It is a lot of work to keep hope alive in the current political climate, especially when we witness wave after wave of extreme weather disasters. This week, I was reminded of why I started this quest when listening to a seminar by a professor at the Rockefeller College of the University at Albany, NY. He showed a chart of the hottest 10 years in U.S. history, starting in 1998, with the most recent years showing significant temperature increases in each year. He noted that more than 99% of scientific research shows that the increasing temperatures are directly related to the use of fossil fuels.
Other charts showed that, in 2022, China was responsible for 26% of greenhouse gas emissions, a higher percentage than the combined emissions of the U.S. emissions and the 27 nations in the European Union. But China, U.S. and India contributed about 46% in 2022, with the burning of fossil fuels worldwide responsible for about 75%. And when examining the per capita rate, Russia was first and the U.S. was second.
How Can We Work to Keep Hope Alive?
Scientific American points to biophysics researchers who work to keep hope alive, in Giant, Sparkly Clams Hide the Most Efficient Solar Panels Ever Found. “”The fact that nobody could explain why a clam was iridescent really just stuck with me,’ says Alison Sweeney, a Yale University biophysicist and co-author of the new research…Sweeney and her team studied the arrangement of the clams’ symbiotic algae, which settle in tiny modified tubes extending up from the digestive system.” “Sweeney’s team modeled this system and calculated that its theoretical efficiency at the first step of photosynthesis, during which chlorophyll absorbs a single photon, is 43 percent—more than twice the efficiency of most current solar panels and three times that of a tropical leaf.” For more details, see the research published in PRX Energy.
Keep Hope Alive in Brazil
The MCJ Collective offers this advice in its recent newsletter article, Tackling the Climate Crisis? Why Brazil Should Be Your Launchpad. “Home to the largest economy in Latin America and a leader in global sustainability, Brazil offers a unique combination of market potential, clean energy leadership, and natural capital. For climate entrepreneurs and investors, Brazil isn’t just a viable option; it might be a game-changing launchpad…Brazil’s population of over 220 million people represents a substantial consumer base, three times larger than Germany’s. With a regional GDP double that of India and a purchasing power on par with China’s rising middle class, Latin America as a whole—with 660 million people—presents enormous market potential for scalable climate solutions.”
Battle Misinformation to Keep Hope Alive
Battling misinformation and disinformation is crucial work to keep hope alive. Recently, Inside Climate News did some fact-checking after a Trump appointee criticized Germany’s energy policies. The article was titled, Trump’s new energy secretary called Germany’s energy transition ‘unreliable.’ But he missed all the nuance. “As he [U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright] tells it, Germany has grossly overpaid for its shift to wind and solar and now is being crushed by high energy costs that have helped hollow out its industrial economy, while the visual landscape is marred by a glut of wind turbines.” Inside Climate News dug deeper and found reality is far more complex than this distortion. Experts on Germany’s energy usage said Wright misstated how long Germany has been investing in renewable energy. They added that very little of the landscape has wind turbines, saying, “the total land area planned to be designated for the use of wind power is two percent of the country’s area.”
In addition, Gernot Wagner, an economist at Columbia University and a native of Austria, told Inside Climate News of two other distortions. “The first problem: Wright characterized the German government’s investment in its energy transition as a waste of money, which gives short shrift to the role governments have to play in putting money into the economy to support economic sectors that are important to the future. The second problem: Wright criticized Germany for producing less electricity than it did 15 years ago, which misses the larger point that the country has become much more efficient in its use of energy. Efficiency is good.”
The article also shared a point made by Greg Nemet, a University of Wisconsin–Madison professor. “…Wright doesn’t mention one of the main reasons that energy prices have risen so much in Germany in recent years: the war between Russia and Ukraine.”
When It Doesn’t Work to Keep Hope Alive…
Are you and your children or students overwhelmed by bad climate news? Take a look at this item from Solutions Journalism: A Tool to Tackle Climate Emotions. “Sarah Newman, executive director of the Climate Mental Health Network, says climate change adds another layer of mental health risk for youth and can deepen existing inequities. In 2021, Newman founded the Network to provide solutions beyond traditional therapy, which can be cost-prohibitive and faces ongoing provider shortages. She sees the climate emotions wheel as a supplement to mental health therapy and believes schools are a key place to address mental health amid a changing climate.”
Taking Action to Keep Hope Alive
The Climate Reality Project invites climate activists to advance their skills, suggesting, “JOIN US FOR THE REALITY TOUR,” a series of in-person training events and an online experience to build the political will, public momentum, and ambition for bold climate commitments leading up to the UN’s COP 30 climate summit in Brazil. The 2025 tour will include multi-day, in-person trainings around the world, with major events in Paris, France; Nairobi, Kenya; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. COP 30 is scheduled to take place in Belem, Brazil in November 2025.
My January 6, 2025 blog post had some more ways you can keep hope alive!
