This Week in MCJ (9/12/20)
MCJ gets political! (tried not to, but the stakes are way too high)
Hey all,
Last week I wrote in this newsletter about the importance of the upcoming elections here in the US, from a climate standpoint, and in general. After I did that, Andrew Salzberg (from episode 118) reached out and asked me if I wanted to co-host an upcoming Clean Energy for Biden event. It was perfect timing, because I was feeling increasingly agitated that I wasn’t doing more for the upcoming elections. And as it turns out, the event is with a terrific group, featuring former MCJ guests, Saul and Jigar, as well as Robin and Alex, who haven’t been on the show yet, but really should be! It will be a fantastic discussion, and I encourage any and all of you who can make it (or who can’t!) to sign up! Four more years of Trump is just not an option that we can afford, especially when I continue to see news like this…
And like this…..
It would be amazing to have team MCJ make a big showing at this event, and thank you Andrew for making it happen! 💪
The other thing I wanted to bring up in this week’s newsletter is about MCJ values. We’ve been blown away by the abundance of member-led projects and ventures sprouting up in the MCJ community, it is truly special to see. They run the gamut from political activism to knowledge sharing to entrepreneurial pursuits, and they represent what MCJ is all about: channeling the passion and talent of motivated individuals to make a dent in the climate crisis together.
While the bulk of these projects and collaborations have been overwhelmingly positive, there have been a few instances recently where things haven’t necessarily gone quite as smoothly. We just wanted to take a minute to remind everyone about the importance of adhering to the MCJ Values and Community Guidelines, as a north star for how we should be engaging with other comunity members. Particularly the one about collaborative spirit, in order to foster an environment where individuals feel comfortable working with each other and projects are best positioned to succeed. Our expectation is that members act in good faith in their collaborations with others in the community and conduct themselves respectfully and transparently.
While it’s by no means the only example, “Project Chamath” was one of the more visible demonstrations in which members worked together collaboratively, putting the interests of the group ahead of those of any one individual. It’s one of the many examples of the MCJ community at its best, and we hope it serves as a beacon for how members pool their talents to tackle the many challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
Onwards we go! I feel incredibly honored to be on this journey with all of you, and remain a huge optimist that we can make a meaningful dent together.
Jason
📼Episodes
Here’s this week’s episode, in case you missed it.
Episode 121: Bryce Smith, Founder & CEO at LevelTen Energy
Described as a “Zillow for energy contracts,” LevelTen Energy provides a renewable energy procurement platform that connects corporations that have renewable energy goals with developers that want to build solar, wind and energy storage projects. LevelTen provides access to all the planned projects in the market as well as sophisticated data analysis to help corporations understand, compare, and select the best overall project for them. In addition, the company offers a team of industry experts and a range of software tools to manage the process from beginning to end, helping corporations achieve their goals faster and at less risk.
We have a great discussion in this episode about Bryce's career and experience, what brought him into the energy world, and what led him to founding LevelTen. We talk about the vision of LevelTen, the company’s origin story, the products they've had to date, and what types of things are coming next. And we have a great discussion about the energy marketplace and how the projects LevelTen facilitates are helping to usher the transition to renewable energy.
📼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 8: mobius with Co-Founder & CEO Tony Bova
mobius is a Knoxville, Tennessee-based startup that partners with companies generating organic waste on an industrial scale, and converts their waste into valuable chemicals and materials which it sells to manufacturers. The first technology that mobius is commercializing uses lignin, the primary waste produced by pulp and paper mills, to create biodegradable and compostable polymers and plastics for the agricultural industry. Today, there’s over a billion tons of organic waste produced in the U.S. each year from food, forestry, and agriculture. This produces an annual emissions footprint of 7 gigatons of CO2. By converting this waste into higher value chemicals and materials, mobius is helping to reduce that emissions impact. CEO & Founder, Tony Bova, walks me through a company overview and how his team is helping to make waste into a valuable resource.
👋 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.
Paul Cothenet: Originally from France, Paul is a U.S.-based software engineer, having originally pursued graduate studies in nuclear engineering and energy. With PM and CTO experience in B2B software, he’s looking for new opportunities in climate.
Anne-Marie Brest: Also originally from France and now U.S.-based, Anne-Marie is a life coach, who helps her clients move from “apathy to action” as it relates to climate change. Having studied electrical engineering and computer science at CalTech, she spent two decades in electronic design.
Arpit Soni: With a decade of experience in energy and climate, Arpit leads policy and regulatory development at the California Air Resources Board. As a regulator, he hopes to surface opportunities for the community to participate in public proceedings.
Kelly Davis: Based in Silicon Valley, Kelly serves as Assistant Director of Internships at Menlo College. Outside of work, she volunteers for the Environmental Programs Committee and hopes to inspire action among fellow educators toward the climate crisis.
Jeff Hillnbrand: Based in Denver, Jeff recently left a position at Scale AI to found Ambrook, an agtech / climate tech startup. He’s looking forward to meeting more founders working on sustainability and agtech!
Sam Dooman: The first-engineer at yoga-app, Down Dog, Sam is interested in connecting with others working on tackling emissions reduction and mitigating environmental disasters. He also is working on pulling more talent from consumer software into the climate space.
Rahul Gupta: Raised and based in the SF Bay Area, Rahul is a software engineer, who’s worked at Affirm and Okta. He’s looking to explore new ideas with others around carbon offsets and emissions tracking.
Shara Ticku: Founder & CEO of C16 Biosciences, Shara is working on using biotechnology to produce the first viable alternative to palm oil. She’s interested in connecting with future hires (she’s actively hiring), collaborators, and investors.
Clea Kolster: A chemical engineer by training, Clea is the Director of Science at Lowercarbon Capital. In this role, she is helping to grow an array of promising companies, focused on deploying carbon removal and reduction solutions.
María José Durán González: A biotech research student from Costa Rica, she’s currently working at CA-based startup, that’s working to develop a more environmentally friendly version of a popular beverage. She’s interested in meeting fellow MCJers and learning about their relationship with the beverage, which they’re working to reimagine.
Matt Hodges: Pursuing a master’s degree in finance and business analytics at Iowa’s Tippie College of Business, Matt is interested in renewable energy, impact capital, and sustainability. He’s looking forward to learning from others of diverse backgrounds and forming new relationships.
James Gordey: Working in product at RealWear in Portland, OR, James is eager to learn as much as possible about climate change with the hope of aligning his personal passions and skills towards new opportunities. Having ample startup experience, he’s interested in the chance to form new companies around climate.
Laurie Muzzy: A soil and water scientist based in NC, Laurie is interested in connecting with others working on carbon removal. In particular, she’s interested in speaking with those in agricultural policy and agtech.
Mehrad Yaghmai: Having recently returned to CA, Mehrad spent the past decade in Dubai, where prior to the pandemic he was working on a carbon offset program with Emirates Airlines. Focused on expanding his awareness of new ideas and solutions in climate, he’s interested in connecting with other members in the community.
A warm welcome to the MCJ Community!
🏗 What You’re Building
Projects and ventures being pursued by fellow MCJers.
“Decarbonizing Transportation” Newsletter
Former Head of Transportation Policy at Uber and a recent pod guest (Ep. 118), Andrew Salzberg recently launched a newsletter, “covering the race to zero in transportation greenhouse gas emissions.” Check it out by subscribing here! N.B. we’re thinking about creating an MCJ subgroup and Slack channel focusing on transportation and mobility; stay tuned.
🚀👩🏽🚀Aerospace Industry Vets in Climate
Inspired by MCJer Abhi Tripathi’s recent tweet, we’ve created a new #aerospace-vets channel to bring together those with current or former experience in aerospace who are interested in applying their skills toward climate.
This nascent community of MCJers currently consists of individuals who have experience at NASA and SpaceX. The channel is open to all with a similar background or who are interested in connecting with climate-motivated people that come from the aerospace industry.
💼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.
BD Manager at Overstory (U.S. based Remote) (job listing). You can learn more about Overstory on CTSS Ep. 4.
Head of Engineering, Customer Success Lead at Climate.ai (Remote) (careers page).
Head of Marketing at Climate Neutral (careers page).
Air Resources Engineer at California Air Resources Board in Sacramento, CA (job listing). This opportunity was shared by MCJer Arpit Soni, who welcomes anyone interested to DM him on Slack.
Data Scientist at Solar AI Technologies in Singapore (job listing). Co-Founder Bolong Chew invites those interested to email him at bolong AT getsolar DOT ai.
BD Manager at Myst AI in San Francisco, CA (job listing).
Var. Research Roles at C16 Biosciences in New York, NY (careers page).
Sr. Data Engineer at Cloud Agronomics in Boulder, CO (jobs listing).
Chemist at Thermulon in London, U.K. (job listing).
Associate at Princeville Capital in San Francisco, CA (PDF).
📢Climate News
Highlights of news this week related to climate change.
Marking a first, U.S. officials have approved a design for a small commercial nuclear reactor.
Following an earlier commitment by its rival Lyft, Uber announced the launch of Uber Green and a pledge to transition its ride-hail fleet to 100% electrical vehicles in the U.S., Canada, and the E.U. by 2030. Moreover, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi committed to ensuring the platform is zero-emissions by 2040.
As reported by The Washington Post, in a rare show of bipartisan support, the U.S. Senate has proposed a plan to slash by 85% hydrofluorocarbons emitted from refrigerators and air conditioners by 2035.
📰🎧Recommended Reading/Listening
Below are recently published articles and content that we find interesting and/or that were shared by fellow MCJers.
The New York Times: “Federal Report Warns of Financial Havoc From Climate Change”
Bloomberg: “Emissions Are Already Heading Back to Pre-Pandemic Levels”
The New York Times: “These Changes Are Needed Amid Worsening Wildfires, Experts Say”
🎟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.*
Incite Civics Presents "Are you #VoteReady?" and MCJ (Wednesday, September 16th at 2 PM EST)
Incite.org is inviting you to get educated and engaged with this election beyond the presidential bid. Let’s take some time to get smart about what’s on the ballot in November and why it matters. Hear about what we can each do to fix America, address the challenges we’re facing, and get our democracy working again. We’ll hear from a panel of experts working on the frontlines of campaigns, learn more about voting rights, and better understand down ballot initiatives. These aren’t fundraisers; they’re awareness-raisers. Please register here.
“The New Hydrogen Economy” Course Preview and Q&A (Thursday, September 17th at 12 PM EST)
You can learn more about the event and register for it here.
Clean Energy For Biden Presents: “#ClimateTech: A Conversation with VCs on Climate Innovation” (Thursday, September 17th at 5 PM EST)
Join Clean Energy for Biden on September 17th for #ClimateTech: A Conversation with VCs on Climate Innovation. This uniquely-formatted event brings together leading climate tech and clean energy VCs for discussion on how the investment landscape will change with a Joe Biden and Kamala Harris victory in November. You can learn more about the event and register for it here.
The Climate Cabinet 40: Maximize your Climate Impact this Election (Thursday, September 17th at 7 PM EST)
Looking for a big lever on climate action? Join this discussion to learn about Climate Cabinet Action Fund's analysis of races to support. Join us for a discussion of "The Climate Cabinet 40" - the highest stakes state-level races for climate advocates to support this election cycle. We'll walk through our analysis and how you can maximize your climate donations in this election. There will be plenty of time for Q&A! Register here.
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