April News You Can Use

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April News You Can Use
Monument to remember Japanese-American internment with blooming cherry trees
in Portland, OR. Photo by M Grossman April 2023
We humans are capable of enormous brutality and astounding creativity. The cherry
trees along the Willamette River in downtown Portland OR were a gift from Japan in
1990, as a gesture of peace and reconciliation. Remembering the atrocities of WWII,
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2. including the US imprisonment of thousands of Japanese families who were uprooted
from peaceful and productive lives. The Japanese American plaza was created to
honor cultural diversity, according to the Japanese American Museum of Oregon.
What do we need to do today to create peace and reconciliation among humans and
between humans and the natural world of which we are a part?
This month’s newsletter is full of opportunities, as well as alarming and encouraging
news. Let the beauty of spring inspire us to transform fear into action.
Send us new technologies, resources, stories and insights.
Opportunites for Action
Leverage the SolSmart Program for Your Community
This DOE funded program helps to streamline permitting and zoning and expand
access to solar power. The program just got a boost, doubling in size, and expanding
beyond rooftop solar to include supporting community-solar development and
improving equitable access to solar energy. By lowering the “soft-costs” of solar
projects, the DOE hopes this program will broaden access to solar power for diverse
and underserved communities. Learn more here.
Public Comments Opportunity: Banning PFAS in Drinking Water
The EPA announced in March that, for the first time, the federal government will
require utilities to remove two toxic “forever chemicals” from drinking water. These
toxins,perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, are in the drinking
water, and the bloodstreams, of more than 200 million Americans. The E.P.A. will

3. accept public comments on the proposed regulation for 60 days before it will take
effect and become the legal limit. Read more here.
Round 5 of the Transformative Climate Communities Program (TCC) of The Strategic
Growth Council (SGC) will make $99.2 million in funding available for underserved
communities for capital infrastructure projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
improve public health and the environment, and expand economic opportunity for
residents. Read more in the Notice of Funding Availability.
Regional Climate Collaboratives (RCC)
The RCC Program is another grant program from the Strategic Growth Council, this
one focused on community-led capacity building for sustained climate action in under-
resourced communities. Round 1 was oversubscribed, and Round 2 is just getting
underway. Application materials are expected to be released in early July. In the
meanwhile there is general information available here.
The University of California is a world leader on research and a pioneer on climate
action. Earlier this year, the University announced $15 million in climate innovation
grants for UC researchers — just one part of a historic $185 million partnership with
the state of California focused on finding scalable solutions to our climate crisis. Later
this year, the University will award $80 million in additional grants to advance climate
equity and resilience in communities across California.
This effort is just one of the many bold sustainability initiatives underway across UC’s
campuses, medical centers, and labs.

4. Events
Climate Leaders Monthly Meeting
Thursday, April 20, 2023 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM PT
Join the Climate Leaders Meeting to exchange resources and inspiration with others
who are also taking action to create a vibrant and healthy future.
All leaders are welcome.
This is a monthly event hosted by Minerva Ventures.
Request Invitation
SF Climate Week is a series of events gathering diverse climate organizations,
leaders, and the broader community working at the intersection of climate action and
innovation. The events range from networking, to opportunities to learn about personal
action, to presentations by leading companies working in the climate space.

5. This webcast will focus on new approaches that building product manufacturers are
employing to keep materials in play after their first use, encouraging the idea of
buildings as material banks.
Register

6. April 20th, 8 – 9:30 am PDT
Register
Wildflower Mimicry by Barnali Ghosh
Immigrant Artist and Landscape Architect
Wednesday, April 26, 2023, 1:00 to 2:00 pm
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District offices Board Room
5050 El Camino Real, Los Altos
Beginning as a pandemic project, Berkeley-based designer Barnali Ghosh started
taking photographs of herself dressed as California native flowers,centering the brown
body and showcasing South Asian fabrics and dance forms. The images took the
native plant world by storm. Ghosh will share the backstory of these viral images, and
how the project helped her find herself in the native plant community and beyond.
Bring your own sack lunch and drink if you like.
California 30 X 30
May 22, 2023, 12:00 to 1:30 pm
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District will host a second event organized by the
Peninsula South Bay Watershed Forum, on the California 30X30 initiative to conserve
30% of our lands by 2030. The speakers will be Midpen’s very own Josh Hugg and
Madeline Drake, Assistant Secretary for Biodiversity and Habitat at the California
Natural Resources Agency.

7. Sustainable San Mateo County's "Youth for Climate Policy" webinar on Fri. April 21,
from 5 to 6 p.m is designed to show young people how they can effectively influence
local government leaders to address climate change and other issues. Cosponsors
are Peninsula Clean Energy, Citizens' Climate Lobby, 350 Silicon Valley and Silicon
Valley Youth Climate Action. Admission is free, but preregistration is required.
Register/Info
Bringing together thought and industry leaders from across the spectrum, this year’s
theme of 'Advancing a Thriving World' will tackle the most pressing challenges and
capitalize on the most exciting opportunities of our time. From gene therapies to
renewable energy, AI to infrastructure, and DEI to FinTech, attendees will gain
valuable insights and make crucial connections to drive progress and prosperity. More
information is available available here.
Subscribe to the Politico Insider Newsletter for updates from the event.

8. Save the Date:
May 8, 2023 NEDO Innovation in CCUS in-person seminar
Silicon Valley 5:30 - 7:30 PM
More information soon on the Minerva Ventures, LLC website.
Sobering Climate News
Melting Antarctic Ice May Cause Rapid Decline in Deep Ocean
Current by 2050
According to new research published in Nature, if greenhouse gas emissions continue
at today’s levels, the current in the deepest parts of the ocean could slow down by
40% in only three decades. This could generate a cascade of impacts that could push
up sea levels, alter weather patterns and starve marine life of a vital source of
nutrients. A member of the team of Australian scientists studying the situation, Prof
Matt England, of the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South
Wales said the whole deep ocean current was heading for collapse on its current
trajectory, according to reporting in The Guardian.
New IPCC Report Highlights Urgency
This sixth and final synthesis report of 8 years of work by scientists around the globe
provides the most comprehensive, best available scientific assessment of climate
change to date. And while it presents a grim picture, it also provides reasons for hope
and potential to avert the worst of the looming crisis. The World Resources Institute
published an excellent summary of the report, cataloguing “10 Big Findings.” These
include recognizing that the impact of warming already experiences are much broader
and more severe than expected, and the need for urgent action to stop the burning of
fossil fuels, and to provide financial supports for the actions required to avert the worst
potential consequences.
Here is a quick and to the point video summary of the report.
IPCC Report Omits Military #s and Minimizes Some Risks
A review of the IPCC report by Climatebase points out shortcomings, including the
lack of emphasis given to finding that, despite the progress made in recent years,
even low-emission scenarios levels could result in more than 4°C if feedback loops

9. kick in sooner than the worst-case scenario. They point out that the IPCC does not
account for the emissions from the world’s military operations, estimated to make up a
solid 5-6% of the world’s total carbon pollution. Read more here.
President Biden Warns that Climate Change Could Impact
Federal Programs
Administration economists, in the annual Economic Report of the President,
recommended examining the climate-adaptation implications of aid to farmers,
firefighting and wide swaths of safety-net programs like Medicaid and Medicare. The
White House Council of Economic Advisers also warned that, left unchanged, federal
policies like fighting forest fires and subsidizing crop insurance for farmers could
continue to encourage Americans to live and work in areas at high risk of damage
from warming temperatures and extreme weather — effectively forcing taxpayers
across the country to pay for increasingly costly choices by people and businesses.
Read more here.
Update on the Willow Project
Sadly, the Biden administration approved the controversial Willow Project in Alaska in
March. According to CNN, the administration felt its hands were tied because Conoco
has existing and valid leases. Had they attempted to reject or drastically reduce the
project, sources said, they could have faced steep fines in addition to legal action from
ConocoPhillips. However, even with the approval, it is not clear when the project will
begin construction, and it will be many years before oil from the project will come to
market. The delays are due to both impending legal challenges, and the fact that
construction can only begin during the winter, when ice roads allow for passage. So
while the approval is disheartening, the delays provide some reason for hope.
UN Report warns water crisis could spiral out of control
The UN World Water Development Report, released by UNESCO in advance of the
UN 2023 Water Conference, found that two billion people around the globe do not
have safe drinking water, while the global urban population facing water scarcity is
projected to potentially double from 930 million in 2016 to between 1.7 and 2.4 billion
people, in 2050, all made worse by climate change. Richard Connor, the report’s
editor-in-chief, told reporters, “If we don’t address it, there definitely will be a
global crisis.” He pointed out that building partnerships and cooperation are key to
realizing human rights to water and overcoming existing challenges. Read CNN
coverage here.

10. The Case Against Promoting Carbon Capture
A strong coalition of environmental organizations is stepping up to oppose using
carbon capture to allow the continuation of high GHG emitting practices under the
guise of lowering emissions by capturing the carbon. They want IRA and other funding
to be directed to other uses. We believe it is important to distinguish between Direct
Air Capture, which helps with negative emissions, and point source capture, which
helps reduce new GHG inputs to the atmosphere.
Sea Level Rising Faster along the South East Coast of the US
While people have been building along the Gulf coast and the Southeastern Atlantic
coast in recent years, they have removed the wetlands, mangroves and shorelines
that once protected it. Now scientists are reporting a dramatic rise in sea level in the
past decade, contributing significantly to the devastation caused by hurricanes, and
reducing land values. One example, at Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, the tide
gauge reading is 8 inches higher than it was in 2006, just after Hurricane Katrina. One
study shows nearly 5 inches in sea level rise through 2022 ,more than double the
global average rate per year since 2010. Read more.
Encouraging Climate News
EPA Regulations to Spur Sales of Electric Cars and Trucks
The Biden administration is proposing rules to ensure that two-thirds of new cars and
a quarter of new heavy trucks sold in the U.S. by 2032 are all-electric.
Read NY Times Article Here
Carbon Removal Progress - GE gets in the Game
Due to the experience and size of GE, they can potentially get to deployment at scale
and a reasonable cost quickly. "GE is arguably…one of the best companies in the
world, when it comes to moving large quantities of air," according to David Moore, a
top GE carbon management official. GE is working with academic partners and
Energy Department branches, including receiving funding from ARPA-E. Read more.

11. Market Shaping for Climate Tech - an Opportunity
Drawing from the field of global health comes a set of recommendations for
accelerating and strengthening the investments in climate technology required to meet
the moment. Twenty years ago the The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) helped
remove barriers to the crucial development and deployment of anti-HIV drugs. Similar
techniques can be deployed to jump-start climate tech according to a series of articles
in the Stanford Social Innovation Review.
Federal Government Ocean Climate Action
The first-ever U.S. Ocean Climate Action Plan calls for expansion of marine protected
areas, directs agencies to use funding from federal climate legislation toward targets
like studying the potential for carbon sequestration in depleted oil and gas reservoirs,
creating new strictly protected marine sanctuaries, and connecting all of the
conservation zones in a network to make them more resilient to warming oceans.
Read more coverage of the announcement here.
The debate around “Green Hydrogen”
Whether federal investments in green hydrogen will help our hurt the climate is a
complex and multi-pronged issue. A coalition of climate scientists, environmental
groups and others is promoting strict rules limiting green hydrogen production to using
new sources of carbon-free electricity supplied on an hour-to-hour basis to limit the
carbon pollution generated in production. On the other side are companies with big
hydrogen plans, including major petroleum companies. They say restrictive rules with
throttle the development of a green hydrogen industry, and advocate for using clean
electricity already being generated, rather than new sources. It’s a detailed set of
arguments and Canary Media spent 3 articles exploring it in depth.
Vanuatu Gets the World’s Highest Court to Take on Climate
The island nation persuaded the U.N. General Assembly to ask the world’s highest
international court, the International Court of Justice, to rule on the obligations of
countries to address climate change. More than 120 countries co-sponsored the
move, including Britain, France and Germany. “An opinion would assist the General
Assembly, the U.N. and member states to take the bolder and stronger climate action
that our world so desperately needs,” U.N. Secretary General António Guterres told
the U.N. General Assembly. Read more.
Landmark Youth Vs the State of Montana Climate Lawsuit
A group of young activists in Montana have taken advantage of language in the

12. Montana state Constitution that guarantees residents “the right to a clean and
healthful environment,” in their complaint. The trial begins on June 12 in the state
capital of Helena. Activists in the state have been working since 2011, when the non-
profit Our Children’s Trust petitioned the state Supreme Court. Our Children’s Trust
has sued governments on behalf of youth in all 50 states, and is a federal case as
well. Read more here.
Good News on eWaste Recycling of Circuit Boards
While circuit boards make up a small percentage of eWaste, they represent a huge
value, at $2,000 of precious metals per ton of circuit boards, or more than $1.6 billion
in total value each year in the United States alone. And keeping these materials in
circulation will avoid not only costs, but further environmental degradation. The brand-
new Camston Wrather circuit board recycling facility in Carlsbad, California is
pioneering an innovative process that separates the materials without using heat,
pressure or chemistry.to create three very pure concentrates: ferrous metal [magnetic
materials including critical minerals and rare earths], non-ferrous metals [including
gold, silver, copper and palladium] and a polymer concentrate, which can be used in
new products. Read more.
Job Opportunities
Climate Data & Disclosure Manager, Sustainability @ Netflix
Canopy, an urban and community forestry nonprofit in Palo Alto, has a number of
openings, including Executive Director
The UC Center for Climate, Heath and Equity is hiring a program coordinator
State of California Climate Action Jobs
The City of Palo Alto is hiring one or more Sustainability Program Administrators to
work within its Utilities Program Services (UPS) group
Resources
Extrapolations, a New Series on Apple TV
The series uses eight interwoven stories from around the world to explore the life-
altering choices humanity will need to make in the face of climate change over the

13. next 33 years. If you don’t have an Apple TV+ subscription, you can find out how to
view it for free here or scan the QR code below. Then turn to the Extrapolations
dedicated microsite for Project Drawdown–informed insights on how you can help the
most positive scenario prevail.
The Value of Nature - a short film by the NY Times
Featuring the work of Partha Dasgupta,a Cambridge University economist, this film
summarizes his 600+-page report for the British government about the financial value
of nature. This work led to the United Nations awarding him the title Champion of the
Earth and King Charles III making him a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British
Empire — an extremely rare honor. You can see it for yourself here.
Excellent Carbon Removal Overview from the BBC
This article provides a solid and comprehensive introduction or update.
Sustainable San Mateo Resources: In-depth report on building electrification that's
posted on Sustainable San Mateo County's website, along with a press release, blog
and videos of speakers at the recent Indicators Launch.
Carbon180 works with policymakers, entrepreneurs, and peer organizations across
the US to design policies that will bring necessary carbon removal solutions to gigaton
scale.
Innovation for Cool Earth Forum (ICEF) is a platform for industry, academia and
government leaders around the world to promote innovations to address global
warming. Since 2014 the government of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and
Industry (METI) and New Energy and Industrial Technology Development
Organisation (NEDO) hosts the ICEF Annual Meeting. In addition, ICEF has
developed a series of “Roadmaps” exploring critical topics in carbon removal.
The US Climate Resilience Toolkit helps cities document climate hazards that could
harm the things they care about, decide which situations they most want to avoid, and
come up with workable solutions to reduce their climate-related risks. Preparing a city
to withstand weather and climate-related hazards can be addressed by applying these
steps to regular updates of municipal plans.
Futures Forward develops communities to be regenerative, addressing social,
economic and environmental priorities. If you are considering migrating north or want

14. to be inspired to make change where you are, check them out!
The Multi-Solving Institute is led by Elizabeth Sawin. They work with a range of
stakeholders to deliver shared solutions that yield multiple benefits. This is a great
example of applied systems thinking.
The Climate Mobilization gives people a channel to turn anxiety into action. They
have catalyzed more than 200 declarations of climate emergency, clearing the way for
much more significant local action
Smart Surfaces can help raise albedo and lower temperatures to reduce the heat
island effect and keep communities healthier. The Smart Surfaces Coalition can help
local, regional and state governments to write legislation that enables total cost and
benefit accounting for integrated projects.
ClimateVoice, founded by Bill Weihl who led energy and sustainability at Google and
Facebook, organizes employees of tech companies to push their executives to
support climate policy, including Build Back Better.
Currently is a daily weather information service that connects you with meteorologists
and a community to understand weather and climate.
The Sustainable and Resilient Resources Roundtable held a workshop with the
US EPA on new Climate Change Indicators in Sept. 2021. Proceedings can be found
here (video & presentations).
Ellen MacArthur Foundation leads breakthrough work on the circular economy
https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy/concept
Hunter Lovins champions Regenerative Capitalism through Natural Capital Solutions:
https://natcapsolutions.org/regenerative-economics-101/
RMI (formerly Rocky Mountain Institute) founded by Amory and Hunter Lovins has
vast treasure troves of information on transforming the way we use energy throughout
our economy and society. https://rmi.org/
Here are some links to the many initiatives in architecture and planning:
Whole Building Design Guide https://www.wbdg.org/resources/living-regenerative-
and-adaptive-buildings
International Living Futures Institute offers the Living Building Challenge and other
initiatives to transform buildings, neighborhoods and communities. Their annual
meeting will be virtual from April 20-23, 2021. https://living-future.org/
Architecture 2030 https://architecture2030.org/
Share Your Resources
About Minerva Ventures:
Are you concerned about climate change and seeking ways to take action? Business
survival depends on addressing competitive challenges every day. Leaders attend to
urgent business matters while counting on tomorrow’s weather and operating
conditions to be similar to yesterday’s. What happens when underlying conditions
change as climate consequences become more severe? It is hard to adjust to a
disruptive future while you are focused on competing today.

15. Minerva advises clean tech companies on strategic and business development. We
help you find customers, new markets, and new investors to build your momentum
and success.
Minerva helps established companies create strategies to identify and contend with
climate risks to your business. Discover how you can protect your operations, assets,
products, and services. Understand how climate risk will affect your suppliers,
customers, and partners. Determine how you can strengthen your company to
navigate change and seize opportunities as markets reconfigure in the face of the
coming changes. Find innovative ways to change your operations, products, and
services to help address climate change. Consider policy measures that your industry
can pursue that will help address shared risks.
Minerva can help you find new solutions that will make your business more resilient
and adaptable to change. Your company will be advancing climate solutions rather
than just reacting to disruptions to your industry and markets.
Visit Minerva Ventures’ new website at MinervaVentures.com!
Newsletter Editor: Dinyah Rein, Consultant, Minerva Ventures, LLC
Contact Minerva
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