I’m back from an incredible ten-day trip to Jordan where I rode a bike 270km along the Jordan Bike Trail. It was the hardest physical challenge I’d ever set for myself but so exhilarating. I saw beautiful landscapes, met incredible people, slept in a tent (twice) and walked away feeling like I know myself better. If anyone wants more details about my trip, do reach out!
EcoRight Speaks, Season 8, Episode 6: Dr. Mike Curran
This week’s guest is ecologist Dr. Michael Curran, who owns and operates Abnova Ecological Solutions. A Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner (CERP) and Certified Wildlife Biologist (CWB), he received both the top M.S. and top Ph.D. Student Award in the country by the American Society of Reclamation Sciences upon completing his graduate degrees. He developed techniques to improve reclamation & restoration monitoring and also pioneered the use of spatially-explicit dashboards to rapidly report reclamation monitoring results, allowing for informed decision making and easy-to-interpret data. Mike worked with 26 oil & gas companies in reporting reclamation and restoration data to the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s Conservation Efforts Database prior to the 2015 Endangered Species Act listing decision of the Greater sage-grouse and was acknowledged by the USFWS for the importance of his contributions.
He’s here to give us some Reclamation 101 so click below for my conversation with Dr. Mike Curran.
Coming up next week: Dora Lutz, an award-winning researcher and international speaker who educates and inspires audiences on how to grow their social impact. Using the principles of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), Dora has worked with small businesses, Fortune 100 companies, and even the United Nations as they leverage business models to create sustainable revenue sources and profound social outcomes.
Quote of the week: Excerpted from a Q&A with Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, new chair of the Conservative Climate Caucus
Overall, I think we need to have a cleaner, healthier planet to leave to our children and grandchildren, but we need to be able to compete economically around the globe. In a globally competitive environment, we’re not going to do that on labor costs, so we need to have affordable energy.
I look at this, how can we reduce emissions to have a cleaner, healthier planet, but also be able to grow an economy. And in growing our economy, all wealthy economies have invested back into cleaning their environment. So I think you can do both of those things. They’re not mutually exclusive.
You can reduce admissions and grow your economy and reinvest back into a healthier planet, so to have that pragmatic message.
And here is her tweet commemorating her assuming the role as caucus chair!
This morning, I joined fellow @Climate_caucus members and @USCleanPower executive board for a roundtable on American energy production. #Iowa and the U.S. are global leaders in clean energy. We must reduce emissions, not choices.
It’s time to unleash America’s energy… pic.twitter.com/afxPuLEISL
— Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, M.D. (@RepMMM) April 10, 2024
March was hot, hot, hot
According to scientists, March 2024 is 10th straight month to be the hottest on record, clocking in at 1.68C warmer than the average temperature in the late 1800s and 0.1C hotter than the previous March record, set in 2016.
Furthermore, NOAA’s February climate summary calculated a 45 percent chance that 2024 could be the planet’s record warmest year.
Shout it out!
Our friends and former webinar guests from Pantsuit Politics gave a shout out to our own Bob Inglis in a podcast episode that aired on March 29th. Give a listen to Did the EPA Just Ban Gas Vehicles (Spoiler: No).
Be sure to pay attention around the 28 minute mark to hear their mention of Bob.
Women in Sustainability
I had the pleasure of being a guest on The Women in Sustainability Experience online show, hosted by past podcast guest and entrepreneur, Sarah Beth Aubrey. We talk about about GLACIAL, so tune in!
Just one of many photos taken at Petra to send you off on your weekend! Make it a good one!