Welcome back, Shit Givers.

It's been extra chilly out, so we're making a lot of stews and soups, and there's a few in here that are just killer. Enjoy.

Note: When I was finishing up this draft last night, news broke that a federal judge revoked the 80 million acres of oil and gas leases recently and controversially auctioned off by the government in the Gulf of Mexico. This is tremendous news for the "leave it in the ground" method of decarbonization, and I'll have more next week as the story unfolds.

This Week, Summarized:

• Gas stoves can GTFO
• Omicron means we still need masks at schools
• The future of "organic" food
• Throwing cash at bigger baby brains
• Pregnancy apps are a data nightmare

Reminder: You can read this issue on the website, or you can listen to it on the podcast (shortly).

Reading Time: 9 minutes.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Unsplash/Dane Deaner

A very bad day for gas stoves

The news: I've reported previously on the danger gas stoves present to the people using them. But we might finally have a (big fucking) indication as to their contribution to the climate crisis.

From The Washington Post:

"(Stanford University) researchers in (a study published Thursday in the journal Environmental Science and Technology) measured emissions from stoves in 53 homes across seven California counties. They used their findings to estimate that methane emissions from gas stoves in the United States have a comparable climate impact to about 500,000 gas-powered cars driven for a year."

But further:

"The researchers also found that more than three-quarters of the methane emissions occurred when the gas stoves were turned off, suggesting that leaks persist even when the appliances are not being used for cooking or heating."

Understand it: Many people can't just ditch gas stoves, often because those people are renters, can't afford to, or both. So some cities are beginning to ban gas hookups in new construction. It's a baby step, but admittedly a revolutionary one, so I'll take it.

Electrification isn't just some nice to have: Forgetting the emissions from carbon and methane, air pollution is the 80/20 health lever of our time. It makes every day worse for billions of people, it made COVID more dangerous to millions.

Thankfully, even with BBB held up, we're doing something about it.

Just this week the Tesla Model Y broke records, GM announced billions for EV production (twice what it would take to electrify post office trucks), incandescent light bulbs were revealed to be more expensive AND confined to poor neighborhoods, funding for EV chargers is on the way, and the White House partnered with states and cities to begin to electrify buildings.

⚡️Action Step: Check out Consumer Reports's ratings for induction ranges ($), and Wirecutter reviewed the best portable induction cooktop for those of you who just want to dip your toes in the water. And then take it to your mayor with Rewriting America.

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COVID

Ask better questions

Vaccine equity update: Just 9.8% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose, and 39.2% of people worldwide have received no doses.

The news: I don't have to tell you that masks are still a thing. A thing, in that they work, and that (legit) K95's and N95's work far better than cloth alternatives, and a thing in that many still find the entire idea of wearing them a threat to their liberty.

I get it. I'm sick of wearing them, too.

Mask mandates among school districts are in flux -- there are mandates covering 35% of schools, in legal limbo in 25%, it's down to local districts in 34%, and finally, local mandates banned by state governments in 7% of districts.

No one state, district, or even country has the same policy. And so much about transmission has changed since Omicron.

Which makes "The Cast Against Masks at School", published by The Atlantic this week, so eye-opening.

Understand it: Composed by an infectious-disease scientist, a veterinarian, and an emergency medicine doctor, the article cites a number of studies from around the world to support the authors' argument that "keeping unproven measures in place is no longer justifiable."

Which is usually and objectively true.

However:

The authors caveat right at the top that "No district is likely to roll back COVID policies in the middle of the Omicron surge, at the top of the list of policies we should rethink once the wave recedes is mandatory masks for kids at school."

And yet something about the remainder of the piece bothered me.

My job is to ask better questions, and it didn't take long to track down every study in the article and understand this:

Nearly every study about mask effectiveness cited in the article was conducted before the Omicron variant was even detected domestically (November 2021 for US and UK), much less when it blew all of the other pre-existing variants off the board.

The timing of the data matters because Omicron is far more transmissible than other variants, and sets up shop in the upper respiratory tract (which may be why it's more transmissible, and potentially marginally more dangerous to kids, who have smaller airpipes).

It matters because while Omicron is less severe for you, individually, with your 2-3 shots, even for kids, case counts have exploded everywhere, and, while vaccines have kept the ratio of hospitalizations and deaths low, the raw number is far higher, as 25% of Americans remain unvaccinated, and that includes 71% of children aged 5-11.

It matters because we're back up to 2000 deaths a day.

It matters because every patient hospitalized for whatever reason is further exhausting a system that's already exhausted, and keeping other sick or injured people from receiving care.

It's why clickbait headlines and poorly contextualized articles are dangerous, and why masks matter more than ever.

⚡️Action Step: Remember: For the most part, the goalposts don't keep changing because anyone wants them to (ok, besides the pharmaceutical industry). The science is changing because science is a process, and the subject is a virus that keeps changing, and we're doing this live. Push back against mis- and disinformation everywhere you see it.

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FOOD & WATER

The future of "organic"

The news: Whether or not your refrigerator is a closed-loop agent of climate change, what's inside matters, too. And not just because everything inside it will both kill you and help you live forever.

"Organic" is the long-time, more expensive, "better-for-you" option in many cases. It's the label most people recognize, but others have grown around it, and organic plant-based foods remain unaffordable for many.

So -- what the hell does "organic" mean anymore, and going forward?

Understand it: While "USDA Organic" is the only one of four hundred others that's regulated by the feds, it's not perfect, and money at stake is substantial ($62 billion and counting).

Will hydroponic keep their certification? Will the Real Organic Project gain mainstream traction? Can we finally agree what regenerative means, and that legumes are the future?

⚡️Action Step: Our friends at Civil Eats published an in-depth investigation of organic, fro soil to sales. Get up to speed.

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Help me build a better future. Apply to be my #2 right here.

HEALTH & BIO

Baby brains on cash

The news: For years, actual pro-life advocates have pushed to reduce poverty in America by sending no-strings-attached cash to parents, monthly.

Well, thanks to Mr. Pandemic, the federal government started doing that, and, just as renewal is up for debate, a new study dropped examining a different but related experiment called "Baby's First Years" and the findings are striking.

Understand it: Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS, if you know), children whose parents received $333/month vs $20/month showed more "fast" brain activity than the babies whose parents got less cash.

What.

Kimberly Noble, a professor of neuroscience and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, and a co-author of the new study, said:

“On average, several higher-order skills, things like language development, tend to be associated with more of that fast brain activity. Infants and toddlers with more of that fast brain activity often develop more verbal proficiency, higher social/emotional skills, other forms of cognitive skills.”

We're not sure exactly why it improved brain wave speed, but the answer may be simple: Parents less stressed about cash have more time and energy to be with their kids.

⚡️Action Step: You can read the whole article here, and then send money directly to people living in poverty through our friends at GiveDirectly.

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BEEP BOOP

How a baby (app) is made (and harvests your personal data)

The news: Quite a few years ago, my wife and I cried our way through a number of sleepless nights, desperately searching online for any sort of reputable information that could help us make a baby.

We were privileged enough to be able to afford infertility treatments, from trustworthy doctors, and to eventually be able to finally make some babies.

200,000 years since homo sapiens dropped, the United States ranks last in maternal care and mortality among developed nations, and it's even worse for Black baby havers.

Now, your instinct might be to say "Web3 solves this" (I'm kidding), but in reality: Shouldn't the internet be evolved enough to help pregnant people through their journey?

And the answer would be: Of course not. It's the internet.

Understand it: Disinformation specialist Nina Jankowicz herself, newly pregnant, took a deep dive into the pregnancy app ecosystem, and it's dark.

"A 2021 academic study surveyed 29 apps and found over 60 percent did not have comprehensive information for every stage of pregnancy and only 28 percent cited medical literature.

[...] (While) some apps boast message boards and communities where future parents can connect with one another. Recently, they’ve been plagued with COVID-19 misinformation and anti-vaccination sentiments."

⚡️Action Step: Nina recommends the NHS's simple and reputable "week by week" guide for folks who need one. For those still trying, you are loved and not alone. For everyone: Join the Rep. Underwood's Momnibus movement for better maternal outcomes and follow the Black Maternal Health Caucus on Twitter.

10 11 THINGS FROM MY NOTEBOOK

• Clean energy stocks have (to put it gently) come back to earth. What's next?
  
• Europe's on the cusp of a war with Russia -- and a gas crisis
  
• The 101 on clean energy minerals, from my less than patient friend, David Roberts at Volts
• Ads for livestock antibiotics aren't supposed to be legal anymore. Why are they everywhere?
  
• An uplifting map of where nature is (actually) healing
  
• After decades of constituent organizing, the LA City Council voted unanimously to pass a motion to phase out oil and gas extraction and prohibit any new oil and gas drilling citywide. Huzzah.
  
• 15 funds that could power regenerative agriculture
• Antivaxxers are making bank on Substack, so that's great (25% of Americans remain unvaccinated against COVID)
  
• Huge congrats to our friends Amy and Mary at Hot Take as they join our other friends at Crooked Media. LFG.
• The EPA is finally going after Cancer Alley
• ...And as promised: Rihanna donated $15 million to climate justice organizations throughout the Caribbean and the US, because she is a QUEEN. It’s unclear if the funding will cover umbrella--ella--ella-ella’s.

IMPORTANT JOBS

Every week, we share Featured roles from Important Jobs right here in the newsletter. Hiring and want to get your open role in front of our community? Submit a Featured role for free here.

• Climate Research Manager, GivingGreen
• Communications and Development Officer, GivingGreen
• External Communications Manager, GiveDirectly
• Senior Software Engineer, GiveDirectly
• VP Growth, GiveDirectly
• Legal Counsel, GiveDirectly
  
• Strategic Finance Lead, Evergrow
• Business Development Lead, Evergrow
• Merchandising Sustainability Manager, REI
  
• Principal Technical Project Manager, Next Gen Cathode, QuantumScape
  
• Senior Technical Project Manager, Rad Power Bikes
  

Browse 50+ open roles, or list your own for free at ImportantJobs.com.

Got a winter storm coming your way and kids to entertain? We don't do too many screens, but they LOVED Encanto and (the very chill) Cozy Grove on Switch. Best of luck!

Thanks as always for reading, and thanks for giving a shit. Have a great weekend.

-- Quinn