Climate advocates applaud Walz

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♻️ This week’s sustainability news

Harris’ pick of Walz as running mate draws praise

What’s happening: Vice President Kamala Harris chose current Minnesota Governor and former US Congressman Tim Walz to be her running mate for the presidential election on Tuesday. Walz grew up in rural Nebraska and worked as a social studies teacher and high school football coach in Mankato, Minnesota, a small city near Minneapolis, before starting his political career. He served six terms in Congress and was elected governor in 2018. By choosing Walz, Harris has a partner with strong connections to rural Midwest areas, who is popular with working-class voters, and supports progressive issues like fighting climate change. Tuesday’s announcement received a lot of praise from climate supporters, including big national groups like the Sunrise Movement and Sierra Club. They all highlighted Walz’s strong environmental efforts.

Why it’s happening: On Monday, Harris officially became the Democratic candidate for president after a virtual vote where most of the party's delegates supported her. Harris was scheduled to speak in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, and many people thought that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro would be her vice-presidential pick. But Walz is known for his straightforward style in politics and recently became a top candidate to join the Harris campaign after some high-profile public appearances and capturing the online zeitgeist with the phrase ‘weird’ to describe their Republican opponents. It was widely reported that it came down to Walz, Shapiro and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly. This decision came after a surprising two weeks, which started when President Joe Biden said that he would not run for reelection.

Why it’s important: As governor, Walz recorded several important accomplishments. He helped pass a law for Minnesota to use only carbon-free electricity by 2040, his administration made vehicle emissions rules stricter, and he signed into law several provisions to speed up the transition of the state to clean energy. During just last year’s legislative sessions, Minnesota approved 40 climate initiatives in total. As a congressman, Walz voted against two proposals that tried to stop President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan, which was designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from US power plants. Biden has made big moves to fight climate change, like passing the Inflation Reduction Act, which puts over $370 billion towards clean energy and climate projects. However, he has had trouble keeping support from young progressives and climate activists because of issues like the war in Gaza and the Willow Project, a large oil drilling project in Alaska that his administration approved last year. Climate advocates hope that a Harris-Walz ticket will help fix the divisions in the Democratic party that got worse during Biden's reelection campaign. It’s notable that Walz had to pass progressive energy policies with a one-seat majority, requiring him to reach across the aisle to get them passed.

📖 Read the full article: Climate advocates rally behind Walz as Harri’s VP pick

How to have effective conversations about climate change

What’s happening: Talking about climate change can become awkward very fast, whether you're in a meeting with colleagues or at a family barbecue. It can make even the most passionate people who care about the problem want to avoid talking about it. But it’s important that they do. According to climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, while research shows that scientists are fairly trusted to deliver messages about climate change, the most trusted people are those that we know, such as friends, family, neighbours, and colleagues. There are six principles from conflict resolution that can help everyone get over any awkwardness when talking to others about climate change.

1. Become comfortable with being uncomfortable. While polling shows the majority of people in Canada and the US care about climate, only 50 per cent ever talk about it. Acknowledging that change is uncomfortable but healthy and normal can help us to have the conversations that we need to transition to a clean climate.

2. Focus on what you have in common. There’s likely something in your shared experience where your values align, which can help you to approach conversations with empathy and a focus on what you have in common. For example, talking about shared outdoor hobbies and what they have noticed themselves can help them to understand the effects of climate change instead of overloading them with facts and statistics.

3. Tie it back to local events. While global events can ultimately affect everyone, they can be too far away from a person’s lived experience to get them to understand why they matter. For example, talking about extreme weather happening in their local town can be far more effective.

4. Share a personal experience. Explaining how you have been affected directly, or perhaps how someone close to you has been, helps to personalise the situation and make it more real.

5. Understand that people’s circumstances are different. While most of us would like to do the ‘right thing’ to combat climate change, not everyone is in the same position to do so. For example, not everyone can afford to install energy-efficient appliances for their home or buy an electric vehicle.

6. Balance your relationship with your advocacy. We’ve been encouraging you to have conversations with your friends, family, and colleagues in order to raise awareness about climate change. But it’s a careful balance to make sure you don’t push your views to the point that you damage your relationship with them.

📖 Read the full article or listen to the conversation on CBC: Conversations about climate change can quickly go south

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😇 People doing great things

Former oil and gas executive cutting US emissions

Capping abandoned oil wells across the country: In 2019, Curtis Shuck was checking wheat fields with farmers in rural Northern Montana. He noticed a smell like rotten eggs and saw rusty metal around a hole in the ground. He found an old, abandoned oil well that was leaking pollution, including methane, into the air and fields. After realizing what it was, he found more abandoned wells in the area, left behind in the 1990s after oil prices dropped due to the Gulf War. This discovery changed his life and could impact carbon emissions in the US. The pollution had a big impact on the former oil and gas executive, and he wanted to do something about it right away. His idea was to close as many oil wells as he could. By the end of the day, he had thought of a name for a nonprofit, Well Done, and registered its website from his truck. Shuck and his organisation have now capped 45 oil wells across 14 US states. It’s a great effort with plenty of more work to do - a staggering 3.7 million abandoned oil and gas wells across the country are releasing over 300 kilotons of methane each year, equal to 8.2 million metric tons of CO2. The Environmental Protection Agency says that more than half of these wells (58 percent) are not sealed, and at least 126,000 wells are ‘orphaned’, meaning no one can be found responsible for them.

⭐️ Weekly inspiration

Renewables milestone for the European Union

Have now surpassed fossil fuels: A new report from independent energy think tank Ember shows that in the first half of 2024, solar and wind energy provided 30 percent of the region's electricity, while fossil fuels fell to 27 percent.

Scientists walk the climate change action talk

Extreme concern leads to active engagement: A large-scale global survey of scientists conducted by an international research team led by the University of Amsterdam has shown many have already changed their own lifestyles or engaged in advocacy and protest, with even more willing to do so in the future.

New technique destroys 100% of ‘forever chemicals’

Formally known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): Scientists in Japan have discovered a method to fully disassemble two of the most common toxic manufacturing substances in just eight hours and even allows one beneficial element, fluorine, to be recycled.

One airline’s flights from Chicago will be cleaner

United Airlines leading the way: The airline announced it’s purchasing up to 1 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to use at Chicago O’Hare International Airport through all of 2024.

Massive beach clean up in Dorset, UK

Volunteers join forces to pick up rubbish: More than 60kg (9.5st) of waste, including bottles, cans, discarded clothes, and hazardous marine waste such as fishing wire, was removed from Southbourne beach as part of Plastic Free July.

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