Climate Change

Winter has never been my preferred season. Despite growing up in a region characterized by significant cold weather, I haven’t developed any particular resilience to winter’s challenges compared to others. Yet I’ve come to recognize the value in the complete seasonal cycle and make deliberate efforts to find meaningful engagement with winter’s unique qualities, even while acknowledging my natural preference for warmer months.

When considering technology, many envision futuristic concepts like advanced robotics, artificial intelligence, and interplanetary travel. However, technology encompasses something far more profound—it represents our capacity to thoughtfully shape the world around us. Through this broader lens, we can recognize cities themselves as remarkable technological achievements that deserve greater appreciation. Current AI-generated cityscapes reveal our evolving imagination of urban futures, though the visual inconsistencies remind us of the limitations in our present technological capabilities.

If you pay much attention to the mainstream media, you’ve likely heard the phrase “energy transition” thrown around, which alludes to an ongoing global effort to transition away from fossil fuels and move toward so-called “green” energy sources1. As much airtime as this catch-phrase gets, there’s little evidence to support any transition2.

Photo by Denys Nevozhai Transportation in Transition # If you happen to know me personally, you’re probably familiar with my perspective on urban transportation, and perhaps even tired of hearing about it. I follow communities like r/fuckcars and enjoy YouTube channels such as “Not Just Bikes” and “Climate Town.”

The Journey from Optimism to Realism # For a long time I was a futurist, and an optimist about technology in general. I agreed with the thesis that technology makes everything better over time. These days, I’m older and (maybe?) wiser, and I’ve developed a more nuanced perspective about technology’s role in our society.

Policy Discussions and Environmental Awareness # I watched yesterday’s budget committee meeting at the US senate (which you can find here). While the pace of political change can feel frustratingly slow, there are growing signs of awareness about the environmental challenges we face and the need for meaningful action.

Yesterday an interesting thing happened, where disenfranchised folks walked right up into the US capitol after Donald Trump told them to do so. They weren’t welcome there, and a few people ended up dead in the scuffles, and a lot of people were mad for a variety of reasons. Where the people who run the USA world meet

While recycling is important, it’s just one part of a comprehensive approach to environmental stewardship. Many people focus primarily on recycling without considering the even more impactful steps we can take to reduce our environmental footprint. Mountain of trash generated by my apartment building. Where does it go? No one knows.