Since 2007, the BECC community has applied behavioral research and practice to foster individual and organizational change.
The deadline for submitting an abstract is April 1, 2023. Authors will be notified of acceptance in early summer 2023.
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Latest News from the LE Blog | |
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Clean energy policy can greatly improve human health by reducing sources of harmful air pollution. This article reports on a study published in GeoHealth which examines the health benefits resulting from the elimination of pollutant emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides from energy-related sectors. The study estimates we could prevent more than 50,000 deaths each year and provide over $600 billion in health benefits from avoided death and illness in the US.
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by Kenny Stancil
The world’s first constitutional climate lawsuit focused exclusively on combating transportation-related pollution, was filed by 16 youth plaintiffs against the Hawaii Department of Transportation (DOT). They argue that the DOT promotes a system that produces high levels of greenhouse gas emissions that harms their communities, infringes upon their constitutional rights, and jeopardizes their ability to “live healthful lives in Hawaii now and into the future.”
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Successful solar-powered microgrids in Cambodia are helping to bridge the country's power gaps by providing electricity to communities that do not have access to the electric grid. Okra Solar has developed a creative solution, where the excess power not used by one household can be shared with the rest of the community. Their new direct current "mesh grid" microgrid network integrates existing distribution, local power generation and storage, and smart data software, for nearly 150,000 households in the island village of Steung Chrov and provides reliable access to clean, renewable energy.
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Energy Market Analyst (Remote USA), ICF, Fairfax, VA
Renewable Energy Project Mgr - (Remote California/Western USA), TetraTech, Irvine, CA
Energy Management Subject Matter Expert, Noblis, Alexandria, VA, USA
Consultant - Energy Providers North - Campus 2023, Guidehouse, Arlington, VA, USA
Energy Project Manager, Calibre, Arlington, VA, USA
Senior Energy and Sustainability Specialist, ICF, Fairfax, VA, USA
Manager, Energy Markets and Planning, ICF, Fairfax, VA, USA
Analyst, Energy Economics, J.S. Held LLC, Arlington, VA, USA
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