This Week in MCJ (8/15/20)
Rolling, rolling, rolling.
Hey all,
This week for me was definitely fund-focused, as I mentioned last week. The good news is the investor appetite is strong. I have lots of soft-circle commits from some great places (just a few samples in those links), and it is clear the capital will be there to get going. Now I’m busy working through the details (which is a lot of work, especially as a new fund mgr, for a new type of vehicle that not a lot of people understand yet!), so I can officially launch the fund and prep to begin investing for the October 1 quarterly cycle (every quarter of investing is technically done out of a new fund with the rolling fund structure). Legally, the fund will be in a separate entity from MCJ. But philosophically, all of these efforts are deeply intertwined. If done right, the fund will both make the value prop of being in the MCJ community stronger, and also help us collectively to have a bigger impact on addressing the problem of climate change. I’m new to this and trying to be as transparent as possible, so when I have more info, I will share it.
The second thing on my mind this week is an initiative we are starting to pilot in a few of the regions, around the world. Some brave volunteers have emerged that expressed interest in helping grow their regional MCJ communities, with more of a local focus in terms of programming and connective tissue. This means the regional lead is doing the recruiting, vs the content-led entry point that most of you have come in through. We are doing small pilots of this in a handful of regions, and we will see how it goes. But if it goes well, could be a way to accelerate growth without compromising quality, provide a more region-specific focus to complement our centralized global one, and help turn more MCJ members into creators, not just consumers! The key to a thriving community is a participatory one. This quote comes to mind:
Have a great week!
Jason
📼Episodes
Here’s this week’s episode, in case you missed it.
Episode 116: Philip Behn, CEO of Imperfect Foods
Imperfect Foods is an online grocer on a mission to eliminate food waste and build a better food system for everyone. They do this by sourcing “imperfect” and surplus produce and shelf-stable goods directly from farmers, growers, and food purveyors, and delivering them directly to customers through a subscription that's often 20% - 30% less than traditional grocery store prices. Phillip has over 19 years experience as a retail executive, including ten building and running online grocery businesses for Walmart in the U.S., Mexico and China. I didn't know much coming in about food waste or how big of a problem it is for the climate fight.
It turns out that it's a really big deal: 30% of food produced globally is wasted every year. In the U.S., that's more than 40%! Project Drawdown lists reducing food waste as the number three action item (out of 80) to the tune of more than 70 gigatons of carbon reduction. And that's not including any number of other food-related solutions on the list.
There are also studies that indicate as much as 11% of greenhouse gas emissions could be eliminated, if food waste were brought to zero. We have a great discussion in this episode, and I'm excited for you to hear it.
📼Climate Tech Startup Series (CTSS)
MCJ has launched a new series for members, where we feature founders of early-stage companies, sharing their startup’s business and mission. Members can check out our other episodes below and find an updated list here.
CTSS Episode 4: Indra Den Bakker of Overstory
Overstory is an Amsterdam-based company that is helping electric utilities, forestry companies and NGOs manage the risk of forest fires posed by the proximity of power lines, trees and vegetation. It has developed machine-learning software that leverages satellite technology to identify areas of greatest risk, a task which typically requires four years to scan an entire grid and is usually performed manually by helicopters and more recently drones. CEO & Co-Founder, Indra Den Bakker walks me through the company's business model and mission.
I enjoyed learning about Overstory, and I hope you do too!
N.B. Overstory is hiring for many technical positions based in Amsterdam as well as a U.S.-based BD lead to spearhead its go-to-market expansion (see Climate Jobs below).
⚖️ Climate Justice: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
MCJer Maki Tazawa recently created the #dei-climatejustice Slack channel to bring together other members in the community to discuss the important topic of diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI). Her interest in this topic has been echoed by other members, who have also raised ideas and opportunities for not only learning more about DEI as it relates to climate change, but also how members can foster DEI within the MCJ community. We look forward to the discussions and initiatives that come out of this new channel and invite interested members to join.
🏗 What You’re Building
Projects and ventures being pursued by fellow MCJers.
Climate Changemakers: Supporting Pro-Climate Candidates This Election Season
Having organized a wonderful series of events this summer focused on the importance of the upcoming election season on climate change (e.g. “Elections as a Lever on Climate Action”), MCJer Eliza Nemser announced the launch of Climate Changemakers, a nonpartisan community action network. With the aim of mobilizing political action to address climate change, the group is focused on supporting pro-climate candidates running for office this fall. For those interested in getting involved, you can sign up here. You can also follow the discussion on the MCJ Slack.
💪 Support From MCJers
A number of MCJers have expressed interest in providing various forms of support to those who may need it. You can inquire about the offers by DMing the members below in the MCJ Slack.
Sales / Strategy / BD Consulting (Bob Wilson)
Sustainability Lifestyle Consulting (Oakley J Fast)
💼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.
Business Development Manager (U.S. GTM Lead) at Overstory in U.S. Remote (job listing). CEO & Co-Founder and recent CTSS guest, Indra Den Bakker, invites interested applicants to reach out to him at indra AT overstory DOT ai.
Postdoctoral Researcher, Physical Climate Risk at Niskanen Center in Washington, D.C. (job listing)
Sales Dir., Proj. Manager, Dir. of Engineering at Propagate Ventures (Remote) (careers page)
Business Development at Upstream Tech (Remote) (job listing). Founder Marshall Moutenot notes that the role would be working on the new HydroForecast product.
CTO (full-stack developer), Chief Sustainability Officer at neuterra (Remote) (CTO listing; CSO listing).
📢Climate News
Highlights of news this week related to climate change.
As of this writing, the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) is expected to roll back Obama-era protections on methane pollution, a major GHG emission. The weakening of E.P.A. standards regulating pollution has been a consistent trend during the Trump Administration, which according to The New York Times has reversed rules on pollution emitted from coal-fired power plants and automotive vehicles.
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that OPEC has experienced a decline in oil demand of 9% from this time last year, as a result of the pandemic. Despite 2020 demand proving to be worse than anticipated, OPEC is still forecasting a “record-breaking rebound in 2021.”
The WSJ also reported that, amid state-specific regulation and the decline for gas and oil, U.S. oil refineries are shifting to renewables. It cited Philips 66’s $800 million transformation project of its San Francisco-area oil plant which will be repurposed to refine “renewable diesel.” A biofuel replacement for conventional diesel, renewable diesel, which is made of vegetable oil and animal fat, emits less GHG and soot.
📰🎧Recommended Reading/Listening
Below are recently published articles and content that we find interesting and/or that were shared by fellow MCJers.
Bill Gates: “COVID-19 is awful. Climate change could be worse.”
Credited for bringing early-attention to the impending threat of a crippling pandemic, Bill Gates recently blogged about how climate change represents a human and economic disaster at magnitudes far exceeding what has resulted from COVID-19.
The New York Times: “Global Warming Could Unlock Carbon From Tropical Soil”
The results of an experiment, recently published in the journal Nature, raised an unsettling finding: “hotter soils released 55 percent more planet-warming carbon dioxide than did nearby unwarmed areas.”
Vox: “How to drive fossil fuels out of the US economy, quickly”
This article speaks to how the U.S. has all the resources to decarbonize fully by 2035; however, it requires full-scale mobilization.
🎟Climate Events
As a reminder, we have a new 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.
First Meeting of MCJ Midwest Region (TBD)
MCJer Nikodem Pancewicz mentioned that the Midwest regional community will be hosting its first meeting sometime the week of August 24th. You can learn more by joining the #midwest channel on the MCJ Slack and voting for your preferred time.
MCJ Town Hall (Friday, August 28th, 4 PM EST)
We’re hosting our monthly town hall to discuss updates and feedback from the community. If you’ve been following along with the newsletter, you know that much has happened since our last town hall and this forum provides an opportunity to discuss a variety of topics of your choosing among members of the community. This event is intended for MCJ Members; if you would like a calendar invite, please drop us a note.
This Week in MCJ is a free weekly email curating news, jobs, new MCJ episodes, and other noteworthy happenings in the MCJ community.
📨If someone forwarded this to you, sign up!
🙋🏽♀️If you have feedback or items you’d like to include, feel free to reach out.
👂Check out the MCJ podcast
🌳Become an MCJ member
👤View the MCJ Member Directory