Despite the hype around biomass as a "nature-based solution" to climate change, the biomass industry is defined by its rising emissions and the pollution it adds to disadvantaged communities.
A good share of my classes this semester has begun the same way — with what is now known by the students in my program as "the graph of death." The graph is deathly for both its implications and the outrageous number of times it has appeared before my eyes from lectures and guest speakers.
Around the clock, we are constantly generating data. From smart watches tracking our sleep to the social media algorithms tailoring our digital experience, almost every action we take creates new electronic data, whether we realize it or not.
By integrating electrification with broader energy-efficiency efforts and tailoring decarbonization for a diversity of scenarios, only then can we achieve our climate goals.
But instead of appreciating the humanity of those around us, we too often act like the devices that we are always on — computers.
If failure is both cataclysmic and ubiquitous, then how can any gains ever be realized?
Real change occurs over timescales that are beyond our attention span.
Let’s remind Duke that the best form of waste diversion is avoiding single-use disposables altogether.
While responding to climate change should still be of utmost concern, a net-zero future is not enough to restore ecological balance to our planet.
Sometimes the grass is greener on the other side because it’s fake.
