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Here's the thing about climate conferences – they can feel pretty removed from the real world sometimes. But sitting in Chicago this week at Aspen Ideas Climate, listening to actual business leaders, mayors, and energy executives hash out the nitty-gritty details, something became crystal clear: the climate business case isn't just surviving the current political moment. It's actually getting stronger.
Key Takeaways
- Corporate climate action continues despite policy rollbacks because it makes fundamental business sense
- Energy demand from AI and data centers is creating unprecedented opportunities for clean energy expansion
- Cities like Chicago are stepping up with concrete climate policies when federal action stalls
- The outdoor recreation economy is mobilizing as a powerful force for environmental protection
- Energy poverty solutions can simultaneously address climate goals and social justice concerns
- Infrastructure bottlenecks, especially transmission lines, remain the biggest barrier to scaling clean energy
- Storytelling and personal connection to place drive more effective climate action than technical arguments
- Resilience workforce development offers a pathway to middle-class jobs while preparing for climate impacts
When Business Leaders Talk Climate, They're Not Talking Politics
Lauren Riley from United Airlines put it perfectly when she said their climate work "started with companies like ours years ago before it became in vogue with policymakers." For United, the math is straightforward – fuel is their second-largest operating expense after labor, costing them $12 billion last year alone. When you're buying four billion gallons of fuel annually, finding cost-effective alternatives isn't environmental virtue signaling. It's basic business strategy.
What's fascinating is how these conversations have evolved. Sarah Kapnik from JP Morgan, who heads their climate advisory team, mentioned that six to eight years ago, environmental issues were "sort of an isolation of the business." Now? It's a regular boardroom discussion because companies are grappling with systematic changes they can actually plan for.
- Climate creates predictable business pressures that smart companies can prepare for
- Consumer behavior, supply chains, and insurance pricing all shift in response to climate impacts
- Physical risks from extreme weather events are already disrupting operations globally
- Long-term strategic thinking requires planning beyond any single policy administration
The conversation around sustainable aviation fuel was particularly revealing. Despite policy uncertainties, United secured an extension of the sustainable aviation fuel tax credit through 2029 by building coalitions with oil and gas producers, agricultural sectors, and farmers. They're not waiting for perfect policy – they're building the market infrastructure needed for the transition.
Even with all that progress, the scale challenge is enormous. United had more sustainable aviation fuel than any other US carrier last year, but it was still only enough to power their operations for one day. That's the kind of market opportunity that gets investors' attention.
The AI Energy Boom Nobody Saw Coming
Michael Psky, who's been in energy development for decades, made an interesting observation: for the first time in a generation, we're dealing with truly unprecedented electricity demand rather than just replacing existing capacity. The culprit? AI and data centers.
Gil Kinonis from ComEd in Chicago painted the picture pretty starkly. ComEd's highest peak demand was set back in July 2011, and load had been flat or declining until recently. Now they're facing potential unprecedented load growth from data centers, manufacturing reshoring, building electrification, and transportation electrification all hitting simultaneously.
Melissa Lott from Microsoft explained the challenge from the demand side. Microsoft committed in 2020 to reach net negative emissions and offset all their historic emissions from the past 50 years. Every ton they emit now is one they'll have to clean up later, so speed matters enormously.
- Data centers are essentially "knowledge factories" that consume massive amounts of electricity and water
- The US is in a global AI competitiveness race that requires reliable, abundant electricity
- Northern Illinois has become a top-five data center market due to workforce, infrastructure, and power reliability
- Innovation cycles must accelerate without compromising the reliability customers demand
What struck me was how these leaders are thinking about infrastructure timelines. Psky noted that even if everything goes perfectly, major transmission projects take 15 years from conception to completion. That's not fast enough for the current demand surge.
Chicago Shows What City-Level Climate Leadership Looks Like
Chicago's mayor delivered one of the most concrete presentations I've heard from any politician about actual climate accomplishments. At the beginning of 2025, every city-run facility in Chicago transitioned to 100% renewable energy – from both airports to every public library, fire station, and office building. That's hundreds of thousands of metric tons of emissions eliminated annually.
But here's what made it more than just a feel-good story: they did it through innovative procurement, public-private partnerships, and union labor. The mayor was explicit that climate action has to be about building opportunities and jobs for people, not just cutting emissions.
The city also launched Green Homes Chicago, described as one of the largest city-led residential initiatives in the country. They're delivering free heat pump installations, weatherization, and energy retrofits directly to families in disinvested neighborhoods while increasing demand for local and diverse contractors.
- City leadership can drive significant emission reductions even without federal support
- Climate programs that create jobs and economic opportunities build broader political support
- Community-centered solutions are more sustainable than top-down mandates
- Local procurement policies can accelerate clean energy markets
The Green Social Housing Ordinance was particularly innovative – a $135 million revolving loan fund to build affordable and sustainable housing that pairs green development with long-term affordability. It's the kind of policy innovation that could be replicated in other cities.
The Power of Place: How Outdoor Recreation Drives Climate Action
One of the most energizing panels focused on how connection to outdoor places motivates climate action. Representatives from Protect Our Winters, Outdoor Alliance, and Surfrider Foundation made a compelling case that "we protect what we love" isn't just a slogan – it's a practical organizing principle.
The recent fight over public lands sales provided a perfect case study. When Utah Senator Mike Lee proposed selling millions of acres of public lands, it wasn't environmental groups alone that stopped it. Republicans in both the House and Senate rallied against the proposal because their constituents made it clear they valued these places.
Caroline Gleich from Protect Our Winters made an important point about perfectionism getting in the way of progress. Too often, climate advocates insist on perfect solutions instead of accepting good steps forward. The public lands fight succeeded because it was binary – selling public lands was simply bad, and people from across the political spectrum could agree on that.
- Outdoor recreation creates personal connections that translate into political action
- Place-based organizing transcends traditional political divisions
- Binary issues (like protecting vs. selling public lands) can build broader coalitions than complex policy debates
- Personal experiences in nature provide the emotional foundation for sustained climate engagement
The discussion about making outdoor access more inclusive was particularly thoughtful. It's not just about protecting pristine wilderness areas – nature connection can happen in urban parks and local green spaces. The goal is ensuring every American has access to places they can fall in love with and want to protect.
Energy Justice Gets Personal
Anthony Reames shared some of the most powerful stories of the entire conference about energy poverty and environmental justice. His work started with Miss May in Kansas City, who told him that seeing a utility truck made her heart rate go up because even if she paid her bill on time, having a neighbor disconnected meant storing their food in her refrigerator or running extension cords to provide basic lighting.
That story illustrates how energy is fundamentally community-based and rooted in relationships between people and place. Energy poverty isn't just about kilowatts and electrons – it's about families choosing between heating, eating, and paying energy bills.
The solutions create what Reames called a "triple bottom line" opportunity. Weatherization, heat pump installations, and energy efficiency retrofits can simultaneously address affordability, health outcomes, and emission reductions. When done right, they also create good-paying jobs for local workers.
- Energy burden correlates with multiple public health outcomes including early mortality
- Community-designed programs are more effective than top-down solutions
- Energy efficiency improvements can be framed as economic and health solutions, not just climate solutions
- Federal programs like Justice 40 built local capacity that continues even after policy changes
Socket Sony from Resilience Force added another dimension by talking about disaster recovery workers – mostly undocumented immigrants who drive into disaster zones to repair homes and infrastructure. These workers are essential to American recovery efforts but face appalling working conditions and now additional immigration enforcement risks.
The shift from "wait and repair" to "prepare and adapt" isn't just better climate policy – it's also economic common sense. Every dollar spent on preparation saves $10 in recovery costs. Resilience Force is already training local workers to do weatherization, land stewardship, and community resilience work at wages significantly higher than service industry jobs.
The Infrastructure Reality Check
Both Michael Psky and Andy Karsner, two veterans of the clean energy industry, were refreshingly direct about infrastructure challenges. Psky's Grain Belt Express project – a 5-gigawatt transmission line that's basically an electricity superhighway – has been in development for over 10 years and still hasn't started construction.
Here's the brutal truth: we can't build major infrastructure on the timelines needed for both climate goals and AI competitiveness. Psky made the analogy that you can't have Amazon without roads – similarly, you can't unleash domestic clean energy without transmission infrastructure.
The political dynamics around infrastructure are particularly frustrating. Every administration talks about the importance of transmission, but local opposition and political grandstanding create massive delays. Meanwhile, other countries are building infrastructure at the speed and scale we need.
- Major transmission projects take 15 years from conception to completion under current processes
- Private sector financing is available but needs government support for permitting and siting
- Eminent domain authority is essential for large-scale infrastructure but politically difficult
- Infrastructure delays threaten both climate goals and economic competitiveness
Karsner's observation about Washington having "only two channels – do nothing and overreact" rang particularly true. The tendency toward political extremes makes it difficult to execute the sustained, pragmatic infrastructure development the energy transition requires.
Why Storytelling Matters More Than Data
Dr. Anthony Reames made a point that stuck with me throughout the conference: despite all our technological advances, "the most powerful form of communication humans have ever invented is the story."
The climate conversation gets bogged down in technical language about gigatons of carbon and gigawatts of clean energy, but it often leaves out the human beings who are central to energy systems. Miss May's story about utility trucks raising her heart rate is more powerful than any statistic about energy burden.
Tom Skielling, Chicago's longtime TV meteorologist, provided a perfect example of how to communicate complex technical information in human terms. His explanation of the coming heat wave included specific impacts like insects that eat utility poles and transformers that can't cool off overnight – details that help people understand what climate change actually means for infrastructure and daily life.
The outdoor recreation advocates understood this instinctively. They don't lead with emission reduction targets – they start with the places people love and the experiences that shape their identities. That emotional connection provides the foundation for sustained political engagement.
- Technical arguments alone don't motivate sustained political action
- Personal stories create emotional connections that data cannot
- Place-based organizing works because it taps into identity and relationships
- Complex policy issues need to be translated into human impacts and experiences
What I found most encouraging was how these different communities – business leaders, city officials, energy developers, environmental justice advocates, and outdoor recreation enthusiasts – are all telling variations of the same story. They're focused on practical solutions that improve people's lives while addressing climate challenges.
The business case for climate action isn't going anywhere because it's based on fundamental economic realities, not political preferences. Companies will continue investing in efficiency, resilience, and clean energy because those investments create competitive advantages and reduce risks.
Cities will keep implementing climate policies because mayors are accountable to residents who experience extreme weather, poor air quality, and high energy costs directly. The outdoor recreation economy will keep advocating for land and water protection because their businesses depend on healthy ecosystems.
What's different now is the scale of opportunity. AI-driven electricity demand, federal infrastructure investments, and growing climate impacts are creating market conditions that favor rapid deployment of clean energy and efficiency technologies. The question isn't whether the transition will happen – it's whether American companies, workers, and communities will lead it or get left behind.
As Psky put it, renewables "make a lot of sense" regardless of political winds. Lower costs, no pollution, no water use, domestic resources, technological improvement potential – if you offered those attributes to any rational person, they'd take them. The challenge is creating conditions where common sense and best technology can prevail over political posturing and special interests.
That's why gatherings like Aspen Ideas Climate matter. They bring together people who are actually building the solutions, implementing the policies, and organizing the political support needed for the transition. These aren't abstract conversations about future possibilities – they're practical discussions about projects underway and barriers that need to be overcome.
The momentum is real, the opportunities are enormous, and the timeline is urgent. Time to get to work.
