Angelina Jolie is Queen of the Bees, What’s Up with Google and RECs? Investigating The Climate Reporter, and Cracked Earth

THE CLIMATE REPORTER  

You know what I’d like to see more of? The Climate Reporter.

I can’t begin to tell you how I discovered this international youth-led environmental news organization covering the work of the growing youth climate movement and more widely known environmental movement, because if I did…

You’d have to bore me to death?

You beat me to the punch.

Bottom line, TheClimate Reporter is An international youth-led environmental news publication covering the work of the growing youth climate movement and more widely the environmental movement. Its goal is to create digital content that ranges from press releases, breaking news stories, interviews, stories from front-line communities, videos, podcast episodes, and more.

The site features opinion pieces, film reviews and personal video diaries of youth on the frontline of the climate crisis. The Climate reporter teased me with some really great writing by some really engaged youth climate activists for two years, 2018-2020.

Then suddenly, radio silence. I did some digging because I wanted to know what was going on. It turns out, The Climate Reporter is part of the People’s Climate Movement. The Peoples Climate Movement believes that by mobilizing massive numbers of people on the ground; finding alignment with partners under the banner of climate, jobs, and justice; and lifting up its core priorities of economic and racial justice, it can build the power required to win real and lasting climate policy on the federal, state, and local level.

Although on hiatus, we still believe that the only way to build the future we want for climate, jobs, and justice is to build power from the ground up. Here’s hoping The Climate Reporter’s hiatus ends soon.

DEEPER DIVE: The Climate Reporter, People’s Climate Movement

ANGELINA JOLIE IS QUEEN OF THE BEES

Guess what? Angelina Jolie wants you to keep bees. That’s according to National Geographic.

The famous star sat for a photoshoot and interview with Nat Geo recently, and she did so with a hive of honey bees. Her goal was to capture portraits that she’s hoping will give a compelling image to accompany her message. Honey bee loss is an ecosystem crisis we started and that we can reverse.

Jolie was recently named the “god-mother” of the UNESCO Women for Bees program. Women for Bees is a state-of-the-art female beekeeping entrepreneurship programme launched by UNESCO and beauty company Guerlain. 

Implemented in UNESCO designated biosphere reserves around the world with the support of the French training centre, the Observatoire Français d’Apidologie (OFA), the Women for Bees program encourages communities worldwide to develop strong, native bee populations and creates opportunities for women entrepreneurship. According to its website, Beekeeping can generate income in rural areas for disadvantaged populations who don’t own crops or farms. It can also generate income and improve food security in areas where agricultural production is minimal.

Women for Bees is a five-year program, part of a UNESCO and Louis Vuitton partnership which supports UNESCO’s scientific intergovernmental Man and the Biosphere (MAB) initiative. Bees as pollinators are hyper-critical to biodiversity and to our food supply. Over 90 crops—or 30% of the world’s food supply, would vanish without bees. 

DEEPER DIVE: UNESCO, NatGeo, USDA

GOOGLE AND RENEWABLE ENERGY CERTIFICATES

Google, the monolithic search engine claims to have been “carbon neutral” since 2007, thanks to something called renewable energy certificates, or  RECs.

So what exactly is a renewable energy certificate? According to Wikipedia, Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), also known as Green tags, Renewable Energy Credits, Renewable Electricity Certificates, or Tradable Renewable Certificates (TRCs), are tradable, non-tangible energy commodities in the United States that represent proof that 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity was generated from an eligible renewable energy resource (renewable electricity) and was fed into the shared system of power lines which transport energy. Solar renewable energy certificates (SRECs) are RECs that are specifically generated by solar energy.

Essentially Google has been buying energy from green producers attached to the same grids as their facilities. Those purchases come with RECs, a little pat on the back letting them know they’re buying renewable. So even though those electrons don’t go directly to Google, they support a cleaner overall grid. It’s a little convoluted, but they were making an effort. And in the words of Minnie Driver’s character in Gross Pointe Blank, “You have to try.”

Under the Green-e Energy program, participants are required to submit to an annual Verification Process Audit[19] of all eligible transactions to ensure the RECs meet the requirements for certification. 

Now though, the company is taking it’s green game to the next level. They’ve committed to having all of their operating energy carbon-free by 2030. Keep hope alive.

DEEPER DIVE: Wikipedia, Google Blog, Google Sustainability

CLIMATE CULTURE: CRACKED EARTH 

Looking for a way that you can help get the word out about Climate Change? Shift Cycling Culture, a non-profit cycling group is looking for support to finish its film, Cracked Earth.

Founded in 2018, Shift Cycling Culture is based out of the Netherlands. According to its website, their goal is to “unite the collective force of our cycling culture to mobilise positive climate action.”Cracked Earth is one of their many projects to build a well educated and mutually supporting cycling community that knows how to take positive climate action.

The group was able to talk with professional cyclists, local shop owners, and local cyclists to put together their film. Cracked Earth directly addresses that “climate change is not a future threat.” It looks at vulnerable areas around the world, from the seat of a bike and the lives of cyclists that live there. The project still needs support to finish all of the work that goes into wrapping up a film: editing, music, sound mixing, graphics, not to mention distribution to all you beautiful people.

As of yet, the funds that are pledged on Kickstarter are a third of the goal to be able to finish. We’ll have links in our show notes to support Shift Cycling Culture and get this wonderful and educational film finished.

DEEPER DIVE: KickStarter, ShiftCyclingCulture, CyclingTips