“You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.”
Shirley Chisholm
In January, I find it helpful to reflect on the past year before turning my sights to the year ahead. This also happens to be the one year anniversary of my first blog post. There are lots of climate solutions to be excited and hopeful about, but we also need to know where things stand. So, today’s article is about taking stock and moving forward.
Taking stock
Taking our temperature
It’s been hot. 2022 was the 6th-warmest year in history, and the last 8 years have been the 8 hottest. Gulp. This is despite the fact that the last 3 have been La Niña years, which slightly lowers temperatures. In many regions of the world, last year was the warmest ever.
Our climate is a fine balance. Even a tiny global temperature increase has major impacts, which we are starting to see on a regular basis. The increasingly destructive storms and other weather events are being exacerbated by this rise in surface temperature.
A warmer ocean
Another measure of the changing climate is ocean temperature. 2022 hit another record as the warmest ever recorded for ocean heat content. The temperature of the ocean impacts not only sea life, but also weather patterns around the world.
Billion dollar events
In 2022, there were 18 billion-dollar weather events in the US. These extreme events are destroying lives and livelihoods, and are increasingly costly for taxpayers and insurers.
Moving forward
I’m not sharing these data points to cause alarm, but to paint the picture that we need to move quickly to implement solutions. Momentum has been building. Here are just a few reasons for optimism:
New incentives
The climate provisions from the Inflation Reduction Act take affect this year. This is allowing both businesses and individuals to take advantage of tax savings by making clean energy choices. It is also spurring significant investment in domestic manufacturing. In just the first few weeks after the law was signed, there was approximately $28 million in new investment announced.
Electric vehicle tipping point
Over the past few years, there has been a major shift to EVs, and that transformation is accelerating. Last year, 10% of new vehicles worldwide were electric. This is being led by China (19%) and Europe (11%). In the US, EVs made up 5.8% of the new car market last year. This is projected to grow rapidly, reaching 50% by 2030. While EVs are not a perfect solution, they are better for the climate than cars powered by gas. This benefit will grow as our power grid increasingly comes from renewable sources.
Industry innovations
Some areas of our economy are considered more difficult to transition to renewable energy that others. There has been an increase in startups addressing some of these trickier industries including construction and aviation.
What can we do?
The details of the tax credits and deductions are complex, but they apply to the purchase of things such as electric vehicles, heat pumps, other electric appliances, and home efficiency projects. While most individuals can’t control where their energy comes from, we do have control over what we choose to put in our homes. It is worth doing a bit of research in order to be prepared. These changes are win-win: you can save money while helping our economy transition from fossil fuels.
Let’s do something about climate change. Learn about it. Think about it. Talk about it.