Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

Beam Project grew out of my own desire to have an impact on climate change. As a budding chemist, I realized I could address the climate issue by supporting cleantech development. In my career, I shifted into legislation and then to program management at the Department of Energy, and learned firsthand about cleantech innovations that support the clean energy transition. I felt that personally I lacked a real lever for change. I realized that others like me could support cleantech startups to feel empowered to fight climate change.

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Best Estimate of GHG Avoidance/Reduction of This Project (Tonnes CO2 Equivalent/Year):

Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

Beam Project supports economic diversity by providing a financially accessible solution for fighting climate change that results in a direct, outsized impact relative to the effort of each individual involved in donating. 

Climate change is having a direct, material effect on people‚ lives today. Its impacts are not just the environmental degradation stemming from dry summers, stronger storms, and higher tides, but powerful secondary effects on everything from public health to emigration pressure in the global south. Poverty. Injustice. These are climate-adjacent phenomena. These same highly visible impacts manifest in what experts call ‚ climate grief.‚ 

Many climate actions that are available to individuals assume people have the time and the ability to make different choices. Until now, the answer to the question ""what can I do to fight climate change?"" has fallen short for most asking and consists of changing individual behaviors - eliminating single use plastics, composting and recycling, eating less meat - or making a big change - purchasing an electric car, installing solar panels, making ESG investments. While these are all important parts of a societal shift in thinking about climate stewardship, they rely on network effects taking hold if they are to drive big changes, and notably, require a clear level of socioeconomic privilege for most to adopt them. Even advocating for policy change, or voting, requires time. 

Our round-up browser extension collects recurring micro-contributions from users and is based on the use your spare change to make change concept. This approach doesn't require much, only has people donate when they are already choosing to make a purchase, and allows people to enable technology solutions they couldn‚ t help on their own.

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