I arrived at GeekWire’s Seattle offices on a sunny afternoon in June to find a party in full swing on the deck. I’d just driven up from Florence, Ore., my last stop on a road trip from Santa Cruz where I’d spent the year completing a master’s degree in science communication.
I parked and double-checked the address. Behind a creaky wooden gate and up a set of stairs sat a quaint house bustling with amiable strangers. I began introducing myself as the intern, hoping at least a few of them were my future colleagues.
I’ve spent the past three months writing for GeekWire as the first Etzioni intern in Climate Tech Journalism, covering everything from electric vehicle infrastructure to the applications of AI in wildfire response. I learned what sets this technology apart and why it is important to raise awareness about creative ways to contend with climate change.
News about the environment is often bleak, but climate tech is optimistic. Writing about it gave me a unique opportunity to highlight the people working toward solutions.
I attended about a dozen events around the Seattle area this summer, test-drove an EV, shook hands with the governor, and ran across the city looking for evidence of charging cable theft.
Here are a few of my takeaways from the summer.
Seattle is an emerging hub for climate technology and leaders in the region want to make it THE spot for clean tech innovation.
- In early July, Pacific Northwest Climate Week partnered with the Bloomberg Green Festival to host a jam-packed week of dedicated climate events and talks.
- Seattle will soon become home to a dedicated climate co-working space.
- Experimental facilities like the University of Washington’s Clean Energy Testbeds draw international innovators to come try out cutting-edge tech and rub elbows with fellow trailblazers.
Washington state is doing a lot to incentivize residents to adopt greener and cleaner ways of living.
- The Climate Commitment Act has made billions of dollars available for environmental justice initiatives, renewable energy projects, building upgrades, and beyond. A good chunk of these funds goes toward tribal governments, communities of color, and lower-income communities in rural areas.
- There are new rebate programs for buying an electric vehicle and job training programs to equip people from underserved communities with the skills to lead climate projects.
- An initiative on the ballot this fall, I-2117, would repeal the Climate Commitment Act.
Climate tech also occupies a specific niche.
Unlike a lot of tech, climate tech mixes software and hardware, which creates unique opportunities and challenges. Many “products” in this category combine some kind of app or web-based platform with a physical tool.
Take the EV charger, for example. Designing a functional charging station takes longer than it does to make web tools that tell a customer where it’s located and whether it’s open.
Great climate tech products may involve feats of engineering that take more time, and money, to pull off.
Businesses in every industry are now encouraged and often required to look for ways to reduce emissions and improve the efficiency of their processes.
The climate tech umbrella is growing, and the ventures beneath it encompass sustainable farming and food production, weather forecasting, carbon capture and removal, recycling, and more.
For every company that succeeds, many others fail.
I think it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement surrounding a grand idea, and important to stay grounded in reality. Ambitious experiments can distract from the impact of incremental change.
Parting thoughts: Before GeekWire, most of my journalism experience was in health and life sciences. This internship gave me a crash course on business and tech reporting, and helped me understand what makes any tidbit of news worth writing about.
The GeekWire team is small but mighty, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to join their ranks this summer. I’ll take what I’ve learned with me wherever I go next, and take comfort in knowing that journalism is still thriving in the Pacific Northwest.
Editor’s note: The GeekWire climate internship was made possible by a grant from Oren Etzioni, founding CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Ai2) and head of the TrueMedia,org nonprofit, and his son Eli Etzioni, who works for Tradewater, a company trying to cut climate warming emissions.
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