Even Coldplay Is Looking for a Climate Solution

(Bloomberg) --

We've all got problems. They range from the personal (keeping my plants alive) to the planetary (the Earth is rapidly warming). Each has a solution, one being not over-watering. Removing massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, however, is not a one person-job.

It's very tempting to feel as if we're doing our part. If you're reading this, you likely recycle, even if your local sanitation service takes your carefully sorted paper, plastic and glass and just dumps it in with the trash.

What you think might be helping, sometimes might be hurting. Perhaps you order products online to avoid multiple trips to the store. After all, massive companies moving consumer goods in bulk in their little blue vans must be more efficient than you going alone in your SUV, right?

Wrong. As Amazon has moved toward even faster Prime shipping (the latest iteration is actually called Prime Now, as in today), the company's vehicles are traveling mostly empty at rapid speeds to far-flung neighborhoods. (Nevermind that many goods are provided by nomadic sellers who burn more gasoline on your behalf as they roam the country looking for limited edition Oreo cookies.)

Amazon has debated giving customers a so-called “Green” shipping option, offering a slightly slower delivery speed that would allow the company more time to cluster orders together and send out densely packed vehicles, saving on fuel and carbon emissions. 

But, as good as that may sound, it hasn't been implemented. Why? Amazon likes money, and providing a planet friendlier-option risks dissuading shoppers from clicking “Buy Now.” 

In September, CEO Jeff Bezos pledged to make his business carbon neutral by 2040, and last month said he'd spend $10 billion of his personal fortune on projects to combat climate change. Perhaps Amazon “Green” would be a good start? 

Sometimes, a problem is both your fault and that of society. At least 3.8 million U.S. homes lie in flood plains. Together, they may be overvalued by $34 billion. Individuals did make the decisions to buy those homes, yes, but markets failed to incorporate risks from flooding and climate-related catastrophes. So in this case, everyone is to blame.

Let's not forget the famous. A growing number of musicians (including Fatboy Slim and Peggy Gou) have environmental demands built into their contracts, such as bans on plastic cutlery in their backstage catering. These are small gestures when compared with the emissions produced by a tour (like Iron Maiden's now retired-jet above). Some artists are beginning to make bigger changes, though. Remember the Dave Matthews Band? It's buying offsets for emissions from its summer tour, and another turn of the century phenomenon, Coldplay, said it would halt touring until it could find a way to make concerts more sustainable.

Even a few restaurants are making food that washes off some of their industry's huge carbon footprint, from crafting hummus out of beer keg runoff to sourcing rice from fields that double as homes for migrating birds. Of course, far more people consume fast-food burgers than ethically sourced risotto. 

While the remaining Democratic presidential candidates have noticeable differences in their climate plans, each would pull the same levers to put their climate plans into action. One such change is our power grid. In the U.S., electricity generation was responsible for 33% of CO2 emissions in 2018. Helpfully, Wall Street appears to be falling out of love with natural gas. So change may come, depending on who wins in November.

But even with such developments, the reality remains grim. Europe just had its hottest winter on record, according to new data from the EU's Copernicus Climate Change service. And tropical forests appear to be reaching their carbon dioxide limit.

Josh Petri writes the Week in Green newsletter recapping the best reads and key news in climate change and green solutions. 

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Rovella at drovella@bloomberg.net, Timothy Coulter "Tim"

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