Our climate future: a reprise
This is the December 13, 2022 edition of the Opportunity Miami newsletter written by Matt Haggman, which we send every Tuesday. Click here to subscribe to get our weekly updates in your inbox.
Featured Content
Climate Tech Meetup:
Register for the next Opportunity Miami x Miami-Dade County: Climate Tech Meetup here
As we wind down 2022, this week’s Opportunity Miami newsletter highlights several podcasts, essays, newsletters, and stories from the past twelve months focused on Miami’s climate tech future.
The transition to a net zero economy will be a key driver of Miami’s economy for years to come, and it’s a subject we’ve spent a lot of time on in our first year of Opportunity Miami.
Over the Thanksgiving break, we highlighted our On Site video programs focused on subjects including building a diverse, inclusive next generation of engineers, using solar to power our offices and warehouses, growing lettuce and greens in urban vertical farms, and harvesting fish in the largest indoor aquaculture facility in the world. These are all happening in Miami; you can watch each program here.
For more on climate tech, we reprise select content, starting with a podcast with Vijay Vaitheeswaran, Global Energy and Climate Innovation Editor at The Economist. He called the transition to net zero — that is, to an economy that puts no more climate-warming gas into the air than it takes out — the “megatrend of our lifetimes, and really our children’s lifetime too.” He notes, too, that South Florida has a real opportunity to be a leader in this change and “leapfrog ahead.” You can watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Watch the podcast with Vijay Vaitheeswaran here ▶
We turn to venture capitalist Clay Dumas of Lowercarbon Capital, an $800 million venture-capital fund that invests in companies building a net zero future. He called this moment the “single biggest opportunity” since the early 20th century.
In that same program, we sat down with Miami-Dade County Chief Heat Officer Jane Gilbert and Miami-Dade County School Board Member Luisa Santos on the policy changes needed to hasten the move to 100% clean energy use. You can watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Watch the conversation with Clay Dumas, Luisa Santos and Jane Gilbert here ▶
Then entrepreneur Anya Freeman of Kind Designs as she leads a Miami-based startup that is building 3-D printed sea walls with recycled material that mimic coral reefs and come with sensors to monitor water quality. It’s anticipated that Florida alone will need 10,000 miles of seawalls by 2040. You can read the story that was part of our Opportunity Miami x Refresh Miami Startup Series here.
Read the conversation with Kind Designs here ▶
Meanwhile, Ian Harris is a leader with BlocPower, a company that aims to decarbonize buildings — which, alongside transportation, ranks among the biggest emitters of climate-warming gasses. The New York-based company was featured as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential Companies of 2022.
“You are making your building cleaner, healthier and smarter. And there is a great opportunity to create a job for the future,” Harris said. You can watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Watch the conversation with Ian Harris here ▶
We share a newsletter on Watsco, a company based in Coconut Grove that is the biggest air conditioning distributor in North America and has kept more CO2 from going into the air than Tesla. Most people in Miami weren’t aware of this until a London-based venture capital investor, Christian Hernandez, tweeted about Watsco’s pivotal role. “I’ve fallen in love with what I think could be one of the most impactful companies in our fight against climate change,” he wrote. Read more here.
And lastly, we present an op-ed in The Miami Herald that outlines Miami’s economic priorities going forward. Namely, boiled down to its core, Miami’s future is a “talent and sustainability game.” You can read it here.
On the subject of Climate Tech, our next Opportunity Miami x Miami Dade County Climate Tech Meetup will be January 11. We will use this gathering to discuss funding opportunities due to the various federal legislation passed, such as the Inflation Reduction Act. You can sign up here.
We will use the upcoming holiday break to think about how to make the Opportunity Miami platform even better in its second year. We would love to hear your thoughts and ideas. You can reach us at next@opportunity.miami or engage with us on social media. Please invite friends to subscribe to the newsletter here.
Matt
