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Week 1163

Justin and I flew back to SF from NYC on Tuesday. I got hit by jet lag surprisingly hard and wasn’t getting much sleep throughout this week. I spent most of my time this week reading about climate and catching up with friends before everyone heads home for the holidays.

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Climate readings:

On the flight home, I read through Dan Ashton’s blog and Chamath’s deep dive on the global energy transition. I highly recommend both; Ashton provides a beginner friendly introduction to climate tech and Chamath’s analysis of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) explains the new policies in an approachable manner.

I read through The Physics of Climate Change by Lawrence Krauss. Some key ideas he discusses are the correlation between CO2 buildup and rising temperatures, the science behind the greenhouse effect, and the implication of melting ice caps and rising sea levels. To put these ideas in context, he analyzes the effects of climate change through the lens of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. It’s a network of waterways that provides food and freshwater to a large region of Southeast Asia. Rising water levels will devastate the region with increased flooding and an irreversible saturation of saltwater. Some key statistics that Krauss highlights:

I also read Speed and Scale by John Doerr. It provides a high level overview of where emissions currently come from and what steps need to be taken to protect Earth from disastrous outcomes. Doerr advocates for a variety of actions ranging from policy to investment to grassroots movements. He highlights examples of entrepreneurs, activists, policymakers, and more who are working to improve our planet. The book is a great reference manual for what is happening in climate change as of 2021. I read a copy from the SF Public Library and will probably get my own copy if we decide to explore more in climate tech.

My current take on the climate space is that it’s important to understand what is going on, what are possible future outcomes, and how we can prepare for them. It’s hard to find trends that “don’t change” as Jeff Bezos famously said. Global warming, albeit a negative trend, is one that won’t change during my lifetime. The IRA will be around for at least a decade. There will be opportunities to work on reduction of warming and adaptation to new weather patterns, but I don’t know enough yet to figure out if there’s something I’m best positioned to work on. If we end up going deeper on this space, the next steps will be to talk to more folks working at the ground level like electricians, power plant operators, factory workers, farmers, etc.

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I’ve been thinking about how I can be better at supporting my friends during difficult times. A few friends recently shared how they were going through tough events, and I found myself uncertain on how to respond. I want to help them as best I can. I also realize it’s a sensitive situation, so I don’t want to say the wrong thing and make them feel worse. My default action has been to express my sympathy and to offer support if they need it. I then start to change the subject to distract them towards happier topics. But there must be something better than what I’m doing. Should I ask them more about the situation? Should I just ask them directly what I can do for them? I feel like these are the questions I should be asking but it’s difficult to actually do it in the moment.