This Week in MCJ (1/30/21)
This Week in MCJ (1/30/21)
Civilian Climate Corps, (de)carbon(ization) jobs at Apple, and some new MCJ initiatives!
Hey Everyone,
Well, GameStop may have hogged the mainstream news this week, but there were actually some pretty cool developments in the climate world! Here are a few things I saw that made me think:
1) POTUS announced a Civilian Climate Corps! This actually has me really excited, because not only does it give young people an outlet who feel desperate to do SOMETHING, but this experience will stay with them in all they do for the rest of their lives, and have compounding benefits for the greater good.
2) A job posting from Apple for a Carbon Project Manager! There is a whole set of skill sets that these big companies will need to fundamentally transition how they do things, and new jobs will be created, new skillsets will be needed, and these people will need to get educated and trained somewhere. Lots of opportunities for impact and profit!
3) Ilan Gur, the CEO of Activate (and MCJ pod alum!) had a great Twitter thread on how to recreate the tight connection that existed in the Bell Labs days between fundamental research and application. It is so important that we do so, and Ilan lays out some compelling ideas for how we get there!
4) This is an MCJ-specific one, but we currently have the main MCJ pod and the Startup Series, but there are a couple of new initiatives we are working on. One is a third content pillar we are tentatively calling Climate Careers, focused on helping people who want to transition into working on climate build bridges to do so more effectively. The second is a new interview format we are working on called MCJ Live, which will live on Clubhouse, enable people to listen to our hosted discussions as we have them, and interact digitally as if they were in the live studio audience in a pre-COVID world. Not a replacement for the traditional pod format, but a complement for q&a with pod guests after they have been on the show, breaking news that is moving too quickly for our scheduled content calendar, and/or perhaps smaller, more intimate sessions for MCJ members, as well! More details to come on both fronts in the coming weeks.
5) And lastly, this tiktok below from Isabelle Boemeke made my whole week. It is so different than how I have seen anyone else try to educate people on the nuances of the clean energy transition. No idea if it will work, but the culture of experimentation should be embraced! I truly believe the magic sits at the intersection of brand new, fresh, bold thinking and the foundational knowledge that comes from decades of experience. Here’s to the crazy ones!
Have a great week, everyone.
Jason
🎧 Episodes
Here’s this week’s episode, in case you missed it.
Episode 141: John Lochner, VP of Innovation at NYSERDA
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is a government agency focused on clean energy and energy innovation. With a team of around 350 people, it supports clean solutions through catalytic capital and public policies.
In this episode, John and I explore what led him to focus on energy, his role on the innovation team, and NYSERDA's charter. He also explains where he sees the biggest levers for change, what role the government should play in the energy transition, and why New York state is a pioneer in this space. John is a great guest who sits at the forefront of the green revolution!
📼Startup Series
As the MCJ team works through refreshing our longer-term content strategy, we will be releasing the audio from some of the prior Startup Series episodes on Thursdays.
Startup Series Episode 26: Wright Electric with Founder and CEO, Jeff Engler
Wright Electric is accelerating the transition to zero-emission aviation by building the world's largest electric airplanes. Founder and CEO, Jeff Engler, takes me through his path to zero-emission aviation, why he started Wright Electric, and how the landscape has changed. We also discuss the many critics of electric airplanes, what sets Wright Electric apart, and the industry's future. Jeff and his team are tackling one of climate change's biggest problems. It was great to have him join me this week!
💸Climate Tech Funding
Sunlight Financial, a financing firm for home solar systems, has agreed to go public by merging with Apollo-backed Spartan Acquisition Corp II SPRQ.N in a $1.3 billion deal. Check out the full article here.
Robert Downey Jr. announced the launch of two venture capital funds focused on startups in the sustainability sector, the latest evolution of a project he launched two years ago called Footprint Coalition.
Microsoft has released a white paper detailing its first carbon removal investments as it strives to wipe out historic emissions. It includes a mix of BECCs, DAC, forestry offsets (voluntary & California compliance), soil & biochar. You can find a link to it in James Temple’s tweet here.
🎓Alumni News
MCJ Alum and Managing Director at Obvious Ventures, Andrew Beebe, started in cleantech in 2003, back when "climate change" was a thermostat setting. Check out this great article he wrote on the wave taking shape this time, and how it is different. We Have Entered the Climate Decade. If you want learn more about Andrew Beebe, check out his conversation with Jason in Ep. 30.
Sila Nanotechnologies, a next-generation battery materials company, announced that it raised $590 million Series F funding at a $3.3 billion post-money valuation. Coatue led the round with significant participation by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. If you want to learn more about Sila Nanotechnologies, check out these two MCJ episodes with CEO, Gene Berdichevsky (Ep. 117 & Ep. 65).
👋 Welcome New MCJers!
Below are new members who joined the community and introduced themselves in the past week. You can learn more about them on #introductions, where you can welcome them to the community.
Colyn Montgomery: Colyn works in business product marketing for a large tech company. He is feeling increasingly worried about climate and excited to learn more about how he can impact the problem.
Jie Cai: A growth data analyst/data scientist at Robinhood, Jie is interested in the intersection of sustainability with data and investing. She is looking forward to being part of the community.
Chris Cusack: Chris is an advisor at Silicon Foundry, specifically in technology and venture capital. He is interested in how the private sector can be impactful in the climate fight and learning more from folks in MCJ.
Elizabeth Minchew: Elizabeth is part of the Climate Business Department at IFC at the World Bank Group. She is excited to connect with more members.
Amy Francetic: Managing director of Buoyant Ventures, Amy is excited to be part of the community.
Neeka Mashouf: Neeka is the founder of Rubi Labs with a background in Materials Sciences. She is looking forward to meeting and learning from the community.
Arthur Crawshay: Based in London, Arthur works a Lekela Power, a platform focused on developing and operating wind farms across Africa. He is excited to compare climate notes with MCJ.
Raj Daniels: Ray is the host of Bigger Than Us, a podcast, and Director of Strategic Partnerships and Sustainability Initiatives at Nexus PMG.
Andrew Savage: Andrew leads sustainability at Lime. He is excited to be part of MCJ.
Nick Stowe: Nick is a technology executive in State Government but is interested in transition to climate. He is looking forward to meeting more MCJers.
Daniel Glasser: A tech startup executive with government and policy experience, Daniel is looking to get more involved in climate.
Sandy Lacey: Sandy is interested in public health and climate as well as investing. She has worked at the Mass Clean Energy Center and spent the last for years in financial services. Sandy is excited to be part of the community.
Miles Abarr: Miles is the chief engineer at a company developing new carbon capture and energy storage technologies. He is excited to be part of the MCJ community and learn from fellow members.
Greg Tully: Intersted in climate analytics, especially pricing climate risk, Greg is eager to join MCJ and meet more folks.
Christian Weber: Christian works to fund projects to reduce GHG emission and transition the economy to a lower carbon one with the Government of Canada. He is excited to be part of the community.
Jared Hecht: A tech entrepreneur and investor who founded two companies (GroupMe and Fundera), Jared is relatively new to climate but inspired by MCJ and excited to jump in.
Nathan Iyer: Nathan is an associate at the Rocky Mountain Insitute, focusing on building light software model to support climate policy. He is looking forward to being part of this community as it gives him more hope we can get to net-zero.
Joaquin van Peborgh: Joaquin founded a few tech startups in Fintech and Management Consulting. He is looking for opportunities in climatetech in carbon removal and ocean farming.
Nestor Grace: A Systems Engineer for a self-driving car startup in the bay area, Nestor wants to focus on high impact climate projects. He is excited about energy, agriculture, and environmental justice.
Bumjoo Maclennan: Bumjoo is in hotel real estate investments on the corporate side. She started her climate journey a year and a half ago and she is interested in regenerative agriculture. Bumjoo is looking forward to learning from the MCJ community.
💼Climate Jobs
Here are some jobs shared by members of the MCJ community that we think might be of interest to you. Many of these opportunities and the MCJers who shared them can be found in #climatejobs in the MCJ Slack. Check out this google doc for the jobs from this week!
📰🎧Recommended Reading/Listening
Below are recently published articles and content that we find interesting and/or that were shared by fellow MCJers.
The Guardian announced General Motors plans for all electric cars by 2035. It aims to be carbon neutral by 2040 as Biden pushes for electric vehicles.
Apolitical details 100 Climate Policy Breakthroughs. This list showcases climate policies that have demonstrated the potential for scalability and effective change, and highlights the real people behind them.
From The New York Times, BlackRock Chief Pushes a Big New Climate Goal for the Corporate World. Larry Fink is using his firm’s huge influence to pressure companies to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
📌Community Board
News from members of the MCJ Community. MCJers mentioned can be DMed in the MCJ Slack.
Brendan Loudermilk, founder of Climatescape, is seeking candidates for a Junior Analyst internship position (to start ASAP). The role is a 3-month part-time remote volunteer position with the possibility to transition to a paid opportunity.
🎟Climate Events
As a reminder, we have a MCJ Events Calendar, where you can view and post events for the rest of the MCJ community to attend. When posting an event, please refer to this checklist.
*We’re highlighting a few upcoming events below; please refer to the events calendar for a complete list.*
Previous
MCJ Town Hall (1/29/21)
Thank you to those who attended 2020’s final MCJ Town Hall. For those that were not able to attend, you can view a recording here. During the town hall, we discussed a number of topics including the future of MCJ in 2021.
Upcoming
Meet-a-MCJer via Icebreaker (Friday February 5th @ noon ET)
We’re hosting an Icebreaker for members of the MCJ community. Come join us for several rounds of casual 1:1 conversations with a fellow MCJ Member whom you have not met. Each round of conversation is 10 minutes and there’s fun questions to help break the 🧊! RSVP by dropping us a note.
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