Book Signing Party! - Jigar Shah will discuss and sign copies of Creating Climate Wealth

Creating Climate Wealth: Unlocking the Impact Economy

DC Net Impact and Green Business Roundtable(TM) are co-sponsoring a book signing event with environmental entrepreneur and author, Jigar Shah

Monday, November 11
5:00 - 6:30 PM
575 7th St. NW, Washington DC (Offices of Venable LLP)

Free! Register here

"Jigar Shah is a force of nature!  Here he recounts his unique journey - as entrepreneur, investor and nature's defender.  His outlook: a fast changing world where enterprise places greater value on our climate and society.  A timely book from a Thinker and Doer, both."

 - Ann Goodman, Ph.D.  Co-Founder of Women's Network for a Sustainable Future

Jigar Shah to be guest at November 11 Green Business Roundtable

Join us for the November Green Business Roundtable^TM

Date: Monday, Nov. 11
Time: 11:30 - 1:00 (includes lunch)
Location: SEIA Conference Room - 505 9th St. NW, Washington, DC (Close to  Gallery Place and Metro Center stations)

Registration: $22 early bird (until Nov. 7); $27 regular registration; $30 walk-in (includes lunch)

Register

TOPIC: How Climate Change represents a multi-trillion dollar entrepreneurial opportunity

There are already 100,000 businesses deploying climate change solutions, companies that see the promise in addressing this monumental issue.  Jigar will discuss five tools to scale up these businesses and industries, expanding the pie for everyone while ensuring a better future for our environment.  


SPEAKER: Jigar Shah

Jigar Shah was the Founder and CEO of SunEdison, a transformative solar company that helped redefine the business model for solar energy.  He was the first CEO of the Carbon War Room - the global organization founded by Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Unite to help entrepreneurs address climate change. He is the author of Creating Climate Wealth: Unlocking the Impact Economy.

Register

Special by-invitation-only game testing November 6

As a follow up to the October 1 Green Business Roundtable, our guest, Jonathan Estes, will be testing two games under real gaming conditions with specially invited guests on November 6.

Details as follows:

Date: Wednesday, Nov 6
Time: 6:00 - 8:30 PM
Location: WWF Conference facility (1250 24th St. NW)
Registration: By invitation only.  Pizzas and beverages will be provided to participants.  (A limited number of observer-only tickets are available.  Click below for details.)
Sponsors: Green Business Roundtable | Green Diamond | Smart Green Institute

Register 

Founder of the Smart Green Institute and Executive at Green Diamond, Jonathan Estes, will be testing two new games that are slated for release soon.  The Green Business Roundtable is extending invitations to play these new games to people with expertise or interest in these issue areas.  If you have received an invitation, please register above, so that we can track our players.

Descriptions of the games:

GAIA

How climate change impacts global systems, including food, population, fuel, water, economy, and politics are often too complex to appreciate or connect to on a personal level.  In the game, GAIA, you will experience the tensions and challenges in choosing between fuel types, diminishing resources, changes in climate, increasing population, and actual global events much as world leaders face when addressing the issue of climate change. 

Smart Green

For a small business striving to become more sustainable, there are many potential projects and strategies to choose from: energy efficiency, renewable energy, charitable giving, and reducing potable water use and others.  One of the most important steps in sustainable development is greening your supply chain.  In Smart Green, you set up a business, implement projects (through resources), establish a green supply chain, and win by being the first to complete your green supply chain.

Big increase in bicycles at Swanson Middle School

School is back in session for 2013, and my local Middle School has a big increase in bicycles parked on its racks.  Since I walk and cycle by here regularly, I have made a habit of taking a look at the bike racks.  They are now officially full: 32 bikes parked on September 9 and again on September 13.

As I've mentioned in my previous posts (here and here), I think these are the smartest kids in the school.

Photo from September 9

  

Photo from September 13

October 1 Green Business Roundtable - Games & Game Theory

Join us for this month's Green Business Roundtable^TM


Date: Tuesday, Oct. 1
Time: 11:30 - 1:00 (includes lunch)
Location: WWF Conference Center - 1250 24th St. NW (between M and N Sts. NW - Dupont or Foggy Bottom Metro stops.  Bikeshare station at 24 & N.)

Registration: $22 early bird (EXTENDED); $29 after midnight on September 27; $30 walk-in (includes lunch)

Register

TOPIC: How Games, Models and Simulations can Help Solve Environmental and Sustainability Challenges

In rapidly changing environments, conventional decision-making approaches and innovation investments are not only inadequate, but a serious liability. Increased resilience and adaptability are of paramount importance for any organization. Though the levels of funding and mission requirements differ in scale, the underlying dynamics and decision processes are the same. How do you institutionalize the ability to respond quickly and creatively to dynamic situations?

Next Green Business Roundtable scheduled for October 1

The next meeting of the Green Business Roundtable will be Tuesday, October 1.  Exact location is still TBD.  If you are on the Green Business Roundtable mailing list, you will receive updates and reminders (to join the mailing list, click here)

Our guest will be Jonathan Estes of Green Diamond Solutions.  Jonathan is and expert in gaming and simulation as tools for solving complex challenges.  In particular we will discuss how these strategies can be used to assist decision making to find solutions to environmental challenges like climate change.

Hope you can make it.  Registration and more details will follow on this page when they are available.

Washington Post misses another prime opportunity to report on climate change

The July 21 Washington Post contained an article written by reporter Martin Weil called Record nightly warmth followed last week's daily heat.  It was a pretty long article that discussed how the daily highs in the 90's each day were made more unbearable by the fact that the nights did not cool off below 80 degrees for several nights in a row.

"There’s a way of coping with day after day of temperatures in the 90s, besides staying in the shade, wearing loose clothing and drinking lots of water. It is to go home, let the sun set and feel the swelter subside.

But that traditional method of riding out a heat wave has not been particularly effective in recent days for those living close to the Washington area’s urban core near Reagan National Airport, where the National Weather Service takes the city’s temperature.

It has been hot during the day, yes. Saturday, with a high of 94, was the sixth consecutive day on which Washington’s official temperature was well above 90. But even beyond each day’s heat and humidity, Washington’s weather woes were made all the worse by how warm it remained at night."

This was the perfect set up to discuss how increased greenhouse gases increase the moisture content of the air, both of which serve to keep it warmer at night (and in winters).  But nothing.  Not a single word.

One would hope that this clear connection of dots between local weather conditions and the consistency of those conditions with anthropogenic global warming would be a key point made in an article like this.  Seems almost like negligence.

July Green Business Roundtable - Triggering Environmental Change Through Social Marketing

Join us for this month's Green Business Roundtable^TM.


Date: Wed., July 17
Time: 12:00 - 1:30 (note this is 30 minutes later than usual)

Location: 509 9th St., NW  Washington, DC  20004 (map)
Registration: $22 early bird; $29 after noon on July 15 (includes lunch); $30 walk-in

Register

TOPIC: Triggering Environmental Change Through Social Marketing

By focusing on the emotional and psychological landscape we can develop "triggers" to engage a person with justifications to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Often, one of these triggers is not sufficient alone; we need to layer several triggers on top of each other in order to achieve lasting behavior change. We will explore a few of these triggers and explore how to scale them to wider populations.

Guest Presenter: Scott Ankeny, Founder of Going Green Today

Scott has 15 years experience working within the intersections of Sustainability, Conscious Business and Media.  Recently relocating to the DC area from Los Angeles, Scott has worked in the publishing and product development worlds as part of his dedication to building an environmentally sustainable world. 

He is the founder of GoingGreenToday.com.  GGT is an online tool that personalizes green coaching for the average citizen.  GGT is teaming with municipalities across the country to scale ecological behavioral change and foster environmental stewardship. Using the GGT platform and understanding the triggers of behavior change combined with social media, Scott and his team can teach anyone, anywhere how to save $2000 while reducing their carbon footprint by 1/3rd.

Register

 

Climate Change Gets Personal - My Sister's House is Lost in Black Forest Fire

For 20 years I have worked on the issue of climate change--mostly from the angle of energy efficiency.  I understand the severity of the crisis and the need for fast and significant action.  But it's been a bit abstract from a personal standpoint.  I was not one of the 20 million Pakistanis dislocated by the flooding there in 2010.  I don't live in parts of New Jersey or New York that were ravaged by Hurricane Sandy.

But now it's different. 
Last year the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs destroyed 346 homes.  The most destructive day of that fire occurred when Colorado Springs experienced its first 100-degree temperature in recorded history.  And there had been a 3-year drought at that point.  My brother is a firefighter in Colorado Springs, and he worked on the fire.

Exciting Endowments Seminar June 19

On June 19th, the Green Business Roundtable, in partnership with ISSP and SEI, will host a 1/2 day symposium:
Management of University Endowments in an Era of Climate Change


This Symposium features national experts in the areas of finance, corporate governance, university governance, venture funding, economics, and more.  This Symposium is the first of its kind to be held in our nation’s capital, bringing thought leaders and business leaders together in an exciting and dynamic discussion (see list of panelists below).

Registration information is here.


Who should attend?

• Professional money managers
• Policy makers, followers and influencers
• Investors
• College alumni who care about the future direction and financial condition of their institutions
• Students
• All with an interest in the intersection of climate change, sustainability and financial markets

Registration fees

• General admission: $69.
• ISSP members: $59.
• Students: $25 (must bring student ID to event)

Panelists/Speakers:

• Dan Apfel, Executive Director, Responsible Endowments Coalition, NYC
• Lee Coker, Project Manager, Corporate Partnerships Program, Environmental Defense Fund, NYC
• David Hales, President, Second Nature, and President Emeritus, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine 
• Bevis Longstreth, Former Commissioner, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; Retired Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP, NYC, and Trustee, New School University, NYC
• Nell Minow,Co- Founder, GMI Ratings, and Former President, Institutional Shareholder Services, Washington, DC
• Mark Orlowski, Founder, Responsible Endowments Coalition, and Founder and Current Executive Director, Sustainable Endowments Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Cameron Prell, Senior Counsel, McGuire Woods, Washington, D.C., Vice-Chair, American Bar Association’s Energy & Environmental Markets & Finance Committee, and International Environmental Law Committee; Board Member, UK-Based Climate Markets &  Investments Association

Symposium will be held in the conference room of Bingham McCutchen, 2020K St., NW, Washington DC.  Snacks and beverages will be provided.

Sponsors: DC Net Impact and Pax World Funds

Symposium will be followed by a Climatini reception and happy hour at the nearby Elephant & Castle

Lobos Creek and the Ansel Adams connection

This video was created and produced by a friend of mine, Michael Stewart, a few years ago.  It is still a very worthwhile use of 10 minutes.
It won the Tom's of Maine "River Stories" Award.

Enjoy!

George Will wrong again on climate change issue

Today's Washington Post included George Will's regular op-ed column.  Although the column's topic was not climate change, he couldn't help himself but to try to bring the issue up.  He has been wrong so much on climate change, it is surprising (and disheartening) that the Post keeps publishing his errors.  (For more on this topic, Joe Romm at Climate Progress has written quite a bit).

From today's column:

Often the goals government pursues by surreptitious indirection are goals that could not win legislative majorities — e.g., the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation of greenhouse gases following Congress’s refusal to approve such policies.

This statement is wrong in almost every way.  He has completely missed with all three branches of government.

Arlington County's new "wayfinding" signs going up.

Within the last two weeks or so, Arlington County has restarted its placement of signs along the multi-use trails.  I am very pleased to see that, for the most part, they meet the first and most important criterion of a sign--to tell you where you are.  My previous post on this issue criticizes "wayfinding" signs for not adhering to this extremely simple and common sense dictum.

I also blogged last year when the County piloted a few of these signs.  Based on what I am seeing, it seems some of the issues I raised are being noted.  So far, these signs are a big improvement over anything I have previously seen pretty much anywhere.

The Climatographers

I just came upon a blog written by long-time climate experts Mark Trexler and Laura Kosloff that I really like: The Climatographer.  I'm not sure why I haven't bumped into it earlier.  With their many years of experience and knowledge, they bring what I think is a very realistic view of the magnitude of the climate problem.

I have bookmarked the blog, and you should, too.

Why the KXL pipeline should not be approved

The EnergyCollective recently published a post (Why Should the Obama Administration Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline?) by John Miller.  His post, as the title indicates, analyzes various aspects of the KXL pipeline in depth and comes to the conclusion that the benefits are greater than the costs.

I disagree.