Happy Monday. 👋

Welcome to The Grumpy Optimists for all the new faces that join us this week (there are lots more than anticipated). For those of you that are new, it’s probably smart to give you an overview of what The Grumpy Optimist is and what you can expect in 2023.

The Grumpy Optimist started back in 2021 as a way to channel the frustrations about climate change and instead of being negative, the aim was to find positives and solutions to the challenges we face.

Every Monday morning (sorry this week was late - substack failed me) you’ll get a newsletter of me recapping and giving my perspective on the week of climate news and the things you need to know. The aim is to make you realise that the world isn’t screwed, we’re making progress and we have the opportunity to create change. If I can make some of you head into the week energised and inspired by what’s happening in the world then I and the planet will be a lot happier.

Without further ado, let’s dig into this week.

👀 Articles to read

🌍 Earth’s ozone layer to heal within decades. The ozone layer is probably the best example of what can be done to fix our climate. What was once the peril facing humanity is now a success story in climate policy and action. Now, the ozone layer is expected to be healed within two decades.

🔥Gas stoves are bad for our health, why are they at the heart of a new culture war? A recent study found that 13% of childhood asthma in the US can be linked to using a gas hob (stove in the US) but the biggest result of the study is that cooking on gas has become the latest talking point for conservatives who claim that the Biden administration is trying to ban stoves and take away their freedom (not true). The Biden administration is, however, offering an $850 grant for people to switch to electric hobs, helping reduce the reliance on natural gas infrastructure and accelerate the rate of electrifying buildings.

Rep. Jim Jordan @Jim_Jordan

God. Guns. Gas stoves.

7:24 PM ∙ Jan 12, 2023

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89,064Likes11,049Retweets

💭 Why it Matters. This is an incredible example of the challenges of communicating climate action. Switching from gas to electric hobs is an important step to reducing emissions, but it has now come up against a major challenge. To conservatives, a gas hob will become part of their identity and a rebellion against ‘big government’ and the green agenda. Senator Jim Jordan’s tweet highlights this in just four words.

Perhaps the lesson we should learn from this is that communication matters when it comes to climate science. We need to be thinking about how action can improve people’s lives, not take things away from them - in this example, even physically.

🍴UK bans more single-use plastics. From October 2023 the UK government will ban single-use items such as plastic cutlery, plates and bowls. The news is welcomed by many, but businesses worry about price rises for ‘plastic-free’ alternatives. France also announced similar measures last week.

💭 What’s the impact? Making it possible to reduce single-use plastics is a challenge I’m all too familiar with having written my university dissertation on the barriers businesses face when trying to do so.

Banning single-use plastics is something I agree with, however, if it will simply drive the adoption of single-use ‘compostable’ plastics then it’s not a great policy. Not only is it still single-use, but compostable packaging has a number of issues - greenwashing and a lack of proper waste infrastructure are just two. Abel and Cole recently stopped using compostables in their food delivery.

What we need is to make it easier for people and companies to reuse items - the ‘my KeepCup is my personality’ trend to continue to grow if you will. Companies like ClubZero are trying to make this happen.

🛢️Oil chief names head of COP28. Sultan al-Jaber, chief executive of state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, was appointed to be the COP28 president by the host country the United Arab Emirates last week. This has enraged climate activists, but is there more to think about here? Maybe. Here are some conflicting thoughts, no points for guessing which way I lean.

✅ Al-Jaber has already called for more action to scale up renewable electricity, and as CEO of one of the largest oil companies in the world, he has an incredible amount of influence to create change in the private and public sectors.

❌ However, should that all really matter? By putting a CEO of an oil producer as the leader of a conference that is essentially trying to phase out the very business of consuming oil, we are creating misaligned incentives from day one. A petrostate leading global action on climate change almost feels like a cartoon skit laughing in the face of climate action - particularly when even the oil companies themselves predicted climate change. We're really starting to look like we're putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.

⚡Energy abundance, is it close than we think? With the dramatic fall in the price of wind and solar, the UK could be on its way to an energy abundance, well, as long as we get better at storing it and finding new ways to use more electricity. Yes, more electricity, not less. The idea is that if prices fall too low due to oversupply, investors will lose the incentive to build renewable infrastructure. This is an energy maximalist idea, but an interesting thought nonetheless.

💨 The UK wastes a lot of wind power. This is an interesting follow on from the piece above about how the UK spent roughly £1bn in 2022 turning off windfarms because it was too windy in what is called curtailment. Archy de Berker and his co-author, Peter Dudfield, break down some of the challenges we face as we grow our renewable supply. I highly recommend everyone check out this piece, a great way to understand why climate action takes time and regulation can help solve major challenges.

🏛️ A damning review of UK net zero policy - why it might be a good thing. Tory MP, Chris Skidmore, was tasked with a review of the UK’s progress to net zero by Liz Truss (if you can remember her) and his response is that the government has failed, in every aspect of its effort.

You might be thinking, why is this a good thing? Well, the biggest takeaway from the review was that net zero should be seen as a massive economic potential, not a cost. The report laid bare how poorly the UK government is doing on its climate commitment and hopefully, signals that more is needed. You can’t improve if you don’t know what’s wrong, let’s hope this report matters.

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Just because it made me laugh

💧🌞John Troughton @JoYohana

Not sure who did this but clarifies the net zero goals as to what they will be if achieved, magic

12:51 AM ∙ Jan 11, 2023

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198Likes47Retweets

Previous pieces you might want to check out👇

• Why the framing of climate action needs to change

• Can we defeat nature, or are we just shooting ourselves in the foot?

• How to get a job in climate

That’s all from me this week folks, thanks for subscribing, I look forward to giving you some positive climate news in 2023. If you’ve found this interesting, why not share it with a friend or colleague?

The Grumpy Optimists 💚

About me. I’m George Wade, the person behind The Grumpy Optimist. My day job is being one of the co-founders at Zevero and helping companies decarbonise their business. I’m passionate about fighting climate change and aim to spread positivity about the future and the opportunities we have to create a system that works for us and the planet. Reach out to me via LinkedIn if you’d like to talk about climate or if you have a cool story to share!