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While many (with reason) pay attention to the Republicans’ Supreme Court machinations, the climate emergency worsens.

While the media focuses discussions on horse races, rather than substance, Antarctic shelves are breaking up.

While the first Presidential debate doesn’t have a section related to climate change, California burns & Atlantic hurricanes have run out of names & …

Physical reality doesn’t bow to political reality — no matter the nightmarish and nearly unbelievably dystopian nature of America’s political reality — and climate’s physical reality is worsening with every passing second even as climate denialism continues.

This evening, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Professor Naomi Oreskes will take an hour to reflect on climate denialism in a Clean Energy For Biden event moderated by the Nancy Sutley, the former Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. 

Sen. Whitehouse has been one of the most serious climate hawks in the Senate. He has given speech after speech on the floor on a range of climate issues, introduced legislation, and spear-headed efforts to bring attention to — for example — the US Chamber of Commerce’s wrong-headed role in promoting climate science denialism.

Prof. Oreskes is one of the world’s leading historians on environmental issues and her book Merchants of Doubt remains a go-to reference and documentation of the systematic effort to create doubt as to climate change issues as a tool to undermine effective (or, well, any) climate mitigation efforts (that would, for example, threaten fossil fool business interests’ profits). 

This should be a great discussion — please join in/register here (referral code: 102328013)

And, if you want Joe Biden to recognize that climate and clean energy matter to voters (to you as a voter), one way to signal this is to make your contributions (as I do) through events/activities/groups that relate to climate change and clean energy.  If you want to signal while getting to hear from three top-notch voices on climate change science denial, then please join in/register here (referral code: 102328013).

Note: Clean Energy for Biden fundraising and GOTV events.

Which sounds most appealing to you (assuming you aren’t vegetarian)?

• Vat-grown protein
• In-vitro meat
• Test-tube meat
• Cell-cultured meat
• Clean Meat

Hmmm … was that really that hard?

Some simple truths:

• Meat consumption has a heavy climate footprint (“dire consequences for the planet“)
• Animal husbandry, writ large, has become ever-less humane
  • with ever-more laws and efforts to hide the inhumane nature of industrial husbandry from the public
• Health impacts from this husbandry, industrial processing, and the (often poor) quality/nature of the meat products are significant.
• As they grow wealthier, humans (nearly uniformly) want more meat
• While vegetarian diets can ‘solve’ the meat dilemma, the share of vegetarians in developed economies has remained relatively stable over time …

Humans want meat. They ask “Where’s the beef?” And, there are more of those “humans” going up the economic spectrum every day, thus the “where’s the beef” chorus gets louder with every passing moment.

The United Nations reports that animal agriculture contributes more greenhouse gas emissions than all of our cars, trucks, boats, and planes combined. It’s also a leading cause of rainforest destruction,03:11air, water, and soil degradation; and on top of all that, it’s just a grossly inefficient way to produce our food.

We have, it seems, two inextricable trends that can’t both continue indefinitely: either humanity stops eating meat from today’s climate-wrecking husbandry or, well, we lock in climate catastrophe.

A variety of researchers and firms are taking on this challenge (to reduce dramatically the environmental impacts while satisfying people’s “meat protein” desires) and are increasingly entering the market place. Fundamentally, there are two basic approaches.

The first seeks, in essence, to trick the palate: creating meat-eating like experiences using grains and vegetables. This offers significant environmental (reduced land, water, and emissions impacts of about 90 percent) along with reduced health impacts (though many current products have, for example, high salt content). Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are two preeminent examples of this, with serious investors and valuations with products showing up in restaurants, fast-food outlets, and on grocery store shelves. When it comes to these, as one reporter put it,

Both burgers were a breakthrough in the fake meat world, where previous veggie burgers were derided as tasteless pucks. If the goal is to get humans to eat less meat — for their health and the health of the planet — making a burger that simulates the taste and texture of meat is critical in winning converts.

Hmmm … “fake meat” doesn’t necessarily get buy-in from omnivorous humanity.

Another option is to grow meat: grow it not on the hoofs but in vats. To culture the meat from cells rather than raise living creatures for slaughter. ‘Vat-grown meat’, like plant-based options, offers easily order-of-magnitude environmental benefits like the plant-based products while delivering “meat”. While we already are eating significant amounts of vat-grown products (Omega-3 supplements in milk are just one example, and, well, there are always wine and beer to consider), these are essentially plant based food products. There is serious investment and valuation in firms pursuing cultured meat production.

Should, can, and how will ‘cultured meat” satisfy human craving for meat?

With Clean Meat, Paul Shapiro has provided an excellent introduction into cellular agriculture. “This isn’t a substitute or replacement for meat, but meat without the animal.”

This is a technology revolution: growing leather; growing tuna; growing foie gras; growing beef; growing chicken meat in the “second domestication” which will offers the potential for continued meat eating and use of animal-based products (leather) with a softer hand on the planet and better human health.

If lab meats can replicate the taste and texture of traditional meat — at a lower cost and with fewer downsides — it would be a game-changer for global nutrition.

One way to consider the situation,

“Factory farming is kind of like coal mining. It’s pollutes and it’s damaging our planet, but it gets the job done. Cellular agriculture is like renewable energy when it was still its nascence. It has the promise of getting the same job done, but without so many terrible side effects.” Isha Data, CEO, New Harvest [p 19]

This is a rich and important space — with serious opportunities for radically changing humanity’s food system and impact on the planet. It also is a technology with massively disruptive impacts (and opportunities) for farmers, animal husbandry, slaughter houses, large multi-national firms, veterinary medical services (from rural vets to drug firms), animal transportation, and so much more. Vested interests with threatened revenue mean opposition.

This is an example of where, with passion and government, techno-optimism provides a viable vision of an improved life style with much lower climate impact.

If this works, slaughtering animals for the table could become something like hunting within a few decades. Only the ‘richest’, hobbyist, and ‘poorest’ eating from slaughtered animals (luxury, entertainment, & necessity).

Let’s be clear, clean meat has many challenges to overcome before it becomes a mainstream item. And, these aren’t minor as per these examples of still to overcome issues from a scientist acquaintance:

Culture media: Growing cells in a lab requires culture media that contain the nutrients to feed the cells. This is generally accomplished by using Fetal Bovine Calf Serum (FBS) in the media – generally at a concentration of 10%. There are two concerns with this:

1. it negates the very first goal of producing meat in a lab (bypassing animal farming);

2. there are already concerns of shortage of sources of FBS for research purposes (basic science and biomedical science), it does not seem to be a viable option for an industrial production of meat. [Note: scientists are trying to identify alternatives to FBS or develop serum-free media; perhaps that would solve the issue]

Pollution: growing cells in a lab is not a “green” activity. Everything needs to be performed in sterile environment: all materials (generally all plastic) are single-use and need to be disposed in biological waste containers for “safe” destruction in incinerators; at an industrial scale, closed systems may help reduce this waste (tbd).

Challenges are there but could, well, be ameliorated (solved) through concerted effort. And, the benefits from Clean Meat are so large that dedicated investment to make that effort is more than merited.

Consider just some of those benefit streams:

• No antibiotics
• No salmonella, otherwise
  • Roughly 48M Americans/year sicked by contaminated food (Salmonella) … biggest is chicken & turky meat
• Ability to control fat/etc content
• No land damage
• Localized production possible (think local brewery)
• Greatly reduced water & feed usage for animal husbandry
• Pretty much ‘total transparency’ (think about the bar with brewery there … will restaurants have vats where they directly grow for their own tables?)
  • Tour a factory like touring a brewery — and then have a burger at the end of the tour …
• Eliminates moral issues with meat consumption
  • And, ends figuring out who is vegan or meat eating for that dinner party ….

We live in an age of massive change. LED lights were expensive and unusual a decade ago and dominate lighting today. Solar and wind are growing exponentially. Companies that didn’t exist 20 years ago, like Facebook & Tesla, are among the largest in the world and changing the world.

In 2010, this space wasn’t much more than a rarely expressed fantasy (that dated back awhile, after all Winston Churchill wrote essay in 1931 about ability to “growing parts separately under a suitable medium” rather than growing whole chickens [p 8]) with limited research and miniscule investment. In 2013, the first burger (a $330, 000 burger) was cooked and eaten at a press event. More than a few products are on the verge of market introduction. In 2010, with the exception of exception of synthetic rennet-makers supplying the cheese industry, not a single food company was growing animal products outside of the animal commercially. “In fact, not a single one of the companies profiled in this book even existed.” [p 222] Within a few years, more than a few of these could be household names.

What’s the hold up?

“Regulation, absolutely,” says Chase Purdy, Quartz reporter and author of a coming book about cell-cultured meat. “The technology is ready—the science has been there for a while.” he says. “It’s really all about governments around the world figuring out how to regulate these products.”

Incumbent opposition — recognizing fight by seeking to ban use of term “clean meat”

We have a three-way battle for our future when it comes to “meat”: traditional interests seeking to defend their space (incumbency); plant-based alternatives seeking to trick our taste buds into going vegan; and, cellular meat firms seeking to deliver meat without the slaughterhouse. The first path resembles fossil fuel firms — seeking to lock in, as long as possible, their profitability without regard to environmental and health costs and risks. The second two offer paths forward (within larger efforts for a sustainable agricultural system to feed humanity) without destroying the environment and improved human health. Reality is, there will be a mixture of the three … we will be much better off if the second two dominate.

“Humans are great at rationalizing our conduct so we don’t feel mental conflict about our behavior …” [p 233] Would Clean Meat availability directly confront this and make many walk away from slaughtered protein?

Now, going back to the opening question, it is clear that “clean meat” is a framing that works.

“It’s important because words matter in how we describe how something makes a big difference,” said Paul Shapiro, a top leader at Humane Society of the United States and author of Clean Meat. “You can only make a first impression once.”

Now, not only Shapiro recognized this reality. Sadly, so did the much larger, much stronger livestock world. And, thus, they forced the issue and got emergent firms to abandon the term “clean meat” and use “cell-based meat”. That weakened framing will, without question, slow Clean Meat’s penetration into the market-place and its role as a climate-solution tool.

Amid the fight to save endangered species, clean up rivers, end plastic pollution, address the climate crisis, and so many other environmental challenges, the painful realities of environmental injustice(s) too often seem to and/or are actually left-aside and left unaddressed within the activism. Picturing a polar bear on a melting iceberg doesn’t help in visualizing the urban youth asthma sufferers driven by diesel pollution or cancer clusters in minority communities suffering from chemical plant pollution. There are serious movements, at this time, that seem to be making a serious dent in (reversing) what has often been a seeming blind spot (for many) in seeking to create a cleaner future. From environmental organizations, to state legislatures, to the Democratic Party’s platform and VP Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan, serious environmental justice actions and investments seem core to plans for moving forward toward a clean energy future. Tomorrow, Clean Energy For Biden is hosting an event that will directly address environmental (in)justice realities, challenges, and opportunities — and how VP Biden will drive for real environmental justice. In that discussion will be Representative Raúl Grijalva and 350.org‘s North American Director Tamara Toles O’Laughlin , moderated by the Center for American Progress’ VP for Energy & Environment Ms. Christy Goldfuss,

The title for this post comes from a reaction to active Twitter humor about jokes. Amid these mainly laughable moments was a painfully on one of tomorrow’s speakers:

I have a climate justice joke but nobody sees color.

Tamara Toles O’Laughlin

Perhaps, as might get discussed tomorrow, we are seeing — are creating — a new reality where climate and environmental justice are taken seriously as we — collectively — see color.

As to the CE4B event, for which the initial/lowest donation amount was deliberately set quite low ($10) to encourage broader participation, here are the details:

Clean Energy for Biden event on Environmental Justice

Monday, July 27, 2020 at 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM ET

Please join Clean Energy for Biden with Representative Raúl Grijalva and Ms. Tamara Toles O’Laughlin, moderated by Ms. Christy Goldfuss, for a discussion on environmental justice. Speakers will discuss what Vice President Joe Biden can do to support this important issue when he takes office, both by working on the ground with environmental justice communities and leaders, and with Congress. Joe Biden has demonstrated his commitment to this topic in his recently unveiled $2 trillion Build Back Better plan and this discussion will focus on what all of us can do to execute on this mission if he’s elected.

As a leading Congressional voice on environmental justice, Representative Grijalva has championed the Environmental Justice for All Act and has held several hearings on this topic through his role as Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee. Ms. Tamara Toles O’Laughlin is the North America Director of 350 Action and has long been a tireless advocate and leader for environmental justice policies, communities, and programs through her work in the state of Maryland and Washington D.C. Ms. Christy Goldfuss is the Vice President for Energy and Environment Policy at the Center for American Progress and led the White House Council on Environmental Quality under President Obama.

Note: Prior to the event, for a useful perspective on her thinking, see this 2015 O’Laughlin post: Why should you care about equity over equality in environmental work?

Friday afternoon, the Biden campaign is holding a roundtable discussing the range of benefits and opportunities that the Vice President’s Build Back Better Clean Energy plan (announced Tuesday) will create for the Commonwealth, Virginia businesses, and Virginians.

Join Team Joe, Senator Mark Warner, Congressman Donald McEachin, and Delegate Kathy Tran for a virtual Biden for President roundtable in Virginia on Joe Biden’s plan to help America’s economy Build Back Better and create the good-paying union jobs we need to deliver an equitable clean energy future. Joining McEachin and Tran will be President of the Virginia Building and Construction Trades Council Jason Parker and Virginia Climate Leader Harrison Wallace.

This online event is from 3 to 4 pm Friday.  Specific details will be sent to you after your register here.

There is a lot to discuss here.

With Democratic control of the legislature, Virginia has now gone from being a laggard to real leader – especially for the South – when it comes to clean energy and climate issues. A path toward a 100% clean power system has become law. There are significant investment paths for energy efficiency. Virginia joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).  Virginia’s first two offshore wind turbines have been installed and there is now a legal basis for these 12 megawatts to become 2.6 gigawatts (2,600 megawatts) of capacity by the middle of the decade. And there’s a lot more. The measures passed by Democratic Delegates and Senators will create jobs, boost Virginia’s economic competitiveness, foster a more resilient energy system, and reduce the Commonwealth’s pollution with a wide range of benefits from reduced asthma rates to lowered climate impacts.

The plan that Vice President Biden laid out earlier this week calls for $2 trillion of investments in clean energy. Building on the progress that Virginia’s elected Democratic leadership was able to establish in the legislative session and Governor Northam initiatives like using VW settlement money for electrification projects across the Commonwealth, Virginia will be well positioned to leverage (soon to be) President Biden’s program to accelerate and expand what is already planned for Virginia. And, in the process, create even more jobs, boost the economy even more, have an ever more resilient energy system, and even more significantly reduce pollution impacts on Virginians’ health and Virginia’s environment.

There is far more to discuss than one hour can accommodate but this hour should be a good start for that discussion.

When Trump thinks climate, he thinks hoax. When I think about climate, I think JOBS! Vice President Joe Biden, 14 July 2020

Is it any surprise that the clean energy world is mobilizing to help elect Joe Biden, a Democratic-controlled Senate, and a larger Democratic Party majority in the House?

Amid his Rose Garden ranting against (soon to be President) Joe Biden yesterday, Trump went after Biden’s Build Back Better powerful Clean Energy plan. Evincing his normal shallow ignorance and gaslighting bravado, Trump fumbled through fossil-foolish talking points. Amid this, Trump attacked Biden’s call for a move toward net zero buildings. Of course the facts are wrong about what Biden proposed. The more absurd gaslighting is how ever-so-tremendous building developer Donald Trump stated absurdity after absurdity.

According to Trump, net zero building

basically means no windows

When it comes to gaslighting, a simple summary would be that the (would-be) demagogic autocrat demands that cult followers don’t believe their lying eyes.

Here are a few images of net zero buildings.

As per Trump

How are your eyes?

For well over a decade, I (and others) have been calling and waiting for forceful Presidential language and speeches directly tying economic performance, job creation, and climate mitigation. Today, our next President, Joe Biden pretty much gave that speech in a strong call for job creation with significant clean-energy investment that will boost U.S. economic competitiveness while setting the United States on a path to a net-zero emission economy.

In this speech, (our next) President Biden draws a strong contrast between Trump’s destructive anti-science, anti-clean energy, anti-economic performance antics and Biden’s plans for rejuvenating the American economy and creating millions of well-paying clean energy jobs in a package that will reduce pollution and the nation’s climate risks.

In the associated plan to build a modern, sustainable infrastructure and an equitable clean energy future, (soon-to-be) President Biden lays out seven key elements:

1. Build a Modern Infrastructure
2. Position the U.S. Auto Industry to Win the 21st Century with technology invented in America
3. Achieve a Carbon Pollution-Free Power Sector by 2035
4. Make Dramatic Investments in Energy Efficiency in Buildings, including Completing 4 Million Retrofits and Building 1.5 Million New Affordable Homes 
5. Pursue a Historic Investment in Clean Energy Innovation
6. Advance Sustainable Agriculture and Conservation 
7. Secure Environmental Justice and Equitable Economy Opportunity

Within each, Biden(‘s team) lays out serious proposals that will have real impact … these are Win-Win-Win paths to boost the economy, create jobs, and reduce climate impacts.

Regretfully, I have allowed (over the years) my Energy Bookshelf to build up (and up and up) to all too many bookshelves. Simply put, Marie Kondo wouldn’t be pleased with me. In this process, there are many books which have left a lasting impression and which I quote/reference in interactions which I have not given just recognition with reviews but I haven’t held up my end by giving recognition in blogging space to those who are influencing me. Therefore, I will strive to do some catching up beginning with Randy Olson.

After six years of battling, Virginians concerned about climate change, environmental injustice, and a prosperous energy future had reason for Sunday afternoon celebration with Dominion Energy’s and Duke Energy’s announcement of cancellation of the fossil-foolish Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP).

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) Platform Committee is holding a series of (pseudo-)public hearings this week en route formalizing the Platform. Amid the reality and necessity of tRump’s mismanagement of Coronavirus response, these hearings reasonably are being held online. “(Pseudo-)hearings” as these are scripted events with no active public comments and engagement other than the chance to submit videos for DNC consideration with between-the-lines implications that what is really wanted are paeans to the DNC’s perspicacity and brilliance rather than actual comments seeking to fill gaps and strengthen the platform.

A bit earlier this morning, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed legislation on offshore wind and then headed out to see the first two offshore wind turbines installed in Federal waters.

I’m in Virginia Beach this morning to sign important legislation that will help make our Commonwealth a national leader in offshore wind. Tune in: https://t.co/ejZhYmTQnm

— Governor Ralph Northam (@VAGovernor73) June 29, 2020

This 12-megawatt (two 6-megawatt turbines) Dominion Energy demonstration project is now entering a testing phase, with final connection to the grid to occur before the end of the summer. These 12 MW are the leading edge for a 2.6-gigawatt (e.g., 2,600 MWs) Dominion offshore wind farm, with likely double that amount (5.2GW) to be actively powering Virginia homes before the end of the decade.

This is a major milestone — a physical, tangible example of the Commonwealth moving away from fossil-foolish electricity generation and towards cleaner electrons, produced in ways that will foster job creation and otherwise boost the economy while reducing pollution.

Orsted-DE CVOW BROLL from Dominion Energy on Vimeo.

Globally, offshore wind has undergone a massive transformation over the past few years, from a seemingly high-cost option requiring expensive markets or significant subsidies (or mandates) for deployment to an increasingly cost-competitive option. That’s the case, even without considering offshore wind’s multiplicative benefit streams – from lowered pollution to job creation to (in many circumstances) boosted marine life/fisheries to reducing total electricity system costs by flattening electricity cost curves (by shaving off peak hours).

Virginia is well positioned to be a true offshore wind leader and to boost the economy through that leadership.

• Virginia’s coasts have extensive offshore wind resources –  potentially enough to power the entire Commonwealth economy (even as it doesn’t make sense to put all the energy system “eggs in one basket”).
• The Tidewater region has the best resources (harbors, maritime industries, skilled workforces, transportation) to support an offshore wind industry along the East Coast. With tens of GWs already being built or en route to construction from Maine down to North Carolina, a strong Virginia offshore wind program could enable massive job growth supporting projects across the region.
• Offshore wind’s plunging prices offer a pathway — with increasing deployment driving lowered prices — for having cleaner and lower cost electrons with every passing year.

These are, by the way, good reasons why the Virginia Clean Energy Act (VCEA) made offshore wind a centerpiece of the plan to transform the Commonwealth’s electricity system away from fossil-fuel generation to clean electrons.

Gov. Northam responsibly masked: an offshore wind mask

Today, with the Governor signing the legislation and touring the first wind turbines in Federal waters, Virginia is marking a significant milestone to that clean energy future. And that’s something to celebrate, even as we still have a lot more to do.

Coast Guard escorting @GovernorVA boat tour to see the 1st two in stalled wind turbines in federal waters. We’re headed 27 miles out off the coast Va Beach. We’re Almost there! #windenergy #cleanenergy @DominionEnergy pic.twitter.com/4AslsWKij5

— Peggy Fox (@PeggyDomEnergy) June 29, 2020