Ocean plastic, Inflation Reduction Act, global EV sales, hybrid work, cognitive decline, glacial rivers, sperm whale talk
May 27, 2024 - The Nett Report
Every other week, the award-winning Nett Report provides readers with thoughtful perspectives helpful to navigating life in a changing world. Past issues can be found here (recent) and here (past four years).
Interested in the ocean plastic crisis? OpenOceans Global, the nonprofit I founded, has just released an assessment of the status of the international plastic treaty negotiations.
Political Divide
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent ones are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.” - Charles Bukowski, poet and novelist
New browser extension to fact check media stories
I haven’t tried it yet, but two researchers at MIT have built a Chrome browser extension that allows readers to fact check stories as they read them. According to a May 19, 2024, article in SciTechDaily, the new Trustnet extension “empowers users to flag and assess the accuracy of any content on any website, promoting a decentralized and user-driven approach to content verification.”
A Nett Report observation: words might be the problem in understanding the benefits of clean energy investment
According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Inflation Reduction Act is “the most significant legislation to combat climate change in our nation’s history.” Without a doubt, the act has helped to boost the clean energy economy and to build or expand many businesses while creating jobs. A recent Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) report, documents that between August 2022 and April 2024 more than 100,000 clean energy jobs have been created by clean energy investments of $121 billion, most in manufacturing. However, media pundits and clean energy supporters don’t understand why the general public doesn’t see the benefits. It could be as simple as the three-word title of the legislation. Most people don’t know the elements of federal legislation. They do know that inflation has been much higher than normal, causing the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates, further eroding buying power. Therefore, an act called the “Inflation Reduction Act” could logically be considered ineffective, unless you know what it was intended to do. Disclaimer: I am a member of E2.
Future of Work / The Economy
“Never half-ass two things, whole-ass one thing.” - Ron Swanson, Parks and Recreation
Most Americans think the U.S. is in a recession. It’s not.
According to a new Guardian/Harris poll, “nearly three in five Americans wrongly believe the US is in an economic recession. A recession is generally defined by a decrease in economic activity, typically measured as gross domestic product (GDP), over two successive quarters … US GDP has been rising over the last few years, barring a brief contraction in 2022, which the NEBR (the National Bureau of Economic Research) did not deem a recession.” A May 22, 2024, story in The Guardian found “persistent pessimism” about the economy:
55% believe the economy is shrinking, and 56% think the US is experiencing a recession, though the broadest measure of the economy, gross domestic product (GDP), has been growing.
49% believe the S&P 500 stock market index is down for the year, though the index went up about 24% in 2023 and is up more than 12% this year.
49% believe that unemployment is at a 50-year high, though the unemployment rate has been under 4%, a near 50-year low.
The vast majority of respondents, 72%, indicated they think inflation is increasing. In reality, the rate of inflation has fallen sharply from its post-Covid peak of 9.1% and has been fluctuating between 3% and 4% a year.
Goldman Sachs says “the inflation emergency has passed.” G10 interest rate cuts likely.
A May 20, 2024, report by Goldman Sachs Research provides a global perspective on monetary easing focused on the G10 banks, pointing out that “following the recent moves by the Swiss National Bank and the Swedish Riksbank, we expect the ECB (European Central Bank), BoE (Bank of England), and BoC (Bank of Canada) to start cutting rates in June.” The report says the U.S. Federal Reserve “will not be in the first wave of cutters because of the pickup in sequential core inflation during Q1 … We estimate that core PCE (personal consumption expenditures price index) increased 0.26% month-on-month, a pace well below the 0.36% average of the prior three months but probably not sufficient for a July cut if maintained in May and June.”
Consumer sentiment at a six-month low
The U.S. might not be in a recession, but The Washington Post, in a May 19, 2024, article, said “Consumer sentiment, a gauge of Americans’ economic perceptions, is at a six-month low, according to a closely watched index by the University of Michigan. The measure notched its biggest drop since 2021, reflecting the persistent tug of inflation on household budgets and fueling fears that rising prices, unemployment, and interest rates could all worsen in the coming months.”
Small business owners want candidates to better address inflation
Even though Goldman Sachs writes that “the inflation emergency is over,” another Goldman survey found 73% of small business owners do not think the presidential candidates are sufficiently addressing inflation - “49% say they’ve had to raise their prices in the last three months.”
The challenges and benefits of hybrid work continue
A May 17, 2024, article in Entrepreneur lays out some of the benefits and challenges of hybrid workplaces. Too detailed to summarize here, the story says hybrid work can create divided workplaces even though it can save time and money and lead to higher employee retention. “A successful remote workplace requires intentional strategy, including regular communication, clear objectives and a strong, purpose-driven culture.”
Five S’s every talk should contain
MIT professor Patrick Winston gave a memorable talk each year about the five elements needed to make a successful presentation. Each starts with an “S.” According to a May 14, 2024, story in INC., Simon Sinek, author of The Power of Why, uses the five points as follows:
Symbol: Use a simple, target-like image with “why”at the center, called the Golden Circle.
Slogan: Start with “why” about 100 different ways in 18 minutes."It's a clear example of a well-crafted slogan in action.”
Surprise: This doesn't have to be some gasp-inducing revelation. Just turning conventional thinking on its head can be enough. In Sinek's case, the surprise is that "leaders think their biggest challenge is the “what” and the “how” but actually it's the’ why.”
Salient idea” “Why” is more powerful than “what."
Story: Use iconic examples to illustrate your point: "Why is Apple more innovative than any other company? Why is it that Martin Luther King Jr. led the Civil Rights movement? Why did the Wright brothers get credit for manned flight?"
Climate Change
“You can’t build a future for our grandchildren with a system built for our grandparents.” - António Guterres, United Nations Secretary General
IEA projects global EV sales will hit 50% by 2035
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says global electric vehicle (EV) sales will reach 17 million in 2024, “meaning one in five cars sold worldwide will be electric.” As reported by Forbes in a May 19, 2024, article, the IEA also projects sales of EV sales will reach 50% by 2035, “cutting oil demand between 6-10 million barrels per day, equivalent to the current amount used for road transportation in the U.S.”
International tribunal rules countries must cut climate pollution
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has ruled that “countries must project marine environments from climate change by cutting their planet-warming pollution ... The 21-judge panel agreed unanimously that national obligations to protect oceans extend to greenhouse gases that are causing seawater temperatures to rise dramatically, and that countries must ‘take all necessary measures to prevent, reduce and control marine pollution’ related to climate change.” The U.S. is not one of the 169 countries that are members of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The story was reported by Scientific American on May 22, 2024.
Port oil facilities and coastal septic systems at risk from sea level rise
Two new issues related to climate change and sea level rise have surfaced in recent weeks. A May 21, 2024, story in Reuters says “rising sea levels could severely disrupt crude oil shipments and erode energy security in import-dependent countries like China, South Korea and Japan, with many of the world's biggest terminals vulnerable to flooding.” In addition, a May 22, 2024, story in The Washington Post concluded that septic tanks in low-lying coastal areas could become sources of pollution as sea level rises. “Along those coastlines, swelling seas are driving water tables higher and creating worries in places where septic systems abound, but where officials often lack reliable data about their location or how many might already be compromised.” There are millions of septic tanks in the American south.
Health
Small intake of ultraprocessed food associated with cognitive decline
Even if you eat a primarily healthy diet, consisting of mostly plant-based foods, increasing your intake of ultraprocessed foods by only 10% increases your risk of cognitive impairment by 16%, according to a study in the journal Neurology, as reported by CNN Food on May 22, 2024. “Eating more unprocessed or minimally processed foods was linked with a 12% lower risk of cognitive impairment.”
Personality traits have a strong link between risk of and resilience to dementia
Continuing with the dementia theme, a story in BBC’s Science Focus section on May 26, 2024, reported that “experts think your personality is an important risk factor that most of us are unaware of.” A recent paper in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association found “a strong link between people’s personality traits and not just their risk of dementia, but also their resilience to the pathology of the disease.” The five traits assessed included:
Openness to experience
Conscientiousness (being hard-working and goal-oriented)
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
“The team found that high scores on negative personality traits (negative affect and neuroticism) and lower scores on positive traits (extraversion, conscientiousness and positive affect) were associated with a higher risk of receiving a dementia diagnosis. The converse was true of lowering risk … these weren’t small changes. For example, a 10 percent increase in conscientiousness score was associated with about 15 times lower odds of getting dementia.”
The Nett Light-Side
“People don’t understand that when I grew up, I was never the most talented … The only thing I had was my work ethic, and that’s what has gotten me this far.” - Tiger Woods
The abstract beauty of Iceland’s glacier rivers
Photographer Jan Erik Waider uses his talents to look at Iceland’s glacier rivers from the air. He first uses satellite imagery to find potential subjects, and then uses drones or small planes to capture his images. An April 26, 2024, story in My Modern Met showcases some of his beautiful images like the one above.
Deciphering sperm whales’ phonetic alphabet
Marine mammal communications have long been a mystery. A May 8, 2024, article in Smithsonian Magazine describes how sperm whales’ rapid clicks are being decoded into a “sperm whale phonetic alphabet.” The article suggests the possibility that “the mammals have their own language, just like humans.”
The green flash explained
As the sun goes down or comes up, people around the world gather on shorelines on clear days in hopes of seeing the green flash. A May 19, 2024, article in LiveScience explains the how and why.
Startup exploring robotic head transplant system
So your brain is fine but your body is failing. Fear not. Bainbridge, a neuroscience and biomedical engineering start-up, “has unveiled a revolutionary concept for a robotic head transplant system.” According to a story on May 22, 2024, in Neuroscience News, “This ambitious project aims to offer a new lease on life for patients suffering from terminal illnesses and neurodegenerative diseases by transferring their heads onto healthy donor bodies.” The story provides a brief histry of animal head transplants but doesn’t answer the question about where to find a donor body.
About Carl Nettleton
Carl Nettleton is an award-winning writer, speaker, thought partner, facilitator, and subject-matter expert regarding water, climate, sustainability, the ocean, and binational U.S.-Mexico border affairs. Nettleton Strategies, the consultancy he founded in 2007, is a trusted source of analysis and advice on issues at the forefront of public policy, business, and the environment. He helps people and organizations to think strategically about their options for change. He is also the founder of OpenOceans Global, a nonprofit addressing ocean plastic in a new way.