 |
|
|
|||||
Four years ago, GM set an audacious goal: By 2035, the automaker planned to go all-electric. The company says its still aiming for that target. But it simultaneously lobbied the Senate to end Californias ban on new gas car saleswhich was also supposed to go fully into effect in 2035. In theory, California’s policy should have supported GM’s transition. GM even recruited employees in the lobbying effort. We need your help! the company wrote in an email to staff, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. Emissions standards that are not aligned with market realities pose a serious threat to our business by undermining consumer choice and vehicle affordability. The lobbying worked. Yesterday, the Senate voted to revoke an Environmental Protection Agency waiver that allowed California to set clean air rules that are stricter than national standards. (Congress arguably didnt have the legal right to revoke the waiver; more on that later.) In a statement, the company said, “GM appreciates Congress action to align emissions standards with todays market realities. We have long advocated for one national standard that will allow us to stay competitive, continue to invest in U.S. innovation, and offer customer choice across the broadest lineup of gas-powered and electric vehicles. [Photo: GM] GM CEO Mary Barra has said that the company believes in an all-electric future. The company, which began seriously investing in battery design in 2018, spent $11 billion on EV infrastructure between 2020 and 2024. It has a massive battery factory, co-owned with LG Energy, near Nashville, and another in Ohio, making thousands of battery cells per minute. Its racing to bring down the cost of batteries, the biggest factor in the overall cost of EVs. In the first quarter of this year, GM sold 31,887 EVs in the U.S., a 94% increase over its electric vehicle sales in the same period last year. Its now the second-largest seller of EVs in the U.S., quickly gaining on Tesla. The company plans to nearly double the number of EVs it makes this year compared to last. It has 11 models on the market, including the Chevy Equinox EV, currently the most affordable EV in the country. The popular Chevy Bolt, another affordable EV, will come back later this year. But the company argues that California’s clean car rule is moving faster than market demand. The rule sets targets that automakers have to hit each year. For model year 2026 cars, 35% of a manufacturer’s car sales in the state have to be zero-emission, or the manufacturer has to pay a fine. The target jumps up to 43% in 2027, 51% in 2028, and keeps going until new cars are 100% zero-emission by 2035. Last year, in California, around 25% of new cars registered in the state were electric. This year, as many buyers have veered away from Tesla, the percentage of EV sales could drop. GM declined to comment on whether it expects to hit the 35% target for model year 2026 cars in the state. [Photo: GM] Other states have followed California’s regulation, with the same annual targets: Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. Those states have even lower percentages of EV sales now. Car companies say it would be unrealistic for them to immediately meet the targets for model year 2026 that those states require. Critics argue that if demand is lower than expected, automakers themselves bear some responsibility. “That’s like the kid who says, ‘Look, I didn’t study for the test, and it’s unfair that you’re giving me a bad grade,'” says Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign at the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, noting that GM has the best engineers in the world. They know how to make vehicles that meet standards and that are attractive to consumers. And they’ve chosen not to market their electric vehicles. . . . The auto industry in the United States spends $14 billion a year on advertising and other marketing. Very little of that goes to advertising electric vehicles.” EVs are facing other major challenges. The House just voted to phase out the $7,500 tax credits to buy or lease new EVs (companies that have not yet sold 200,000 EVs will be able to continue to qualify for the credits until the end of 2026; GM has already passed that limit). The House bill also ends a $4,000 tax credit for used cars that was introduced in the Inflation Reduction Act, and another tax credit for home chargers. Since EVs haven’t quite reached price parity with gas cars, the tax credits are crucial. Car companies are also facing steep costs from tariffs. A GM spokesperson said on background that the California rules could cost the company billions at a time when profits are already being squeezed by tariffsand that’s money that the company needs to continue to be able to invest in EV development to bring costs down. GM is still losing money making EVs, though costs are decreasing as production scales up and the technology continues to advance. The Senate vote on California isn’t definitive. The Senate parliamentarian ruled that Congress didn’t have the authority to overturn the waiver that allows California to make its own clean air rules. Waivers aren’t included in the Congressional Review Act, the law that the Senate used to revoke the waiver. (The CRA allows Congress to overturn recent laws with a simple majority vote; the waiver was also granted in 2022 and arguably would also not be considered recent.) “Congress doesn’t get to amend [laws] along the way by saying, ‘Oh, well, we really meant it to be this,” sys Becker. “It’s a Pandora’s box that they’re opening. If the CRA isn’t limited to rules, then you’ve opened the door as to what can be undone by the congressional actioncorporate mergers that are allowed by the SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission], cost-of-living adjustments by different agencies, offshore drilling permitswho knows how this will ultimately be used. And the Republicans will not always be in charge.” California could potentially sue. “That will result in uncertainty for the industry,” Becker says. “They keep saying they want certainty. And they’re getting rid of it by demanding that Congress use an illegal mechanism to undo protections for people with lungs.” Meanwhile, EVs are growing faster outside the United States. Globally, more than one in four cars sold this year is likely to be an EV. In China, more than half of new car sales last year were all-electric. In Norway, 97% of all cars sold last month were electric. As federal support reverses in the U.S., American automakers will fall behind.
Category:
E-Commerce
In December 2022, Matthew Boyer hopped on an Argentine military plane to one of the more remote habitations on Earth: Marambio Station at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, where the icy continent stretches toward South America. Months before that, Boyer had to ship expensive, delicate instruments that might get busted by the time he landed. When you arrive, you have boxes that have been sometimes sitting outside in Antarctica for a month or two in a cold warehouse, said Boyer, a PhD student in atmospheric science at the University of Helsinki. And were talking about sensitive instrumentation. But the effort paid off, because Boyer and his colleagues found something peculiar about penguin guano. In a paper published on Thursday in the journal Communications Earth and Environment, they describe how ammonia wafting off the droppings of 60,000 birds contributed to the formation of clouds that might be insulating Antarctica, helping cool down an otherwise rapidly warming continent. Some penguin populations, however, are under serious threat because of climate change. Losing them and their guano could mean fewer clouds and more heating in an already fragile ecosystem, one so full of ice that it will significantly raise sea levels worldwide as it melts. A better understanding of this dynamic could help scientists hone their models of how Antarctica will transform as the world warms. They can now investigate, for instance, if some penguin species produce more ammonia and, therefore, more of a cooling effect. Thats the impact of this paper, said Tamara Russell, a marine ornithologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who studies penguins but wasnt involved in the research. That will inform the models better, because we know that some species are decreasing, some are increasing, and thats going to change a lot down there in many different ways. With their expensive instruments, Boyer and his research team measured atmospheric ammonia between January and March 2023, summertime in the southern hemisphere. They found that when the wind was blowing from an Adelie penguin colony 5 miles away from the detectors, concentrations of the gas shot up to 1,000 times higher than the baseline. Even when the penguins had moved out of the colony after breeding, ammonia concentrations remained elevated for at least a month, as the guano continued emitting the gas. That atmospheric ammonia could have been helping cool the area. The researchers further demonstrated that the ammonia kicks off an atmospheric chain reaction. Out at sea, tiny plantlike organisms known as phytoplankton release the gas dimethyl sulfide, which transforms into sulphuric acid in the atmosphere. Because ammonia is a base, it reacts readily with this acid. This coupling results in the rapid formation of aerosol particles. Clouds form when water vapor gloms onto any number of different aerosols, like soot and pollen, floating around in the atmosphere. In populated places, these particles are more abundant, because industries and vehicles emit so many of them as pollutants. Trees and other vegetation spew aerosols, too. But because Antarctica lacks trees and doesnt have much vegetation at all, the aerosols from penguin guano and phytoplankton can make quite an impact. In February 2023, Boyer and the other researchers measured a particularly strong burst of particles associated with guano, sampled a resulting fog a few hours later, and found particles created by the interaction of ammonia from the guano and sulphuric acid from the plankton. There is a deep connection between these ecosystem processes, between penguins and phytoplankton at the ocean surface, Boyer said. Their gas is all interacting to form these particles and clouds. But heres where the climate impacts get a bit trickier. Scientists know that in general, clouds cool Earths climate by reflecting some of the suns energy back into space. Although Boyer and his team hypothesize that clouds enhanced with penguin ammonia are probably helping cool this part of Antarctica, they note that they didnt quantify that climate effect, which would require further research. Thats a critical bit of information because of the potential for the warming climate to create a feedback loop. As oceans heat up, penguins are losing access to some of their prey, and colonies are shrinking or disappearing as a result. Fewer penguins producing guano means less ammonia and fewer clouds, which means more warming and more disruptions to the animals, and on and on in a self-reinforcing cycle. If this paper is correctand it really seems to be a nice piece of work to me[theres going to be] a feedback effect, where its going to accelerate the changes that are already pushing change in the penguins, said Peter Roopnarine, curator of geology at the California Academy of Sciences. Scientists might now look elsewhere, Roopnarine adds, to find other bird colonies that could also be providing cloud cover. Protecting those species from pollution and hunting would be a natural way to engineer Earth systems to offset some planetary warming. We think its for the sake of the birds, Roopnarine said. Well, obviously it goes well beyond that. By Matt Simon, Grist This article was originally published by Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Sign up for its newsletter here.
Category:
E-Commerce
Business leaders love to talk about innovation. But for all the energy poured into frameworks and strategy decks, most teams rarely experience what innovation actually feels like. Real innovation is uncertain, emotional, iterative, and profoundly human. Thats why Cliff has spent the past several years guiding organizations through songwriting experiencesyes, literal songwritingto unlock the emotional and relational capacities that innovation demands. And as someone who works at the intersection of story, leadership, and transformational design, Tony sees this as more than a clever workshop: its a reorientation. The same skills it takes to write a compelling songlateral thinking, storytelling, empathy, collaboration, and creative risk-takingare the ones we need to build bold, resilient cultures. Songwriting teaches us more than how to think differently; it teaches us how to be different together. Innovation Is an Emotional Skill Innovation is often framed as a technical challenge. But research suggests the opposite: its emotional first. According to McKinsey & Company, organizations with the highest innovation scores also rank highest on soft skills like trust, emotional intelligence, and psychological safety. Meanwhile, Gallup data shows only 29% of employees say theyre expected to be creative at work, and just three in ten feel they have the chance to do what they do best every day. The problem isnt a lack of ideas. Its a lack of environments where risk, play, and expression are welcomed, let alone expected. This is where songwriting changes the game. In the space of a single facilitated session, teams cocreate something meaningful from nothing. They navigate ambiguity, listen closely, reframe messagesand yes, make something that sings. Not because theyre professional musicians, but because theyre immersed in a process that demands trust, presence, and creative momentum. The Seven Innovation Skills, As Told by Songwriting Too often, we treat creativity as a side activity. But songwriting isnt an extra. Its a mirror for the innovation journey itself. Heres how it maps directly to seven essential innovation skills and why it works: 1. Lateral Thinking The Metaphor. Innovation means getting out of the obvious. Writing metaphors trains the brain to think sideways, to turn literal ideas into poetic ones. Its not just a creativity hackits a neurological shift. Stuck thinking begins to loosen. 2. Creativity The Verse. Creativity isnt magic; its a method. Writing verses requires sequencing, voice, and structure. Its storytelling in rhythm. For teams, this becomes practice in shaping ideas with intention and clarity, something we should emphasize in narrative strategy sessions. 3. Communication The Chorus. A chorus carries the emotional center of the song. It must resonate, repeat, and land. Similarly, every great innovation needs a core message that sticks. The chorus teaches teams to distill complexity into coherence and find the line people will remember. 4. Empathy Observation. To write lyrics that land, you need to observe deeply. Whats unsaid? Whats felt? Songwriting strengthens the skill of attunementthe ability to read emotional subtext, a fundamental asset for human-centered innovation. 5. Collaboration Cowriting. Cowriting is the innovation lab in miniature. Theres friction, refinement, and co-ownership. Innovation isnt about consensus. Its about staying in creative tension long enough to find something better than anyone could create alone. 6. Risk-Taking Vulnerability. Sharing lyrics out loud is deeply vulnerable. Singing them? Even more so. But when teams experience structured creative risk in a psychologically safe space, their tolerance for ambiguity expands, and their courage grows. 7. Diffusion Performance. A song doesnt live until its shared. Performing it completes the arc. Like any innovation, its not enough to build somethingyou have to deliver it. Performance transforms creativity into connection. It makes the work matter. One Teams Transformation When Cliff leads a songwriting program, participants are never told beforehand theyll be writing and performing a song. Why? Two reasons. First, it avoids the anticipatory resistance that creative work can trigger. Second, the moment they discover whats coming, it unlocks a kind of flow stateone where fear and distraction give way to full presence. At a recent offsite for a Fortune 500 company, one participant, a former prison warden, started out stone-faced and silent. But when the group chose 80s metal ballad as the genre for their song, he lit up. Not only did he contribute lyrics, but he also sang lead vocals at the end. His transformation from skeptic to center-stage performer reframed how his team saw him and how he saw himself. Culture as a Creative Practice In our work, we both see this truth: innovation isnt just a process to manage. Its a culture to curate. And culture doesnt change through mandates. It changes through meaning. It changes when teams gather around a campfire, share a personal story, or sketch the opening lyrics of something no ones ever made before. Thats why we design offsites around nature walks and story circlesnot because theyre trendy, but because theyre necessary. Creativity needs conditions. Songwriting creates them. When leaders make space for art, ritual, and emotion, theyre not just encouraging creativity. Theyre building the emotional infrastructure innovation requires. Your next strategy session doesnt need more slides; it might just need a chorus. We dont teach songwriting to turn executives into musicians. We teach it because songwriting is a shortcut to the human skills of innovation. Its experiential, connective, and brings people back to what it feels like to make something that matters. And more than anything, it reminds teams that creativity isnt far away. Its already in the roomwaiting to be invited in.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||