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September 2025: the future of energy

Each month, we break down our topic into four weekly modules. Catch up on previous editions here.​

This week's module: LEARN

• ✅ CONNECT | Conversation prompts on the divestment and clean energy investment​
• 🎯 LEARN | Key facts and intersections of energy justice
• ACT | What you can do towards a resilient and healthy energy system
• REFLECT | Art, poetry, and commitments

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Here's what we'll learn today Reader

Energy is everything.

It's also not an issue most people think about on a regular basis beyond their electricity bill, since the energy system just... is.

On the other end of the spectrum, those of us who are climate-concerned can yap forever about reducing carbon emissions and transitioning to clean energy.

But, here in the real world where we live, what does that mean?

Do we want to live on a planet where we "solve climate" but displace people from their homes? (I don't.) Do we want to sacrifice human rights for stable temperatures? (I don't.)

That's why, today, I want to bring the energy conversations into an intersection you already care about. Your mission is to choose one article and deepen your knowledge, ideally getting to a place where you can share/discuss it with someone in your life.

Energy is BEARy important, so here's the bear cam livestream from last week. Just as a treat. You deserve to watch some happy bears.

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Your bite-sized action plan Reader

✅ LEARN by selecting one article on the intersections of renewable energy.

​Grist is the source for all our articles today. They're amazing. I pay for their news, and so should you.

I present to you a menu for your renewable education:

• GENERAL | tell the haters they're wrong (Read it here)
  If anyone tells you "renewables aren't reliable," show them how California just debunked this claim. Renewables, combined with battery storage, helped the state's power plants burn 40 percent less fossil fuel for electricity last year. Also, California's battery capacity increased 30x between 2020 and 2023, which is a bonkers case for optimism.
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• GEOPOLITICS & MINING | What to be aware of when we think of building clean energy (Read it here)
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  Fossil fuels aren't the enemy. The unchecked greed of a handful of cartoon villains is. Divesting from fossil fuels is critical to protecting our future, but we must remember that everything comes with a cost. Regardless of the energy source, there is no good outcome for exponential growth. Global demand for resources that power green alternatives to fossil fuels—lithium, cobalt, nickel, and metals—will quadruple by the end of the next decade. Seems fine, until you think about the potential devastation of mining operations on the land and its inhabitants. Unlike fossil fuel adoption, we have the chance to get ahead of this and be proactive about curbing future injustice.
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• HEALTH | How heat pumps can save you from asthma (Read it here)
  Heat pumps are the unsung heroes of the climate movement. Actually, that's not true; they're fairly sung: they've been outselling gas furnaces for years now. Very cool when electricity can save you from having to burn toxic methane gas (aka "natural gas") in your precious home. Swapping yucky combustion-based boilers with heat pumps in factories could "avoid 77,200 premature deaths, 33 million asthma attacks, and more than 200,000 new asthma cases by 2050." No-brainer.
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  ​P.S. here's how a heat pump works: "By manipulating the pressure of refrigerants, they extract warmth from outdoor air and use that energy to heat something. Because heat pumps move heat instead of generating it, they’re several times more efficient than even the best gas furnaces."

Happy learning,

Nivi

Upcoming Soapbox events

• Every Tuesday in Seattle, we have our usual dinner party! Check out our Seattle calendar here.​
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• On Friday, October 17 in Seattle, we have our INAUGURAL GALA! It's going to be an incredible time. Please share with your friends/family who live in the PNW!​
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​Our entire events calendar for ALL locations + virtual can be found here.