This Week in MCJ (4/25/20)
News, help wanted, and other topics of note from the MCJ community.
This Week in MCJ is a free weekly email curating news, jobs, new MCJ episodes, and other noteworthy happenings in the MCJ community.
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Hey all,
Another week just flew right by. We’ve been busy here at MCJ, and continue to feel extremely fortunate that we have our health and that the nature of our work allows us to keep pushing forward during quarantine.
We’ve been continuing to sort through MCJ’s role now and in the future. We are realizing it is not just about finding a sustainable business model, it is also about honing in on what impact we aim to have in the long run, and putting together a plan to get there.
There are 4 key tenets that make the MCJ community special:
1) determination to tackle the problem of climate change
2) ambition to work on the most impactful stuff
3) optimism we can make a dent
4) collaborative spirit
Those tenets seem to resonate across and be embodied by both newcomers like me and climate veterans alike across a wide range of backgrounds. That connective tissue is the thing we believe makes MCJ most special, and as we look to the future, we want to define a model that enables us to grow the MCJ community, grow their engagement levels, and continue to add tools and services that help community members become more impactful in their efforts to help decarbonize the global economy.
We believe the way to do that is to differentiate between “participants” and “members” (placeholder words), and enable people to participate for free, like you all have been doing, in basic climate education and community, but to add a layer of more robust programs and services for members that help them 1) have access to more robust learning tools 2) make connections that are more valuable/targeted, and 3) have more continuity, efficiency, and personalization in their climate journeys along the way. We are beginning to define what a membership tier would look like, and what other types of offerings we could build to help make people’s climate journeys more efficient and effective.
I should add that a number of you have raised your hands to volunteer on helping us expand these efforts. One of the things very much on our minds is how to harness all of the energy and resources available to us from within the community, and do so in a way that is inclusive, effective, and equitable, and builds a better more productive experience for all. This is not my climate journey, it is OUR climate journey, and we want to go on it with you all together. When I look out into the future, while the details are still being fleshed out, it is really clear to me that we have the ingredients here to make a huge dent in this problem together over time.
This is just me thinking out loud here, but in the spirit of continuing to learn in public, we plan to be very transparent as we iterate our way through evolving MCJ, and very much want your input along the way. Your buy in and excitement for the future of MCJ will be essential to its success, and we know we have to earn it every step of the way.
Jason
…
(h/t Dustin Dolginow)
📼Episodes
Here’s this week’s episode you may have missed!
Episode 100: Bill Brady, Founder & CEO of Kula Bio
Kula Bio is a company producing biologically derived nitrogen fertilizer, produced by microbes, that addresses not only agricultural needs, but also serves to sequester carbon into the soil. Prior to founding Kula Bio, Bill was a Co-Founder of Monolith Materials where he remains on the board of directors and, before that, he spent 23 years at Cabot Corporation, the world's largest carbon black company. I really enjoyed this episode, as Bill is a longtime cleantech entrepreneur with both startup and big company experience, has tons of battle scars, but remains optimistic and committed to the category and mission. Newcomers like me have much to learn from the veterans like Bill, so I am so appreciate he was willing to come on the show 🙏
🏗 What You’re Building
Projects and initiatives from the community.
Joro, maker of an app that helps individuals live more sustainably, recently released an updated version of its app to help anyone take climate action. Sanchali Pal, Joro’s CEO and former guest on the podcast, made a request from fellow members of the MCJ community:
“If you have a moment, we’d love your feedback and ideas.
Download the new app and drop us a rating & review in the App or Play Store.
Give us feedback on Product Hunt.
It's by no means perfect or complete. We're working on updates as we speak - in the near term, a new "challenges" feature for sustainable habits and gamification. A few months out, we'll be making our carbon footprint estimates more accurate and granular. I'd love this community's ideas on what you'd want to see next.”
💼Jobs
Here are some jobs shared by members of the MCJ community that we think might be of interest to you.
Process Engineer, Strain Engineering Scientist & Summer Strategy Intern in NY, NY at C16 Biosciences (job page)
Digital Content Executive at Carbon Brief in London, UK (job description) (h/t Jade Read)
Founding Lead Engineer in Oakland, CA or Boulder, CO at Cooler (job description)
Sr. Software Engineer in Great Barrington, MA at Regen Network (job description)
VP of Hardware Engineering, VP SWE, Chief Architect, Mechanical Engineer in Boston, MA at Altus Thermal (job descriptions)
Dir. of Software Engineering in Louisville, CO at AMP Robotics (job description) (h/t Abe Yokell)
Interested in sharing a job with the community? Use the button below to let us know, or just post it in #climatejobs in the MCJ slack room.
🚨Talent For Hire!
H/T to Kristen Winzent, who shared that former employees of AV trucking startup Ike are in the market for new opportunities. The list of available hires run the gamut from software & hardware engineers, marketers, government affairs / policy specialists, recruiters, operation leads and more.
“If any of these folks are of interest, I can put you in contact with the company's recruiter who is working her best to place everyone with new opportunities” (if interested, contact Kristen in the Slack group)
Similarly, Kristen also mentioned that many former employees at Turo are seeking new opportunities. While she is not directly connected with the company, she’s happy to help route any inquiries.
📰Recommended Reading
Below are recently published articles and content that we find interesting and/or that were shared by fellow MCJers.
Shayle Kann: “What to build (climate edition)” (and related twitter thread)
In reaction to Marc Andreesen’s recently published essay, “It’s Time To Build,” Shayle double clicks on that topic for decarbonization and lays out a substantive roadmap of what we would build.
The New Yorker: “The Pandemic Isn’t a Black Swan but a Portent of a More Fragile Global System”
This piece offers a glimpse into the mind of famed scholar, writer and polymath, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, and his views on COVID-19 and the path forwards, as well as some of the inherent risks of the “too much connectivity” that comes with globalization. For anyone who has aspired to read his oft-quoted books (e.g. “The Black Swan,” “Skin in the Game,” “Antifragile), it provides a good primer to his many opinions and ideas, and some good food for thought in terms of the best ways to address a systems problem like climate change.
The New York Times: “The Meat Business, a Big Contributor to Climate Change, Faces Major Tests”
This article reports on how the meat industry, a big contributor to climate change, is being affected by COVID-19, the shifting economic landscape, and the rise of synthetic meat alternatives.
TechCrunch: “An LA-led, public-private partnership pitches a $150B green infrastructure package to Congress”
This article reports on a public and private sector partnership that is proposing to raise $150B as part of a green infrastructure package. According to the article, “The initiative reserves the largest cash pile for the development of electric charging infrastructure around the country.”
Politico: “What Covid Is Exposing About the Climate Movement:
Reflecting on the recent 50th anniversary of Earth Day, this article reports on how the narrative of the environmental movement has shifted from focusing on rectifying individual behavior to an emphasis on the systems challenges posed by government and corporations. The author’s main point is that, while getting governments and corporations to move is essential, consumer behavior change has an important role to play as well, as being shown by the current pandemic.
The New York Times: “A crash course on climate change, 50 years after the first Earth Day”
In honor of Earth Day, the NYT put out this comprehensive primer that captures the many facets of the climate change crisis. It’s a great read for anyone beginning their climate journey.
TIME: “Will Low Oil Prices Help or Hurt the Fight Against Climate Change? That Depends on Us”
Quick read on the low oil prices, and how they could affect the climate fight in the short and long-term.
🎟Events
Upcoming events organized or surfaced by your fellow MCJers.
Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning (April 26)
Climate Change AI will be hosting a five-day virtual event on climate change and machine learning. The main workshop is on April 26 (talks/panels/posters), and the program from April 27-30 will feature deep dives into specific sectors. All talks and panels will be live-streamed for free via the workshop website; registration is required to participate actively in Q&As, poster sessions, and the conference messaging app. (h/t Amy Wang)
👉Interesting
Shopify launches “Offset” to help its merchants mitigate the impact of shipping emissions
In exciting news, Shopify Founder & CEO, Tobi Lutke, recently announced the launch of an app called Offset, that will enable Shopify’s merchants to monitor and mitigate the emissions impact of their shipping activities.
A brief summary of how it works is provided below (you can learn more about it here).
“Every month, Offset calculates the total emissions generated by your shipped orders, and that number becomes your monthly Offset cost. The price is low—a few cents or less per order—and your Offset payments go towards forest protection initiatives. Charges will appear on your monthly Shopify bill, and you can opt out at any time.”
Thanks for reading, everyone! As always, feedback welcome. Stay safe and sane, and keep up the climate fight! Our work is more important than ever.
Jason