Insurance companies are raising premiums to offset costs of extreme weather events — these maps reveal the most vulnerable states
Sara Klimek – October 11, 2023
Being a homeowner in 2023 is already challenging, from a high cost of living to a lack of affordable housing in the real estate market. But thanks to extreme weather events, owning (and insuring) a home is becoming even more expensive.
When an individual purchases insurance, the company bets on the idea that it will make more money off the deal than it will pay out. But in an unstable climate in which severe weather events are becoming more and more common, insurance companies are in a losing battle. To offset the costs, the companies raise the premiums, meaning that homeowners will pay more for policies than ever before.
A set of maps created by Axios with data from a First Street Foundation study reveals that about 12 million properties across the country should expect possibly higher insurance premiums because of flooding, 24 million because of possible wind damage, and about 4.4 million because of wildfire risk. Areas with the most flood, wildfire, and wind risk are expected to see the highest bumps — including vulnerable states like the Carolinas, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and California.
About 640,000 of these price hikes are expected to impact those with delinquent mortgages, increasing the risk of default.
Many insurance companies across the United States have announced that they will be increasing their rates — or backing out of insuring policyholders altogether because of the higher risk proposed by climate change.
Farmers Insurance joined three other insurance companies in announcing that it will not offer policies to residents living in Florida as of July 2023. Similarly, State Farm announced it would not cover new policyholders in California, which has made it more difficult for homeowners to find insurance — let alone affordable policies.
However, the rate hikes (and impending danger of human-caused weather events) have not discouraged some from flocking to disaster-prone areas; Redfin reported a 103% increase in immigration to these areas between 2019 and 2020, as Bloomberg reported.
Some states have instituted policies to cap rate hikes to stop insurance hikes. The California state law, for example, forbids private insurance companies from raising rates more than 7% annually — but public insurance companies do not share the same standard.
California also announced that it will allow companies to factor climate risks into policy prices, which was made to prevent companies from leaving the state. However, there is very little protection for homeowners on these price hikes otherwise.
Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.
Breast cancer rates are rising. But more women are surviving too
Julia Manchester – October 11, 2023
(The Hill) – Tammy Moyle’s annual mammogram in March was clean. But then she discovered a small lump a few months later. The diagnosis came in August. It was early-stage invasive lobular carcinoma, an aggressive form of breast cancer that’s treatable if caught early enough.
Because it was caught so early, the 45-year-old mother of three said doctors told her there’s a 96 percent cure rate. She will need 12 weeks of chemotherapy, and will also be taking an infusion drug called Herceptin for the next nine months.
“If I had to get cancer, like God forbid anyone ever gets cancer, but if I had to get cancer, I feel like this is the time to have it. You know, we have so many advancements. I feel really hopeful about my outcome,” Moyle said.
Moyle’s experience captures both the exasperation and optimism in the battle against breast cancer. While rates continue to creep up year-on-year, particularly among younger women, evolutions in diagnostics and treatment mean breast cancer patients face far better prospects than ever before.
Rapid drug development, personalized screening recommendations, targeted therapies and new treatments like immunotherapies have all helped women diagnosed with early stage and even metastatic breast cancer.
“We’re increasingly more specific, personalized, individualized about the type of treatment that we can offer patients and the lines of treatment that they can have,” said Elizabeth Comen, a breast oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Breast cancer accounts for 31 percent of all cancers in women, the most common type, according to the American Cancer Society. Nearly 300,000 women will likely be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023. It will likely kill about 43,000 of them.
Despite the scientific advances, declines in mortality have slowed in recent years, and incidence rates have been slowly increasing by about 0.5 percent per year since the mid-2000s, according to the American Cancer Society.
This rise in diagnoses is due in part to more women having obesity, having fewer children, or having their first baby after age 30, the organization said. It may also be because of lower rates of screening.
While a breast cancer diagnosis is rare for women under 40, it is the leading cause of all cancer deaths in women between the ages of 20 and 49. And the diagnoses among those younger women are rising.
“There’s definitely a stigma around breast cancer like you don’t need to worry about it until you’re 40 or over, but that’s definitely not the case,” said Brianna Osofisan, 26, who was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer when she was 21 years old and heading into her senior year of college.
“It was definitely very unexpected, especially being a senior in college and trying to figure out my plans after graduation and then having to deal with the weekly doctor appointments and treatment on top of that,” she said.
A study published in JAMA Network Open in August showed all cancers are on the rise for younger women, particularly those younger than 50.
“This is not just because we’re screening women earlier because frankly, we don’t have guidelines for screening women earlier. They are being diagnosed more and they are being diagnosed with more aggressive cancers,” Comen said. “I cannot more passionately or emphatically state that this is an area of research that absolutely must improve. We need to address this unmet need.”
William Dahut, chief scientific officer of the American Cancer Society, noted the risk of breast cancer is significantly higher among older women, and while the absolute numbers of younger women being diagnosed are relatively low, they are undeniably increasing.
“We’re seeing similar trends in other cancers, colorectal cancer, for example, too. So there is something going on, which is increasing cancer in younger patients,” Dahut said.
Screening mammograms are only recommended for women between the ages of 40 and 74. Experts say there isn’t enough evidence of benefit or cost effectiveness in screening women younger than 40. There are also concerns over potential harms of screening, including the psychological toll of false positives.
Ann Patridge, an oncologist and founder of Dana Farber Cancer Institute’s Program for Young Adults with Breast Cancer, said America will likely move toward population-based screening for cancer predisposing genes.
However, that carries its own complications — such as forcing young women to decide whether to remove their ovaries or breast based on statistical guesses about their chances of getting cancer. And even if they are high risk, those prevention options are likely not going to be palatable for young women.
There’s a growing group of experts and advocates who want more research into lowering the recommended age of breast cancer screenings.
The recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) for women to start mammograms at 40 is only a draft, and was released earlier this year. Prior to that, USPSTF called for women with an average risk of breast cancer to begin screening at age 50.
Tari King, chief of the division of breast surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said she was happy to see the recommended age lowered to 40, but highlighted that some women need to start even earlier.
“What we need to recognize is that if the first time that you’re talking to your doctor about your breast cancer risk is at the age of 40, that’s probably too late,” King said.
King said younger women should have conversations with their primary care doctors or OB-GYNs about topics like family history of breast cancer and lifestyle habits that could be putting them at increased risk. Providers can then use that information to help determine whether starting screening earlier would be beneficial.
“Getting risk assessments early will allow us to identify women who may actually need to start screening before the age of 40,” King said.
Experts said there are different clinical considerations for younger women than older women, particularly around fertility.
But preserving the ability of a young woman to have children isn’t always an option.
Lourdes Monje, who was diagnosed at 25 years-old and is living with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, said she is going through chemical menopause, so can’t become pregnant.
“When you become pregnant, your body produces a ton of estrogen and that’s the last thing that we would want to do for my type of cancer because my cancer feeds on estrogen,” she said.
Patients with metastatic cancer cannot currently be cured, but there have been new drugs approved and new clinical trials, so when one treatment stops working, they can move to another. Eventually though, they will likely exhaust options.
Monje said that her diagnosis and treatment has shifted her own perspective on what’s next in life.
“Even though my doctor told me what side effects to expect, I don’t think I was quite prepared for the emotional part of it,” she said. “I process my emotions very differently than I used to and I think that was very hard for me to deal with because I felt like I didn’t know myself for a long time.”
There have also been research advances into the genetics of cancer, though the field is still evolving. Genetic counseling and genetic testing can help identify a person’s risk, and whether they have the breast cancer gene (BRCA) and other gene mutations.
Alejandra Campoverdi decided to get tested for the BRCA gene because of her family history. Her mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and two aunts were all diagnosed with breast cancer.
“When I came up positive, it wasn’t a huge surprise but I realized there was something I could do preventative about it,” said Campoverdi, who was 38 at the time.
She went on to have a double mastectomy, during which doctors caught an early-stage, non-invasive breast cancer. Campoverdi said the experience led to her work in breast cancer advocacy, particularly focused on the Latino community.
Campoverdi noted how there is a lack of Spanish-language material on breast cancer prevention or advocacy in the space targeted toward Latinas, despite breast cancer being the leading cause of death for Hispanic women, according to the Mayo Clinic.
She has since co-produced a documentary on BCRA and hereditary cancer and launched the Latinx and BRCA initiative at the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
Experts and survivors strongly encourage women of all ages, particularly young women less familiar with breast cancer prevention, to get into the regular habit of practicing self-exams.
“For an average risk young woman, we recommend sticking to physical exam and being aware of one’s breast health and how one’s breasts feel, and to bring any concerning signs and symptoms…to medical attention,” Partridge said.
Among the signs and symptoms to look out for: breast lumps that get bigger or don’t go away with a menstrual cycle, discolored/bloody nipple discharge, skin rash/dimpling, or a lump in the underarm.
However, some younger women who were eventually diagnosed with breast cancer say that they felt their concerns were often brushed off by their medical providers.
Meghan McCallum was 32 when she was first diagnosed in 2019. She suspected something was off after a self-examination that year, but it took until Christmas to get an official diagnosis.
“I had a gut feeling,” McCallum said. “I felt confident in my knowing that something wasn’t right with body. That was just the very beginning of what ended up being a very unfortunately long process of getting a correct diagnosis.”
Most doctors told McCallum she was too young to have breast cancer, or likely had a benign breast tumor known as a fibroadenoma.
“It took a lot of visits and calling out doctors again and again to be taken seriously to get a correct diagnosis,” she said. “There were all of these things that I just had never experienced before and I didn’t have the self-advocacy tool in my toolbelt to really think about this from that lens of maybe my doctors are wrong and what if this is actually cancer.”
While much of the advocacy around breast cancer continues to focus on older patients, more groups are geared toward younger generations.
Osofisan, Monje, and McCallum are part of the Young Survival Coalition, an international organization aimed at supporting people who have been diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 40.
“Now that I’m in it, I do meet a lot more people and I also meet a lot of young people who had a similar situation to me,” Monje said. “One of the first things I had trouble with was finding people like me, but that’s how I wound up at Young Survival Coalition.”
While genetic testing and screening can help, sometimes a cancer diagnosis comes seemingly out of nowhere.
Elissa Kalver, 36, was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer when she was 34, shortly before her daughter’s first birthday.
Kalver said she has no family history, and nothing showed up on genetic screenings. She even had a breast exam just two months before ultimately finding a lump. Things moved quickly after that, and tests showed the cancer had spread.
“So I’ve had cancer on my breasts and my lymph nodes, my liver, my spine, my brain,” Kalver said.
Kalver said she struggled with feeling powerless. So during an early round of chemotherapy, she started a national nonprofit called We Got This, which is a gift registry and marketplace for people with cancer.
She said she is often asked why her cancer wasn’t caught earlier, before it metastasized.
“I think a lot of that mentality is a bit toxic, because one, it is kind of blaming me. Like, no, I couldn’t find it earlier. You know, I went to tons of doctors, they knew something was wrong, but nothing led to [cancer,]” Kalver said.
Her cancer was so metastasized that she suspects it was spreading undetected for at least a year.
“In hindsight, there’s nothing more I could have done, other than if I like had a crystal ball to push to get a mammogram. But, like, how would I have known that at 34?”
Kalver said she wants to increase awareness of late-stage breast cancers. Breast Cancer Awareness Month each October puts a public focus on prevention and making sure women conduct self-exams. But she said there’s not as much attention on what happens if you’re already too late.
“And when what happens, like to me, which is kind of the worst case scenario … then, you know, not just pounding sand but having solutions too,” she said. “You know, I don’t want to just accept that I have stage four cancer and I’m gonna die. You know, there’s a lot of solutions for what I have. And I’m really lucky that they exist.”
Rogue AI will learn to ‘manipulate people’ to stop it from being switched off, predicts British ‘Godfather of AI’
Ryan Hogg – October 10, 2023
Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile for Collision via Getty Images
The “Godfather of AI,” and one of its biggest critics, believes the technology will soon become smarter than humans and could learn to manipulate them.
Geoffrey Hinton, a former AI engineer at Google, told 60 Minutes he expected artificial intelligence to become self-aware in time, making humans the second most intelligent beings on the planet.
Humans have about 100 trillion neural connections, while the biggest AI chatbots have just 1 trillion connections, according to Hinton.
However, he suggests the knowledge contained within those connections is likely much more than that contained in humans.
Eventually, Hinton says, computer systems might be able to write their own code to modify themselves, in a sense going rogue. And if it does, he thinks AI will have a way to stop itself from being switched off by humans.
“They will be able to manipulate people,” Hinton told 60 Minutes.
“These will be very good at convincing because they’ll have learned from all the novels that were ever written, all the books by Machiavelli, all the political connivances. They’ll know all that stuff.”
Bigger threat than climate change
Hinton quit his role as an engineer at Google in May after more than a decade with the company, in part to speak out against the growing risks of the technology and lobby for safeguards and regulations against it.
While at Google, Hinton helped build the AI chatbot Bard, the tech giant’s competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. He also set the foundations for the growth of AI through his pioneering neural network, which helped him win a prestigious Turing Award.
Since he quit, Hinton has been one of the leading voices warning of AI’s dangers. Following his resignation announcement in the New York Times, he told Reuters he thought the tech had become a bigger threat to humans than climate change.
In late May, he was at the top of a list of hundreds of experts, which included OpenAI founder Sam Altman, calling for urgent regulation of AI.
“Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” the 22-word statement read.
Hinton’s biggest worry about AI right now pertains to the labor market. He told 60 Minutes he feared a whole class of people would find themselves unemployed as more capable AI systems take their place.
In the longer run, though, he worries about AI’s militaristic potential. In his interview with 60 Minutes, Hinton called for governments to commit to not building battlefield robots. The warning is akin to J. Robert Oppenheimer’s calls to stop world leaders from developing nuclear weapons after he pioneered the first atomic bomb.
Hinton summed up by saying he couldn’t see a path that guarantees safety, adding he wasn’t sure robots could ever be stopped from wanting to take over humanity.
The world’s major governments appear to have heard Hinton’s and others’ warnings loud and clear.
The U.K. will host the first global AI summit in November, which is expected to be attended by 100 politicians, academics, and AI experts.
It could lay the groundwork for sweeping regulatory changes by major countries including the United States.
The U.S. is crafting an AI Bill of Rights, and in the coming months is expected to bring in safeguards that tech companies must abide by.
The European Union is crafting its own guardrails around AI, titled the AI Act. However, the potential for varying regulations based on geography is creating tension.
In June, more than 150 major European execs requested the EU pull back on its proposed restrictions around AI, including increased bureaucracy and tests on certain tech’s safety. They argued these would create a “critical productivity gap” in the region that would leave it trailing the U.S.
Shell Aims to ‘Decarbonize Profitably,’ Its New Energies US CEO Says
Velda Addison – October 9, 2023
Shell’s strategy has not changed as the company remains focused on delivering more value with less emissions, Shell New Energies US CEO Glenn Wright said this week, addressing unease about its position in the energy transition.
“In order for that to be a reality, it’s imperative that what we do is both economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sustainable,” Wright said Oct. 5 during an event co-hosted by the Baker Institute Center for Energy Studies and Baker Botts LLC in Houston. “Those are the three legs of the stool. If any one of those legs fails, the solution fails. So, our aim … is to continue our work and to decarbonize profitably.”
The comments were delivered in response to concerns that the supermajor was scaling back investments in renewable energy. Focused on increasing returns, Shell said it will hold oil output steady through 2030, having hit a lowered oil production target early through divestments.
Shell, which is targeting net-zero emissions by 2050, continues progress on providing cleaner energy solutions as energy demand rises, Wright said, pointing out how the company is repurposing the footprint of its energy and chemical parks. Shell’s low-carbon investment plans include investing between $10 billion and $15 billion through 2025 in areas such as biofuels, hydrogen, electric vehicle charging and carbon capture and storage.
“In my business, we will continue to invest in power opportunities, but we will do so in areas and spaces where it makes economic sense to do so and where we are incentivized to do so,” Wright said.
Energy companies, including Shell, are under pressure to not only provide affordable energy safely and lower emissions, but also increase returns for the shareholder. However, inflationary pressure and supply chain issues have posed obstacles, especially for offshore wind.
While the company has pulled out of some wind projects, including two wind projects offshore Ireland, it has powered forward with other investments. These have included the acquisitions of renewable natural gas company Nature Energy and Sprng Energy, a solar and wind power supplier, as well as starting construction on one of Europe’s largest renewable hydrogen plants.
The renewables investment comes alongside continued oil and gas production.
“We will continue to invest in power opportunities, but we will do so in areas and spaces where it makes economic sense to do so and where we are incentivized to do so,” Shell New Energies US CEO Glenn Wright says. (Source: Baker Institute)
Protecting the core
Determining where to invest capital is probably the biggest question in boardrooms today, said Michael LaMotte, senior managing director for Guggenheim Securities. Speaking about E&Ps’ limited capital investment and moves to pay down debt and pay dividends, he said companies in the industry should protect the core first.
“Identify that and focus on it because that’s where all that cash comes from at the end of the day,” said LaMotte, who spoke on a separate panel. “The return on your capital is going to be enhanced if you improve the efficiency of the operations in and around that core.”
It is also important to think about creating long-term value. Despite views on the pace of the transition, the “transition is here and we are in it.” He spoke of the need for companies to leverage core competencies into new energies.
“[It’s] really important how to think about taking what feels like a liability, what feels like a compliance cost to the business, and flip it on its head and say, ‘okay, this is actually a new business opportunity,’” LaMotte said, acknowledging the core is not leaving anytime some.
Sharing similar sentiments as Wright, LaMotte added that investments must be economic with focus on obligations to shareholders to generate a return.
“But it also has to be cleaner. It’s striking that balance” between protecting the core and focusing on something new and cleaner to leverage competitive advantages.
By 2050, the world’s population is expected to exceed 9 billion, nearly 2 billion more people than today, Wright said. Energy demand will likely double.
“We must find ways to profitably decarbonize. I cannot emphasize that enough. We aim to decarbonize, but we must do so profitably,” Wright said. “And we must work closely with others in new ways because we can only reach net zero if society reaches it, too.”
Pumping up power
The most profound change and fastest growth will happen in the power sector, according to Wright. Shell deepened its position in the renewable power space with its 2021 acquisition of Savion, a large utility-scale solar and battery energy storage developer, and the 2022 launch of its residential retail business in Texas. The company manages more than 8 gigawatts of power generation across North America.
“Electricity is far and away the easiest energy source to decarbonize. Every energy consuming sector, which is everybody from road transport to home and commercial heating and cooling, to manufacturing and major industrial processes, is actively pursuing electrification in some fashion,” Wright said.
Like others in energy, he says reform is needed—particularly regarding access to interconnections and transmission reform—as more renewable energy lines up to flow to the grid.
“FERC Order 2023 starts to help us in this regard. … How this will play out will continue to unfold, but it will encourage and allow quicker access to bring renewables online,” Wright said. “We also need to ensure that the market design encourages resource adequacy. We can encourage certainly the development of renewables. What’s important is that these assets are located in the right places at the right time.”
Power grids in parts of the U.S.—including the Electric Reliability Council of Texas—experienced stress this summer amid high demand and temperatures, which prompted some conservation alerts.
“As we see more and more renewables come onstream, we need more and more resources that can provide ancillary services that can help firm those renewables and ensure that the grid continues to operate,” Wright said.
BP says it remains committed to financial, climate ambitions
Ron Bousso – October 10, 2023
FILE PHOTO: Logo of British Petrol BP is seen at a petrol station in Pienkow
LONDON (Reuters) -BP said on Tuesday it remained committed to its financial and carbon reduction ambitions, as interim Chief Executive Officer Murray Auchincloss hosted an investor day in Denver.
It was Auchincloss’s first major investor event since taking the helm after Bernard Looney abruptly stepped down as CEO last month for failing to fully disclose relationships with colleagues.
“BP’s strategy, financial frame and net zero ambition are unchanged,” the energy group said in a statement.
“BP remains focused on delivering its strategy safely, with disciplined delivery, quarter-on-quarter, to meet 2025 targets and 2030 aims.”
The company aims to achieve zero net carbon emissions by 2050 and to invest billions in renewable and low-carbon power. In February, BP scaled back plans to reduce oil and gas output by 2030 to 25% from 40% from 2019 levels.
In the presentation, BP also raised its forecast for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) from oil and gas businesses for 2030 by $2 billion to $41 to $44 billion at an average oil price of $70 a barrel.
EBITDA for the whole company, including its renewables and low-carbon businesses, is now forecast to reach $53 to $58 billion, compared with $51 to $56 billion previously.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso;Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Susan Fenton and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
California hits major industry with lawsuit for allegedly spreading ‘lies and mistruths’: ‘[They] have privately known the truth for decades’
Leo Collis – October 10, 2023
California is one of the most committed regions in the United States when it comes to striving for a sustainable future.
The state is seeking to provide 100% renewable energy to residents and businesses by 2045, and it has seen billions of dollars of investment in “clean energy technologies.”
Now, it is taking on the oil industry, with the state of California filing a lawsuit against industry giants like ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP, as well as lobbying body the American Petroleum Institute.
NPR reported the suit was filed in the San Francisco Superior Court, and the focus is on claims the big players in the oil industry have been misleading the public about the dangers of dirty energy.
“California is suing these big polluters to hold them accountable for their decades of deception, cover-up, and billions of dollars in harm done to our state,” the office of California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement.
The Governor’s office added the “lies” pushed by Big Oil over the course of decades have contributed to global heating, resulting in extreme weather events such as superstorms, wildfires, extreme heat, extreme drought, and flooding.
“It has been decades of damage and deception,” Governor Newsom continued. “Wildfires wiping out entire communities, toxic smoke clogging our air, deadly heat waves, record-breaking droughts parching our wells. California taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill. California is taking action to hold big polluters accountable.”
If the state is successful, it is calling on oil companies to compensate the state and its residents for the industry’s impact on the environment and to help bring protection initiatives to mitigate against future damage that rising temperatures bring. It is also hoping to stop oil companies from engaging in further pollution and to cease misinformation campaigns.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is also leading the lawsuit.
“Oil and gas companies have privately known the truth for decades — that the burning of fossil fuels leads to climate change — but have fed us lies and mistruths to further their record-breaking profits at the expense of our environment,” he said. “Enough is enough.”
According to Cal Fire, there have been 5,741 wildfire incidents in the state in 2023 alone, with over 305,000 acres burned.
As California Local observed, Southern California saw its first tropical storm since 1939 in August, leading to record quantities of rainfall in Palm Springs, San Diego, and downtown Los Angeles. The state also saw its hottest recorded month in history in July, and 12 major rainstorms were recorded earlier in the year.
It’s clear, then, that California is bearing a significant burden when it comes to the impact of global heating, and the lawsuit will leave Big Oil with a lot to answer for.
Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.
These ‘energy vampires’ could be sucking your wallet dry: ‘As much as 20% of your monthly electricity bill’
Brett Aresco – October 10, 2023
They may not want to suck your blood … but they want to suck your wallet dry.
They are so-called “energy vampires,” appliances in your home that use energy when they’re plugged in, even when they’re not turned on. The garlic, stake to the heart, or silver bullet for these energy vampires is simple: Just unplug them.
What is an energy vampire?
We’re not talking about the kind from What We Do in the Shadows. Duke Energy estimates that electrical energy vampires “can account for as much as 20% of your monthly electricity bill.” Additionally, Michigan State University says that making a habit of unplugging energy vampires can “prevent any potential fires from overheated cords or appliances accidentally left on.”
Certain appliances — refrigerators, for instance — need to stay plugged in and turned on. But others — coffee makers, televisions, and many more — can easily be unplugged when not in use.
Why are energy vampires important?
Aside from costing you money, energy vampires can be a real drain on the power grid. A 2015 study by the National Resources Defense Council found that energy vampires use as much as 50 large power plants worth of energy every year, or as much energy as all of the households in Alabama and Arizona combined.
And that energy can be incredibly polluting. Despite recent gains in renewable energy, the U.S. power grid still draws more than 60% of its energy from burning dirty energy sources. With the world on track to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming above preindustrial levels within 10 years, the more oil, gas, and coal we can keep in the ground, the better.
How unplugging energy vampires can save money and the environment
According to the NRDC study, some simple unplugging can prevent 48.5 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution from entering the atmosphere every year. Not only that, but slaying energy vampires can save the average American household $165 annually, for a total of $19 billion nationwide.
It’s a simple step, but one that just about everyone can take.
Energy vampirism “may not seem like a big problem,” University of Missouri housing and environmental design expert Michael Goldschmidt told The New York Times. But, Goldschmidt says, “it’s a really big deal.”
Of course, appliances aren’t the only energy vampires out there. The term can apply to people as well.
NBC News classifies human energy vampires as “friends, family members or coworkers who literally zap your emotional energy,” like the kind made famous by What We Do in the Shadows. Obviously, we can’t unplug those energy vampires, but that’s all the more reason to take care of the ones we can.
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.
This state is requiring every new home to be built with money-saving, energy-efficient heat pumps: ‘The right choice’
Jill Ettinger – October 9, 2023
Starting this summer, every new house or apartment built in the state of Washington will be required to use money-saving, energy-efficient heat pumps for heating and cooling.
The decision came last November when the Washington State Building Code Council voted in favor of the mandate, making it one of the strongest building codes in the country for energy-efficient heat pumps.
Electric heat pumps are two to four times more energy efficient than gas heaters, which means they can help you cut down your electricity bill dramatically.
Another reason they’re being lauded is because they don’t run on methane, a potent gas that traps heat in our atmosphere and causes our planet to overheat. Methane is also linked to a number of human health issues, including respiratory illness, memory loss, and heart disease.
The Council voted for the heat pumps following a 2021 state law that requires 45% in greenhouse gas pollution reductions by 2030 and 95% by 2050, compared with 1990 levels. The state is also required to increase energy efficiency in buildings by 70% by 2031.
“The State Building Code Council made the right choice for Washingtonians,” Rachel Koller, managing director of the green-building alliance Shift Zero, said in a statement. “From an economic, equity and sustainability perspective, it makes sense to build efficient, electric homes right from the start.”
An influx of transplants to Washington in recent years has led to a 50% increase in planet-overheating gas pollution from buildings between 1990 and 2015 — the fastest-growing source in the state.
Across the country, lawmakers are making decisions like this to help move their municipalities away from dirty-energy-based heating systems. More than 90 cities and counties in the U.S. now have similar measures in place.
“It’s an exciting step forward toward meeting our goal to reduce greenhouse gases in our state,” Katy Sheehan, a council member who voted in favor of the heat pump mandate told Spokane’s Spokesman-Review. “I’m really happy that we did it.”
These ‘self-sustaining’ luxury homes take just 6 weeks to construct — and buying one could literally earn you money
Laurelle Stelle – October 9, 2023
A construction company called S2A Modular is providing a range of luxury prefabricated homes in as little as six weeks — and each is designed to produce its own free electricity.
For most homeowners, the power bill is a major monthly expense. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average U.S. residence used 10,632 kilowatt hours in 2021. More than half of that energy went to heating and cooling, with the rest going to lights, appliances, and electronics.
But S2A Modular co-founders John Rowland and Brian Kuzdas envision a world where you don’t pay power companies for electricity — they pay you.
Enter #GreenLuxHome: S2A Modular’s electrically self-sustaining houses. The homes are designed to reach “Net-Zero,” meaning that they supply at least as much energy to the local power grid as they draw from it.
“With your home connected to the grid as a backup power source, soon enough, you won’t only eliminate energy bills,” says the company’s website, “utility companies may eventually write you checks for your home having contributed energy.”
The site goes on to say that the homes use Tesla Powerwall batteries and FreeVolt PV Graf solar panels to provide enough power not just to supply the needs of the household, but to charge electric cars as well.
This approach is an obvious money-saver for homeowners, but it’s also great for the environment. Solar power doesn’t produce heat-trapping gases, unlike electricity generated from burning coal or gas, so it contributes much less to rising global temperatures.
Meanwhile, S2A Modular’s homes are designed for quality and value. The company offers a selection of 35 gorgeous floor plans and the option to design your own, all using high-quality materials and built-in smart features.
Once you choose the design that suits you, S2A Modular says the house will be completely ready for move-in in six weeks.
As the company says, “You save time. You save money. You save energy. And your home has immediately higher long-term value than a traditional ‘site-built’ home.”
Shell leaves experts fuming with latest admission on 2050 pledge: ‘They are making so much money right now’
Erin Feiger – October 9, 2023
Shell has backpedaled on its climate change pledges to provide bigger payouts to shareholders, in a move slammed by many as shady.
What’s happening?
After a surprising announcement last year, in which Shell set 2050 as its target to reach net-zero planet-overheating gas pollution, the company became the latest to join others like BP in scaling back their climate pledges, according to Euronews.green.
Shell said oil production levels will remain stable until 2030, justifying it by saying selling its interest in the Permian Basin oilfield in 2021 allowed it to reach production reduction goals until then.
Euronews.green further reported that the company will invest $40 billion in oil and gas production through the next 13 years, all of this amid record profits, leaving many questioning the dirty energy company’s alleged commitment to shift to clean energy.
Mark van Baal, founder of Follow This, which unites shareholders to push Big Oil to clean up its act, told the Washington Post, “We have to regain momentum, or these companies will keep on saying they can continue with oil and gas because the majority of shareholders want them to do that. The fact that they are making so much money right now is not helping.”
Carla Denyer, co-leader of the U.K. Green party, told Euronews.green that Shell’s actions are “pure climate vandalism,” with Friends of the Earthadding that “like other fossil fuel giants which have also scaled back their ambitions, Shell now admits that it has no plans to change its business model.”
Why is this climate pledge pivot concerning?
Dirty energy sources, like oil, gas, and coal, are the largest contributor to Earth’s rising temperatures, accounting for more than 75% of the world’s overall heat-trapping gas pollution and nearly 90% of harmful carbon pollution, according to the U.N.
Because they’re such a huge part of the problem, dirty energy companies like Shell need to be a big part of the solution.
Making pledges like the ones Shell is now scaling back on to convince us that the company is a friend to our planet is called greenwashing, which is when a company makes false or misleading statements about the environmental benefits of one of its products or practices.
Greenwashing is a particularly sinister problem because it prevents real and very necessary progress from being made, while duping customers into spending our money with companies that are lying to us and hurting our planet.
What can be done?
Many organizations are working to hold Big Oil companies accountable for enacting real change, but it’s a long road.
As individuals, we can work to mitigate the harm done by these big companies by moving away from using their dirty energy sources.
We can switch from gas-powered cars to electric vehicles, limit the amount of single-use plastics we use, and switch to alternative sources of power at home when possible.
Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.
