On a mission to help the world breathe cleaner air. Co-Founder and CEO of Clarity Movement.
Everyone cares about the air they breathe and the air children breathe. However, I’ve found most people don’t associate air pollution and poor air quality with climate change—when in fact they are both a cause and symptom of a worsening climate.
As CEO of one of the largest air quality sensor technology companies in the world, I’ve seen that reducing air pollution often means implementing the same kinds of changes that reduce greenhouse gas emissions that lead to climate change. Therefore assessing and addressing air quality is a sort of Trojan horse climate solution that we can all get behind.
The climate crisis is becoming more tangible—and air pollution is the canary in the coal mine.
Community organizations and environmentalists can only do so much to help in the battle against poor air quality and climate change. Change at a global scale usually requires a large capital infusion, the support of industry and a monumental shift in thinking—but the impacts of climate change are becoming impossible to ignore.
Most young people today wouldn’t have heard about the Cuyahoga River fire, in which the river became so polluted with chemicals and oil from nearby industrial plants that it caught fire numerous times during the 20th century. The images shocked the nation, and the Cuyahoga River fire is probably the most impactful environmental disaster of the 20th century. It jump-started a wave of regulation and attention on water pollution, including the creation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Water Act, not to mention regional agencies and agreements.
Recent Canadian wildfires have blanketed almost the entirety of the U.S. with smoke. These fires have killed and displaced people, and each year, they destroy hundreds of homes and businesses. Some people have simply decided to permanently relocate. Sadly, I think this trend is likely to continue.
The bittersweet reality is that, like the Cuyahoga River fire, increasing wildfires should raise awareness about the connection between climate change and air quality—and hopefully galvanize the action on the scale required to reduce carbon emissions before it’s too late. We have already seen this happening with the massive investment of venture capital in climate tech.
Investors have started to take notice.
On September 9, 2020, an orange glow over the skies of San Francisco ignited a change in thinking among many of the Bay Area’s investors and business leaders who were previously on the sidelines (in terms of investing) in the fight against climate change.
When poor air quality and climate change are happening thousands of miles away, it’s not surprising that some folks turn a blind eye, but when the quality of the air that you and your children breathe is beyond a safe limit, people begin to take notice.
After the “Orange Day” in San Francisco, I noticed a giant shift from venture capital investors in the Bay Area. Some companies, like mine, saw a boon in interest and investment, and we saw an overall increase in climate-tech funding from 2020 to 2021 of about 40%, to an impressive $37 billion.
How can entrepreneurs help?
You can’t improve what you don’t measure.
Every business starts with an idea. For me, one of the most important phrases that was instrumental in the creation of our company was, “You can’t improve what you don’t measure.”
To begin understanding a problem as serious and complex as climate change and air pollution, entrepreneurs first need the correct instruments and the correct methodology for collecting data. With those two pieces in place, you can start implementing ideas to address the issue, and over time measure the success of your intervention. Without taking these steps, you are in a sense flying blind.
One of the biggest challenges for deploying air quality monitoring technology is properly calibrating the air quality sensors. To address this, make sure your calibration model ensures data is continuously adjusted for local conditions. This way, you can ensure the data from your networks meets the data quality standards recommended by regulatory bodies.
Work closely with community leaders.
One of the most important learnings we’ve had as a company is understanding the importance of bringing in community leaders into the air quality conversation early and often. While companies may be great at providing solutions, community leaders are often the missing piece in enabling communities to bring air quality monitoring into their neighborhoods.
In my experience, the best community leaders can 1) understand why and how the air quality issues are affecting their neighborhoods, 2) provide clear guidance and feedback to local political leaders and 3) help organize local and federal grants to pay for these valuable programs. Without community leaders, it would be almost impossible to help frontline communities.
Consider your employees.
In places that typically don’t get wildfire smoke, one other consideration business leaders need to think about is: When is it safe to have employees commute into the office versus having them work from home for the benefit of their health?
In states like California, there is now a procedure for what employers have to do in order to make sure their employees are safe. In places where those procedures do not exist, I recommend that employers consult the AirNow federal site or take their own measurement using a direct reading instrument.
Investors appreciate vision and execution.
Lastly, when building a startup, investors are obviously an important part of the journey. My advice to other entrepreneurs in this space is to make sure that you have a concrete vision of how and where you see your company in two, five and ten years. And make sure you execute on the plan you laid out as much as possible.
Like all people, investors appreciate working with entrepreneurs who say what they do, and do what they say. If you can do this, you’ll surely be able to build a successful business, and a company that can help in the fight against climate change.
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