the first ever 'satdee' send

Hi,

I think this is the first time I have ever sent a Keep Cool newsletter on a Saturday. We live in highly uncertain times, replete with:

• Mindboggling technological advancements

• A veritable tidal wave of content, advertising, and general attention-harvesting that is practically inescapable and all around us at all times (I like the phrase “oversaturation station,” which my homie Anthony coined for this)

• Devastating news, frankly. Day after day. Whether with respect to climate change-related topics or otherwise. I’m confident our brains did not evolve to handle much more beyond what was happening in the ‘herd’ or the ‘village,’ making trying to digest any, let alone all, of the above impossible.

Hence? I think it’s high time to mix things up, try new things, and play rather than batten down the hatches. It’s definitely not time to flagellate ourselves if and when we diverge from schedules, structures, and strategies we’ve adhered to for years. Instead, the ‘anything goes’ mode that seems to characterize 2025 so far offers a great time to (conscientiously) experiment, play, create space, and take some “big swings.” I’m not saying that sending an email on a Saturday versus a Thursday is a massive swing. But, big swings from Keep Cool are coming. And the general ethos of experimentation and re-imagination ties into the thrust of today’s climate-y content.

One more introductory remark, and then we’ll get to it, I promise. I also promise all of this content ‘works’ together, provided you take the time to read between the lines.

Given it’s Saturday, I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that I genuinely hope this email has the absolute worst open rate of any Keep Cool newsletter ever. Seriously. Ideally, I hope that when this email goes out, you’ll be outside, “touching grass,” as they say. As I will be. I hope you’ll be creating literal and metaphorical space, far outside the confines of the concentric circles of boxes we so often stay, well, ‘boxed’ in. What boxes am I talking about? Phones. Laptops. Apartments. Fossilized stories we tell ourselves that may no longer be true (or never were). Our heads and their incessant internal monologues.

I digress. I’m done waxing poetic. The reasons I didn’t send on Thursday were threefold:

1. I spent all of Wednesday Amtraking to D.C. and back again, which was delightful and which drives the bulk of the climate-y content on offer today.

2. I’m still catching up on gifts, well wishes, and a general high after a best friend of mine (love u, Jade) and I threw a banger 3rd annual joint bday party for our 30th.

3. There’s an overwhelming amount of other predominantly ‘cool’ stuff afoot in my life that I’m excited to loop you into in time. A lot of it is more general media, culture, and experience related than climate. But I’m confident that, in time, it will congeal and converge into a cohesive whole in these pages and elsewhere.

Next slide!

NARRATIVES > LEGISLATION

On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of attending an event hosted by Heatmap News in D.C. that focused on the current state of energy policy in the U.S. Obviously, that’s a topic one could host a full-week-long conference on. I quite preferred the tight, hour-long session Heatmap ran instead, which featured two succinct, insightful panels followed by plenty of time for all to mix and mingle.

The top takeaway for me came from the first conversation, which featured Jael Holtzman of Heatmap in conversation with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (Rhode Island). Specifically, Senator Whitehouse’s response to a sharp question Holtzman posed about whether and to what extent preserving the Inflation Reduction Act (or even portions of it) is a priority for climate-action-minded Congresspersons captivated me.

To my surprise, Whitehouse effectively answered “hardly.” Why? For one, he noted the IRA alone was never going to be “enough.” Sure, it has done a lot to catalyze the onshoring of manufacturing for cleaner energy hardware supply chains and new cleaner energy project development, as well as for EV sales and EV charging infrastructure. He doesn’t discount its impact. That said, he underscored that it’s not like the IRA alone was ever going to solve 'everything’ (think of agriculture, for instance, the massive climactic impacts of which will change little, if at all, based on anything written into the IRA).

The Senator did qualify his assertion, clarifying that preserving as much of the IRA as possible is a legislative priority. Importantly, however, he distinguished that it’s not a narrative priority for him and many of his colleagues. Instead, he offered:

If you’ve been reading Keep Cool long enough, you can imagine this was all music to my ears. I’ve long hammered home the points that the words that we use, the way we frame solutions and how to accelerate their implementation, and the general narratives we perpetuate (which I define as the consistent, persistent throughlines of the stories we tell ourselves and others) can be just as impactful as policy, technological progress, and shifts in market/consumer demand.

Suffice it to say I share the Senator’s view. The simultaneous challenge and opportunity at hand in 2025, especially in the U.S., is to reemphasize all the reasons working on climate and energy is essential, economically viable if not attractive, inevitable, and obvious, all regardless of what’s happening at the federal policy level.

Does the federal policy environment, as it currently unfolds (or, more accurately, haphazardly flails around), create inordinate amounts of uncertainty? Of course. And uncertainty, at the most basic level, is risk. Plain and simple. And uncertainty and risk make almost everything—whether launching a startup or building a massive, gigawatt-scale energy project—much more challenging.

But at the same time, our lived experience of climate change is becoming more and more manifest by the day. The devastating wildfires in Los Angeles in January brought this close to home for many people, including myself and many of my friends.

Frankly, if you were to walk down the street tomorrow and ask people what they think of the IRA, they’d a) wonder whether you’re asking them about the Irish Republic Army, b) ignore you, c) have no idea what you’re talking about. To be abundantly clear, I do not take a cynical view of the modal human’s intelligence, intellectual curiosity, or ability and willingness to learn. Quite the opposite, in fact. But, again, given the “oversaturation station” moment we’re in (which is unlikely to go away), why would the average American take the time to learn and care about the IRA? Sure, it may impact them in ways they can’t necessarily ‘see.’ But most people are just trying to survive the day-to-day (a la the below).

That said, if you asked people whether they are concerned that climate change and global warming or other pollution—be it air pollution, microplastics, PFAS, or something else—could threaten their livelihood or wellbeing? I reckon they’d be open to conversation.

When State Farm or another insurer pulls out of California's wildfire and even general home insurance market (or any other insurer pulls out of any other insurance market)—as happened to a family I personally know a month ago, effectively leaving them few options other than a) risking losing everything every year, b) paying $1,500 monthly (!) for California’s FAIR plan (state-sponsored insurance of last resort), or c) sell and move—it’s a tangible, teachable (albeit terrible) moment that crystalizes the costs of inaction.

Senator Whitehouse offered many other trenchant threads I could spend much more time pulling on. As did other featured speakers and attendees I chatted with. That said, given it’s Saturday (and I need to sleep and get outside), I’ll close on this.

In addition to his point about ‘opening the aperture’ of how we communicate what matters with respect to climate action and climate and energy tech development and deployment, Whitehouse also noted we’re now in "the era of climate consequences." I like this framing a lot. It’s simple. It communicates what many of us, including people outside climate circles, intuitively know and feel. Climate change is here. It’s happening. Regardless of what the U.S. does federally, every person, company, and organization globally has the opportunity to act (mind you, disambiguating who has an inherent “responsibility” to act is a different question entirely).

When it comes to parsing what actually makes a difference, whether in individual actions, collective organization, or at the level of which technologies and companies offer the most promise, well? That’s what I’m here for. I’ll continue researching, clarifying, and reiterating what I’m learning week in and week out. Again and again. As long as I keep tapping into a “deeper well,” as Emmylou Harris and/or Lucinda Williams beautifully sing (song links here and here).

And, of course, I’m always excited to do it in collaboration with you, too. I take meetings with readers every week. I took two yesterday. They were wonderful. While I have quite a backlog at times, I’ll be excited to fit you in if you’re keen to engage. Let me know.

Ciao,

— NVO