Why I Founded Climate Ingenuity

My Story

Most people know me for my hardcore passion for climate policy, so it might seem surprising that I only got involved less than three years ago. Back in late 2019, Greta Thunberg’s movement had just risen to prominence around the same time that the Australian wildfires were happening. Meanwhile, I had just come off an awful semester at college and knew deep down that I really needed to make some big changes in my life. Then, sitting by myself at a restaurant past 9pm on an otherwise normal Tuesday night, I saw a scary tweet claiming the world could start falling apart in five years if not enough is done to cut global greenhouse gas emissions. It didn’t matter at that moment that the tweet came from a climate doomer. Suddenly I had this huge realization that I was distinctly well equipped to take substantial action on the issue, much more than I had previously thought.

However the thing is, like a lot of people I just didn’t know what I should do at the beginning. In the following year, both before and during covid-19, I’d say 80% or more of my ideas to bring about change didn’t go anywhere. At times I felt so overwhelmed as if I somehow needed to carry the weight of the whole world on my shoulders alone. But I kept trying and refused to become one of those people who merely chose “not to think about it.” Then in early 2021 I faced my first major hurdle.

By that point I had already tried three different majors in college, only to still find little coverage on climate policy solutions. I also didn’t know of any educational websites on the subject, yet. It almost felt as if going to grad school was required to learn enough about how to solve the world’s biggest issue, and I knew that if I was being affected by this issue seemingly no one was talking about, surely others were too. So in response, I began compiling climate policy resources on my own for self-study purposes. The list started at just 18, ones I had discovered earlier mostly by chance. However, in the months that followed through sheer ingenuity, grit, and some luck, I expanded what I had to 50, 100, 150, then even 200 items spanning virtually every format and covering close to all sectors, regions, knowledge levels, and geographic scales.

Thinking Beyond Myself

Now, I could’ve just stopped there. Kept all the resources to myself, knowing from a knowledge standpoint I’d have a huge leg up on everyone else in the field going forward. But then I paused and thought to myself: what would my clueless former self need to make an impact on climate? What can I do now to bridge that gap, being fully aware that countless other people across the world I’ve never met before are in that exact same situation?

The answer turned out to be quite simple: build and scale up the climate policy platform those people could only dream to have long-term. After that, things began to fall into place. More planned features including an accelerated learning guide, and top recommended resources by category Brainstorming ways to help people get connected with others also interested in the subject. And perhaps most importantly, a fitting name for this project: Climate Ingenuity.

The Bigger Picture

Rule #1 when it comes to tackling the climate crisis is that systemic change far outweighs individual actions. In other words, there’s only so much even the most involved person can do. Thus, I usually prefer to work with the system rather than fight against it. I don’t believe we need to abolish capitalism to save the climate, nor abolish the U.S. Senate to pass enough legislation on the issue. But lack of climate policy education at scale? Well that’s different. Simply put, K-12 coverage on climate change in general is so dismal that an entire book was published on the subject last year. As for how colleges and universities do? Zero, yes that’s right, zero schools to my knowledge offer the subject as an undergrad major, or even enough courses on it that one could design their own major around it.

What’s Ahead

In this first newsletter edition, I’ve provided an overview of the context regarding what drove me to do this work making climate policy accessible to everyone. Going forward, you’ll receive more of my portfolio on various climate policy topics covered within the resources I’ve already compiled, updates on how the main platform is progressing, and hear about ways you can potentially get involved in helping get it launched. If you find all this valuable, please do share with those around you using this link, it greatly helps grow my audience.

Next Up: my thoughts on climate policy expert Hal Harvey’s new book The Big Fix, published just last month and clearly best suited for everyday people.