July 4, 2023, set an unofficial record for the hottest day on Earth according to an article published by the AP. They note that while NOAA needs to officially declare whether or not this was a record, the University of Maine estimates that the globe’s average temperature reached 62.9°F (17.18° C), following a record-breaking day the day before, the July 3rd record only lasting 24 hours. And the “heat dome” effect continues in the Southwestern U.S. while most other areas of the country, and world, are hotter than usual as well. That’s certainly not good news for the planet and the latest in a series of climate change extremes that, the AP points out, “alarm but don’t surprise scientists.” Then add in the floods, smoke from wildfires and other extreme weather, and it is not a pretty picture. In fact, a recent Axios newsletter was headlined “No safe port in a climate storm.”

While most companies claim to have sustainability goals, there is still a lot of greenwashing going on—claims about sustainability that are embellished or unsubstantiated. And according to the Zero Carbon Academy, another buzzword has emerged: greenhushing, which the Academy posits can be just as detrimental as greenwashing. Greenhushing is the failure of companies to communicate their sustainability achievements or to downplay them. This can present financial risks for brands, since consumers are increasingly seeking to be engaged with sustainability, and they want to understand corporate green credentials. Greenhushing may direct consumers away from brands who are actually sustainable, while greenwashing, or greenwishing, when uncovered, can alienate consumers as well.

While I’m not an expert and can’t really say it’s greenwashing, I’ve also noticed an uptick in advertising for propane, claiming it is an environmentally friendly fuel. Well, yes and no. Traditional propane is not; it’s a fossil fuel and not a renewable resource. Much of it is derived from fracking operations, which have their own set of environmental problems. But there are efforts underway to develop renewable propane, derived from fats, oils, and grease, that may have lower carbon intensity, which is the total lifecycle carbon footprint of an energy carrier from source to point of use. With renewable propane, carbon intensity can be 4X lower than conventional propane. And the ingredients used are waste, which might otherwise end up in landfills or elsewhere. One source notes that one of the production facilities is producing 20 million gallons per year. That sounds like a lot, but it really isn’t in the scheme of things. Like many new technologies, it will take some time to scale, as this video points out.