Welcome to the GWG
Dear Reader,
Thanks for signing up! As most of you know, I recently left my job to pursue a sustainability-focused startup. The business I am working on has ambitions far beyond this humble newsletter but the work is open-ended and progress seems to happen in fits-and-spurts. With restored control over my days I have been trying to make the most. I’ve always loved reading and writing and figure the only way to get better as a writer is to practice. So here goes nothing!
A bit of background
The Greenwash Gazette will be a weekly newsletter focused on climate change and sustainability. This will not be one of those scary, we are all going to die newsletters. I hope to appeal to the climate-curious as much as the climate-warrior.
The GWG will hit your inbox around lunch time on Friday with the intention of being for that afternoon or sometime over the weekend. This is going to be an evolving project but my intention is to curate a thoughtful discussion around an important and complicated issue. I want this to be friendly and informative, and am happy to play around with different formats and ideas. With that in mind, I am hoping to get feedback so please feel free to call, text, or email with suggestions any time (after 12pm EST of course).
The GWG will follow a few simple principals:
amplify companies, individuals, events, and policies striving to make a positive impact
create accountability for those whose actions do align with their words
share interesting work from others
good vibes only
A quick note on the name
Greenwash [noun]: disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image.
This is basically the antithesis of our values. And I recognize the contradiction, but you know what, I like the name and think Greenwash Gazette is catchy, so I really don’t care. Maybe I’ll change it one day, but for now, let’s just say the name is because us GWGers intend to call attention to greenwashing.
Amplify
If you become a regular reader here, you are going to become familiar with Bloomberg Green. While I don’t love everything they do, I think it is a net positive and is a valuable piece of the news economy. I particularly liked this recent article about electrifying homes in the U.S. (Spoiler Alert - this may be a recurring topic around here…)
I’m not much of a social media person but it seems at least some of the kids are alright. This piece from Wired details the growing climate-change conversation on TikTok, promotes some particularly viral content, and asks the hard questions like how to draw the line between “activism” and “raising awareness”. Worth a read.
Create Accountability
Wall Street is rarely the good guy in the media but recently companies like Blackrock have seen favorable press as they appear to the lead the charge on sustainable investing. Not so fast writes Tariq Fancy, the former chief investment officer for Sustainable Investing at BlackRock. In a piece for USA Today, he claims,
In truth, sustainable investing boils down to little more than marketing hype, PR spin and disingenuous promises from the investment community. In many instances across the industry, existing mutual funds are cynically rebranded as “green” — with no discernible change to the fund itself or its underlying strategies — simply for the sake of appearances and marketing purposes.
Look - finance people are gonna be finance people. Not much you can do. While this totally sucks to hear from someone on the inside, I choose to see this as a positive and believe it means that if someone presents a legitimately green investment opportunity, Wall Street will jump at it. (Spoiler Alert #2 - this may also be a recurring topic)
Speaking of investors, earlier this week, Warren Buffett urged shareholders to reject a proposal that would require annual reporting about Berkshire’s efforts to address climate change. I guess this is to be expected from a guy who bet $4bn on an oil company in 2021. Not saying I am surprised, just disappointed.
GWG Book Club
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster - Bill Gates
Would it be a climate newsletter if I didn’t reference Bill Gates’ latest book? No one can have all the answers on how to solve climate change but Bill certainly tries. I actually didn’t love this as a how-to guide but instead for his framework of thinking. He acknowledges that small choices by individuals are not going to save us since the forces of climate change are all around us and after all, this is water. He reminds us of the scale of the problem and where change will really come from with the constant question - what about cement. He also challenges convention with his view on plastic where he notes that while plastic is definitely polluting the ocean, in terms of global warming, plastic is actually a relatively effective and long term carbon storage system. Interesting food for thought.
Overall, this is a very approachable read that would make a good gift for the climate-conscience reader in your life.
This has nothing to do with climate change, but I make the rules around here and I absolutely loved this book. I don’t want to give anything away so just take my word for it and give it a try. If you read the first 5 pages and aren’t hooked I will give you some free GWG swag or something (for the lawyers in the group, that is not a legally binding offer).
Retail Therapy
I am most definitely here for the growing trend of turning classic cars into electric vehicles. A few favorites from Jaguar, VW and Range Rover.
Last week, digital artist Beeple sold a piece of digital art for $69 million (!!) as an NFT. One day I am going to sell a copy of this first edition Greenwash Gazette as an NFT. I just need to figure out what an NFT is first.
That’s All Folks!
I want to keep this (somewhat) brief so will end here. Going forward, I will probably share more articles and maybe some longer format pieces but the intro ate up my word count. Don’t worry though, as those who know me are aware, I always have more to say!