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In 2006, as the modern sustainability movement gained momentum, I launched The Lazy Environmentalist on Sirius Satellite Radio. The shows premise was simple: Millions of people wanted to reduce their environmental impact, but not if it meant sacrifice or inconvenience. So we sought stories and solutions that elevated sustainabilitys appeal. Thats how I found Plasma Boy. Plasma Boy Two decades ago, Portland, Oregon, had a thriving drag racing scene. A city known for its progressive, artsy vibe was also home to legions of racing fans obsessed with speed. John Wayland, aka Plasma Boy, was one of them. His racing vehicle was a souped-up yet diminutive 1972 Datsun named The White Zombie, stuffed with forklift batteries inspired by his day job in a local warehouse. Plasma Boy had one of the fastest street-legal race cars in the country. I wanted to hear about it. Josh, you wouldnt believe it, he said, kicking off our interview. The other night I was at the track, and I blew the doors off a Corvette. Amazing! How did you do it? I asked. Eight hundred pounds of torque. Zero to 60 in under three seconds. But the best part? After the race, I walked up to the guy and asked how he liked getting beat by a car running on American-made energy. Thats when the phone lines lit up. Calls from across the country flooded in, but they werent from an environmentalist crowd. These were commercial truck drivers, traveling the nations highways, all asking the same thing: How could they convert their personal pickups and muscle cars to electric? They werent motivated to save the planet. They were drawn to speed, power, patriotism, and a healthy dose of self-reliance. In that moment, a simple truth crystallized for me: The key to solving climate change isnt hearts and minds; its outcomes and results. When solutions are desirable on their most obvious meritsstronger, faster, cheaper, you name itpeople want them, regardless of their views on the climate crisis. Thats the bar for success. Its how we get solar panels and batteries installed, bike lanes built, and EV school buses deployedall at speed and scale. It brings the low-carbon future closer, not as a moral imperative but as an enticing upgrade. Today, that lesson from Plasma Boy shows up with a greater frequency. Solar plus batteries Just ask Mary Powell, CEO of Sunrun. When we spoke on the Supercool podcast, she said it plainly: Most people arent waking up thinking, How do I save the planet today? Theyre thinking, How do I lower my bills? How do I keep the lights on? How do I get more control? That insight has been key to Sunruns transition from Americas largest rooftop solar company to its largest home battery installer. In Q1 of this year, Sunruns solar customers added 61% more battery storage, more than double the 2024 industry-wide average. Sunrun is leaning into the results and outcomes homeowners seek: control over costs and peace of mind when storms strike. The carbon reduction benefits are there, but secondary. City bike lanes The same dynamic applies in cities. Kyle Wagenschutz, partner at City Thread, has spent his career helping U.S. cities build protected bike lanes at a startling pace. He doesnt position bike lanes as an emissions reduction solution. He focuses on how they enhance peoples daily lives. As Kyle told me: Were not trying to convince people to love bikes. Were showing how bike infrastructure makes their lives better in ways they already care about. Wouldnt it be great if your commute were less stressful because bikes were in their own lane? Wouldnt it be great if your kid could walk to school safely just like you did growing up? For drivers, its about less stress and fewer distractions. For parents, it means more freedom and safety for their children. The result of elevating lifestyle benefits over climate urgency? Cities like Austin, Denver, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and Providence have rapidly expanded their bike networks, building hundreds of miles of bike lanes in months, instead of decades. EV school buses When it comes to school transportation, Ritu Narayan is running the same playbook. As CEO of Zum, Ritu is electrifying school buses across America, but she didnt start with climate as the hook. I have two children. Thats why the company was founded, said Ritu. Every single morning and afternoon, you feel the pain. If that system doesnt work, nothing else works. The pain point was a broken, outdated system. School districts were overspending on bloated diesel fleets and managing their operations with walkie-talkies, chalked curbs, and paper schedules. Zum fixes that by applying an AI-powered software layer to optimize routes and right-size fleets, thus eliminating waste and improving service. In Oakland, those efforts reduced the school bus fleet from 136 to 74 buses, operational gains that made electrification possible and now increasingly profitable. Last year, Oakland became the first major school district in the U.S. to adopt a 100% fully electric fleet, saving money while modernizing operations. For parents, that means safer, more reliable rides, real-time visibility, and cleaner air in their neighborhoods. As Ritu said, We started by making lives easier and saving districts money. Electrification follows from there. That translates into a better experience for everyone, climate benefits included. Josh Dorfman is CEO and host of Supercool.
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E-Commerce
New York Citys congestion pricing program has only been in place for a few months, but it’s already reduced traffic, increased public transit ridership, led to fewer delays for school busesand drawn the ire of President Donald Trump. Trump has taken steps to kill the program, but on Tuesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked that effort, keeping the toll program alive until at least early June. Congestion pricingwhich implements tolls on drivers who enter specific (and often gridlocked) areas of Manhattan in order to reduce traffic, lessen air pollution, and raise money for public transitwent into effect on January 5. In the first three months of the program, congestion pricing collected $159 millionfunds that will go toward badly needed transit upgrades, including infrastructure repairs and accessibility additions. It was the first program of its kind in the U.S., though congestion pricing has already been successful in cities like London, Stockholm, and Singapore. When Trump took office, his administration quickly took aim at congestion pricing. In February, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said he was revoking federal approval for the initiative. (Congestion pricing was approved under President Joe Biden.) The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which oversees congestion pricing, sued to block that move. Duffy then told New York Governor Kathy Hochul in April that if the state didnt end congestion pricing, it could see serious consequences, including withholding funding and approvals for highway projects beginning May 28. But a federal court judge in Manhattan has ruled to keep the program runninguntil at least June 9. U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman issued a temporary restraining order to the Trump administrations efforts. Liman ruled that the Trump administration could not immediately kill congestion pricing, nor could it retaliate against the state by withholding DOT funding. Weve wonagain, Hochul said in a statement. Though Hochul delayed the implementation of congestion pricing in the summer of 2024, she has since become a supporter of the program, especially as it has come under attack by Trump. Congestion pricing, she says, is the solution for clearing up traffic, cleaning city air, and investing in public transit. So heres the deal: Secretary Duffy can issue as many letters and social media posts as he wants,” she added, “but a court has blocked the Trump administration from retaliating against New York for reducing traffic and investing in transit. The MTA’s lawsuit against the Trump administration will now decide the future of congestion pricing. Judge Liman, a Trump appointee, said in Tuesday’s ruling that New York “would suffer irreparable harm” without a restraining order against the Trump administration’s efforts to kill congestion pricing, the New York Times reported. Liman may issue a longer-term protective order beyond the June 9 date, per the Times. Congestion pricing imparts a $9 toll on drivers during peak hours in a zone that covers most of Manhattan below 60th street. In just one month of the program, the impact was undeniably positive, transit officials said. During afternoon peak hours, drivers in the entire congestion relief zone are seeing travel times drop up to 59%. As of February, weekday bus ridership had already grown 6%, while weekend ridership was up 21%, compared to January 2024. In May, a New York Times analysis looked at the impact further, citing how local buses, and school buses, were less delayed, car crash injuries were down, parking violations were down, and fire response times were also slightly down. Public support for congestion pricing has also been on the rise. Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director for the Riders Alliance, a nonprofit that supports public transit in New York City, echoed the governors statement that Judge Limans ruling was a victory for the city, and for transit riders specifically. Congestion relief is perfectly legal and thoroughly vetted. Opponents exhausted all plausible arguments against the program and now the increasingly outlandish theories are falling flat too, he said in a statement. “We are eager to keep saving time on the bus and look forward to more reliable and accessible subways thanks to this policy that continues to win support.”
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E-Commerce
Nvidia’s earnings have become some of the most closely watched numbers on Wall Street. The company makes up about 6.5% of the Nasdaq 100, and 5.5% of the S&P 500, so a good quarter can send the Nasdaq index soaring. A marginal or poor one can send it tumbling. On Wednesday May 28, after the market close, the innovative chip giant will report its fiscal first quarter results for 2025 and expectations are once again high. Analysts expect Q1 revenue to grow 66% year over year to $43.28 billion, according to LSEG. That’s not the 262% increase it had in Q1 of last year, but its still an impressive advance. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $0.73 per share. Nvidia stock (Nasdaq: NVDA) is already on the rise in advance of earnings, gaining more than 3% as of 3:00 p.m. ET, with shares topping $135. Year to date, shares of NVDA are down 2%. Despite the high hopes, though, Nvidia is facing some substantial obstacles and investors will be looking to see what sort of impact those will have. Last month, the Trump administration put export limits on Nvidia’s H20 chip. That led the company to announce a Q2 write-down of $5.5 billion, related to inventory and purchase commitments for the chip. The longer-term impact of those restrictions could be worse. David OConnor, of BNP Paribas, wrote in a note Tuesday This inventory write-off implies a $15 billion H20 revenue hit on a rolling 12-month basis. The limitations on sales to China could wreak some havoc in the near-term for Nvidia. Bank of America analysts warned that guidance for the second quarter could be “messy,” saying “[Nvidia] could guide [second fiscal quarter revenue] to as low as $41 billion, below recently lowered ~$46 billion consensus.” Earnings per share consensus (an average of analyst expectations) could be lowered significantly as well in the second fiscal quarter. While the short term could be rocky, analysts are more interested in the back half of the year and will be listening to what the company has to say about the third and fourth quarters. Nvidia is reportedly working on a new chipset for China which would be compliant with the most recent regulations. And big contracts beyond China could potentially help make up any near-term shortfall. A Saudi savior Analysts have remained positive in advance of earnings. Piper Sandler, on Tuesday, reiterated its overweight rating on the company (meaning a belief that NVDA stock will outperform its peers or the market over the next 6 to 12 months), saying in a note, We advise investors to weather the uncertainty and stay long the stock as this is likely largely the last wave of negative news for NVDA this year. And despite its warning, Bank of America maintained its “buy” rating and price target for Nvidia. It raised that target from $150 to $160 last week following the announcement of a deal with Humain, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund that is building a massive AI data center. (This deal seems less likely to face restrictions as the Trump administration has given its blessing to the arrangement, with AI czar David Sacks calling it a “game-changer in the global AI race.”) Nvidia is set to receive an estimated $7 billion in direct contracts from that deal. Phase 1 includes 18,000 Blackwell GPUs valued at roughly $700 million. Bank of America expects several hundred thousand of NVIDIAs most advanced GPUs to be shipped over the next five years. Collectively, 87% of the analysts who cover NVDA stock have a buy rating on the company. The share price has increased more than 600% in the past three years, and the company is the second largest public company in the world by market cap (behind Microsoft) with $3.3 trillion. There are some bears, though. Michael Burry, who rose to prominence by predicting the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008, has purchased put options on the company, essentially betting against it. And other critics question how much longer the robust growth can continue, as competitors, such as Huawei, attract clients and cloud companies, like Microsoft and Google, work to create their own AI chips.
Category:
E-Commerce
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