Between the bylines

Busy busy bee

Please accept this short missive, dear reader, in lieu of actual content.

This January, I was shot out of a cannon. Real life stuff like international travel and pressing deadlines have slowed by cadence. Apologies for the content draught.

I plan to write a set of pieces in the next 6-8 weeks on the following

• By the numbers on climate, 2026 edition

• Decoalification update, 2026 edition

• A big CO2 removal piece based largely on what I’ve been busy with in my day job.

• A post-grievance world for climate and energy

Until then, I write with a bit of optimism from Kenya. Greetings from Nairobi.

It’s easy to index on North America or Europe and feel pessimistic. I believe this is a mistake - the world is large and lot is going on in it.

In the context of Kenya, I come back to several bits of good news and dynamism around The Work:

• First and foremost, human talent: I am gobsmacked by the talent here: engineers, financiers, entrepreneurs, farmers. Everyone is driven, scrappy, and committed to good outcomes. Everyone I encounter is both clear-eyed and optimistic. They see real possibilities and put their shoulder to the wheel to manifest benefits. In particular, their young professionals are exceptionally talented and driven.

• Immense resources: Kenya is blessed with immense wind, solar, geothermal resources. They have fertile soil, modern infrastructure (ports, rail, roads) and great biodiversity. Business, government, and civil society here seek new ways to use these resources for clean manufacturing, carbon crediting, and future industries (including, of course, data centers).

To be clear, everything is harder that I would wish. That’s true everywhere.

Also: everything is better than one thinks.

More coming another day.
Back on my head until then.