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Daily Personalized Newsletter

Earth Catalyst gathers & hand-filters the most recent updates from over 1,000 green tech and sustainability organizations. Here are all of the updates; if you subscribe to our free newsletter, we'll send you 3 each weekday we think will be meaningful to you.

Writer's pictureMarshall Kirkpatrick

11/19/24: Action and Preparation

Two snippets of wisdom come to my mind this morning:

  • Action is the antidote to despair.

  • And when opportunity to act comes, it's too late to prepare.

 

Now is a great time to take preparatory actions, get systems in place, practice using them.

 

May the personalized updates below help you build, refine, and practice using systems.

 

And as part of that, I would also offer this: “Systems thinking is not better than reductionist thinking any more than looking through a telescope is better than looking through a microscope.” -Donella Meadows, Thinking in Systems.  Alternating between telescope and microscope can be a great action to take, too.

 

In today's email, you’ll find three updates our system selected just for you, from a collection of over 1,000 green tech and sustainability organizations.  In this blog post, you'll see the full collection of today’s 90 total selected updates.

 


Visual of the Day


"In the small rural village of Khamergragram in Kishoreganj, Nilphamari Shahina Begum, once a full-time homemaker, has transformed her life through sustainable farming practices."



Today's Updates

Table of Contents


  • Agriculture (8 stories) - African farmers could cut methane by 30% with improved practices, Greenpeace links reduced meat production to lower global temperatures, and major agri-tech firms collaborate for sustainable farming expansion.


  • Carbon (6 stories) - Planetary Technologies delivers first ocean alkalinity CDR credits as Drax pursues biomass-CCS transition; UN approves carbon market framework while Congo forest credits face oversight concerns


  • Circular (3 stories) - Asian nations receive massive Western plastic exports while startups like BioDefense and manufacturers of palm leaf, bagasse plates advance sustainable packaging solutions


  • Ecosystems (8 stories)


  • Efficiency (2 stories) - Heat pump cost calculator launches as California unveils $8,000 TECH Clean California rebates for electric home upgrades


  • Finance (5 stories) - Wall Street's $20-25B clean energy tax credit market and $320B utility grid investments drive climate finance, while PJM Interconnection faces pushback over gas project prioritization


  • Grid (3 stories) - Major grid investments by utilities hit $320B as PJM faces renewable pushback; Station A deploys AI for commercial clean energy planning


  • Indigenous (9 stories) - Native Alaskan land return to Eyak people, COP29's "The Answer Is Us" campaign, and Tongass Forest tribal partnerships highlight growing Indigenous leadership in conservation and climate action


  • Industry (4 stories) - Sigma Lithium's Brazil mining waste concerns, LIME Foundation's green construction training, Kyoto Fusioneering's fusion project, and Enviva pellet plants face dust complaints


  • Policy (37 stories) - Federal climate policy shifts as Trump nominee Chris Wright heads to DOE, while COP29 advances global initiatives, Massachusetts passes major climate bill, and UN plastic treaty talks gain momentum with 574 NGOs joining negotiations


  • Transport (1 story) - Oregon surpasses 100K EVs with $99M state incentives and charging expansion


Agriculture

African farmers could cut methane by 30% with improved practices, Greenpeace links reduced meat production to lower global temperatures, and major agri-tech firms collaborate for sustainable farming expansion.



Carbon

Planetary Technologies delivers first ocean alkalinity CDR credits as Drax pursues biomass-CCS transition; UN approves carbon market framework while Congo forest credits face oversight concerns



Circular

Asian nations receive massive Western plastic exports while startups like BioDefense and manufacturers of palm leaf, bagasse plates advance sustainable packaging solutions



Ecosystems




Efficiency

Heat pump cost calculator launches as California unveils $8,000 TECH Clean California rebates for electric home upgrades



Finance

Wall Street's $20-25B clean energy tax credit market and $320B utility grid investments drive climate finance, while PJM Interconnection faces pushback over gas project prioritization



Grid

Major grid investments by utilities hit $320B as PJM faces renewable pushback; Station A deploys AI for commercial clean energy planning



Indigenous

Native Alaskan land return to Eyak people, COP29's "The Answer Is Us" campaign, and Tongass Forest tribal partnerships highlight growing Indigenous leadership in conservation and climate action


  • Field Notes on Repair: 5 (Places Journal) - Experts examine how design and urban planning can heal colonial damage and climate issues through indigenous wisdom and maintenance-focused solutions.

  • NDN COLLECTIVE COMPLETES LANDBACK DEAL IN ALASKA (NDN Collective) - Native Alaskan organization returns two acres of ancestral land to Eyak people, enabling first totem pole placement in region since 1873.

  • They are the answer! (350.org) - Indigenous leaders from three continents unite at COP29, launching "The Answer Is Us" campaign while pressing for leadership positions in upcoming global climate summits.

  • Dam displaces farmers as drought parches Indonesia’s Flores Island (Mongabay) - Indigenous farmers protest Indonesia's $88 million Lambo Dam on Flores Island as forced relocations and disputed compensation packages threaten ancestral farmlands amid water shortages.

  • Estamos de Luto (ISA) - Renowned Brazilian anthropologist Neide Esterci, who dedicated 50 years to studying Amazonian communities and exposed modern slavery practices, has died at 80.

  • COP16 reflections and the path forward (Stand.earth) - Global biodiversity talks in Colombia conclude with the creation of an Indigenous peoples' forum, though funding disputes between the EU, UK, and Japan block key conservation agreements.

  • Walking in Two Worlds: Highlighting Alaska Natives (USFS) - Native relations specialists in Alaska's Tongass National Forest have fostered partnerships between 20 tribal governments and federal land managers, leading to shared stewardship of 16.7 million acres.

  • Good Neighbor Authority: The Jackknife Project, a story of forest management (Montana DNRC) - Montana's Jackknife Project unites state and federal agencies to manage forests through local contractors, blending fire prevention with timber operations.

  • Le prix François Sommer 2025 dévoile sa sélection (Fondation François Sommer) - Eight literary works exploring humanity's bond with nature vie for the €15,000 François Sommer Prize, with results due December 10 under wildlife photographer Vincent Munier's leadership.


Industry

Sigma Lithium's Brazil mining waste concerns, LIME Foundation's green construction training, Kyoto Fusioneering's fusion project, and Enviva pellet plants face dust complaints


  • Lithium mining brings sickness to Jequitinhonha Valley communities (Mongabay) - Mining giant Sigma Lithium's waste rock pile, now spanning 560,000 square meters in Brazil's Jequitinhonha Valley, sparks health and environmental fears among local communities.

  • Underserved Marin Youth Paid to Build a Greener Bay Area (MCE) - The Marin Community Foundation has invested $380,000 to equip over 80 disadvantaged youth with green construction skills through LIME Foundation's academy, offering paid training and $21-30 hourly starting wages.

  • November Newsletter 2024 (Kyoto Fusioneering) - Japanese energy firm Kyoto Fusioneering will launch its FAST fusion power generation demonstration project in November 2024.

  • Stop Enviva's Dust: Fight for Clean Air (Dogwood Alliance) - Environmental advocates have filed dust complaints against three Enviva wood pellet plants in North Carolina, warning of health risks from industrial wood dust emissions.


Policy

Federal climate policy shifts as Trump nominee Chris Wright heads to DOE, while COP29 advances global initiatives, Massachusetts passes major climate bill, and UN plastic treaty talks gain momentum with 574 NGOs joining negotiations



Transport

Oregon surpasses 100K EVs with $99M state incentives and charging expansion


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