Amen!

My gas stove was leaky and could have blown up my house. So we replaced that with an induction stove, and it’s all around a better experience. Same with the water heater and the EV. All of these things plus insulating the attic have been improvements to our lives with the added benefit of reducing natural gas consumption more than 20% over the past year and saving about $100/month on utilities and gasoline. It’s nice that we aren’t pumping air pollution directly into our house when we cook anymore.

Every bit of change we make helps, because the climate crisis is not binary. but more importantly the people who can make these changes receive the greatest upfront benefits.

I view this graph differently, the Biden line is pretty close to the target line through 2030 before it diverges. Estimates decrease in accuracy further into the future, particularly if we’re assuming the political calculus stays the same over the next 6 years. The Inflation Reduction Act was the most powerful climate crisis bill we were going to get with the current political situation and it has made a big impact. Particularly with building green economy jobs in swing states. As the swing states see more and more benefits in coming years, that will change the political dynamics of what is possible

Obligatory Technology Connections video.

It’s weird that they’re pushing for less innovation. Even if there’s a slightly increased up front cost, better energy efficiency saves consumers a ton of money on the back end. Particularly if it’s landlords buying the major appliances and tenants pay for utilities

Reforesting agricultural land by reducing meat consumption would make a huge difference, particularly in the Amazon (#1 cause of deforestation in the Amazon is for beef production). Livestock farming uses around 50% of all agricultural land globally, while plant based proteins use a small fraction of that. Reforesting also has the benefits of improved biodiversity.

QuantumScape is currently building the mass production line for a solid state battery and has been sending prototypes out to their auto manufacturer clients for testing.

This Undecided with Matt Ferrell video has a good breakdown.

Disclosure: I own 100 shares of QS

Plastic production is also one of the dirtiest industries in terms of air and water pollution… I doubt China has strong enough environmental standards

Battery powered leaf blowers are absolutely feasible. Battery tech has come along way and it takes less time to swap out a battery than fill a gas tank.

Check out Naturepedic mattresses. 100% natural materials except the steel springs. They have a modular design that you can open up occasionally to flip the springs or topper if you like. You can also replace the individual components as desired, not that we’ve needed to. Very comfortable too, although during the trial period we ended up switching out the foam topper for one that was less firm than we liked on the show floor (they allow this for free within a certain time frame after buying).