Good news for humankind!

From the week of October 30 - November 5 2023 C.E.

Biden-Harris administration approves largest offshore wind project in U.S. history

Located approximately 23.5 nautical miles offshore Virginia Beach, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project will provide about 2,600 megawatts of clean, reliable offshore wind energy, capable of powering over 900,000 homes, and provide about 900 jobs each year during the construction phase and an estimated 1,100 annual jobs during the operations phase.

Taiwan holds Asia’s largest-ever Pride event

Over 176,000 people attended Taiwan’s 21st annual Pride march in the capital city of Taipei, making it the world’s largest Asian LGBTQ+ Pride event in history. The event celebrated two recent LGBTQ+ rights victories in the country: the legalization of gay adoption and the recognition of Taiwanese same-sex spouses who were married in foreign countries.

Namibia hosts Africa’s first community-led conservation congress

Hundreds of Indigenous and local community groups, conservation organizations, governments and policymakers gathered to strategize how communities can play a bigger role in African conservation efforts, which are typically dominated by big international NGOs.

France pledges to embed abortion rights in constitution by 2024

President Macron revealed his government’s plan to present a draft text to France’s highest administrative court by the end of the year, paving the way for constitutional protection of abortion rights by the end of the year.

Indonesia opens Southern Hemisphere’s first high-speed train

The new all-electric rail line, between the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Bandung, cuts journey time from around 3 hours, down to just 45 minutes. There are plans to continue the line onwards, from Bandung city node, all the way to the eastern end of Java.

Bangladesh eliminates visceral leishmaniasis

Bangladesh has become the first country globally to be validated for elimination of visceral leishmaniasis, a life-threatening neglected tropical disease. The country achieved the elimination target of less than one case per 10,000 population at the sub-district level in 2017 and has sustained it to date.

North Korea eliminates rubella

North Korea introduced a mass measles-rubella immunization program in November 2019. Through this mass immunization activity, achieving more than 99.8% coverage in almost 6 million target population, the country has rapidly built substantial population immunity for rubella.

New ‘first-in-the-nation’ policy limits Seattle police from knowingly lying

According to the new policy, police will not be able to use a statement an officer knows is not true over any mass media or in any way that will “shock the conscience.” The policy also requires officers to get permission before using any ruses, along with other use guidelines.

Nepal’s constitutional bench halts ‘triple taxation’ on community forests

Nepal’s Constitutional Court has issued a stay on the laws that require community forest user groups to pay taxes to the local, provincial and federal governments. Community forest user groups manage about 34% of Nepal’s forested area under a participatory conservation model that has been praised for increasing forest cover and empowering local communities.

U.S. Department of Energy to invest more than $400 million on rooftop solar in Puerto Rico’s most vulnerable communities

This funding will also support thousands of local clean energy jobs, help achieve President Biden’s goal of lowering energy costs for all Americans, as well as help Puerto Rico achieve its goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050. The first installations are slated to begin in Spring 2024.

Construction begins on Block Island Wind Farm, the U.S.’s first-ever commercial offshore wind project (2015 C.E.)

The five-turbine, 30 MW project was developed by Deepwater Wind, now known as Ørsted US Offshore Wind. Construction began in 2015 and in late summer 2016 five Alstom Haliade 150-6MW turbines were erected. Operations were launched in December 2016.

The U.S. surpasses 100 GW of offshore wind capacity (2046 C.E. ???)

As of 2023, the U.S. currently has only 0.042 GW of offshore wind power. However, several major projects are now underway with a goal to reach 30 GW by 2030 and no 2050 goal yet announced. 100 GW of wind energy could likely power more than 30 million homes across the country.

Seeking out evidence

We often imagine that our brains work something like this: 1) we objectively gather data and information from the world around us, 2) we use that data to build rational conclusions about ourselves and the world, and 3) behave according to those rational conclusions.

Instead, how our brains usually work is probably something more like this: 1) we have engrained conclusions or assumptions about ourselves and the world based on what we learned as children, often from traumatic experiences, 2) we actively seek out evidence from the world to confirm those assumptions (and filter out contradicting information), and 3) having inevitably found the evidence we were looking for, behave according to our existing belief system. Rather than objectively observing the world, we often bend, filter, and distort what we observe to confirm what we already (consciously or unconsciously) believe to be true, like "I don't belong," "I can't do it," "people are idiots," "people are jerks," etc.

Some of the most powerful questions in coaching then become:

• What assumptions or beliefs about myself or the world have I been unconsciously gathering evidence for?
• What am I not allowing myself to see and experience because of that?
• What new assumptions and beliefs might better serve me and the world?

Peter Schulte

Life & Career Coach

Founder & Executive Director, Spark of Genius

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