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Standing on top of a giant wind turbine in Texas, 300 feet above the ground, Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos raised a bottle of champagne above his head, and smashed it against the machine. He was christening Amazon Wind Farm Texas, a 253MW facility near the town of Snyder â and couldnât resist a slight grin at the camera, as the champagne dripped down the turbine.
The year was 2017, and Bezosâs wind farm christening, broadcast across Twitter, marked a turning point for the company, reflecting a surge of investment in renewable energy. At the time Amazon was not a heavyweight in the world of green power, but that has changed: last year it was the largest corporate clean energy dealmaker in the U.S., according to new data, as well as globally.
Is our drinking water contaminated with forever chemicals? (Moshe Shai/Flash90)
Academics and activists looking to win the hearts and minds of the public and politicians need to explain environmental hazards in language that most people can relate to, a conference heard Monday.
Panelists at an online confab organized by the Environment and Health Fund warned that academic reports and big-picture problems would fail to sway decision-makers or ignite grassroots pressure from the street.
“The average citizen doesn’t connect the macro-problems, [doesn’t link] the things in the atmosphere that are far away, with, for example, one’s asthma,” said Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg, an economist who served in the Knesset from 2015 to 2017 and now teaches at Tel Aviv University.
Highlights
At 16, Greta had attended the UN s Climate Action Summit, where her impassioned speech moved millions across the world.
Greta, who has Asperger s syndrome, was Time’s Person of the Year 2019.
Greta Thunberg is a 2021 Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
New Delhi: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has gone viral again after she tweeted in support of India’s farmers’ protest. The 18-year-old environmentalist took to Twitter on Tuesday (February 2) and wrote, “We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India.”
Greta’s tweet came soon after international pop star Rihanna tweeted in support of the farmers sharing an article and asked, “Why aren t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest.”
Facilitator:
Keynote:
Panel Moderator:
Panelists:
Sammy Roth, Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times
Others TBA
Breakout Rooms: Following the keynote and panel sessions, registrants can choose one of the four breakout rooms listed below for informal discussion on these timely environmental topics.
1. Unshackling EPA
Hosts: Cheryl Hogue, Senior Correspondent, Chemical & Engineering News, and Laura Paskus, Correspondent and Producer, New Mexico PBS
2. Department of Interior: Making History and Undoing the Past
Hosts: Judy Fahys, Mountain West Reporter, Inside Climate News, and Emily Gertz, Senior Editor, Drilled News
3. Climate & Energy: The Year Ahead for Biden’s Climate Strike Force
Hosts: Michael Kodas, Senior Editor, Inside Climate News, and Kathi Kowalski, Freelance Journalist