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No. 155: Parking Lot Power

Black churches are installing solar panels and EV charging stations on their property, bringing energy infrastructure to communities that are sometimes overlooked and giving themselves a sustainable source of income.

No. 155: Parking Lot Power
Photo by jezioramazur / Unsplash

What if a parking lot could become the site of a climate resilience hub and provide sustainable revenue for community services? A group of churches in California is doing just that: establishing "revenue-generating microgrids" with solar panels and electric vehicle charging that could produce $1 million in annual revenue over the next five to seven years. This week, we're discussing that project and why it matters beyond the economic benefits.

You can have an impact in many ways, but there's a school of thought called effective altruism that puts data behind charitable giving to help as many people as possible. The featured job this week intersects with that idea – it's a great way to multiply your impact by helping other organizations make as much of a difference as possible. Speaking of the job search front, I'm sharing a job board with hundreds of conservation-related opportunities as well – you'll find entry-level roles to director-level roles and everything in between. Let's dive in.

~ Greg

What we're reading

Black churches are installing solar panels and EV charging stations on their property, bringing energy infrastructure to communities that are sometimes overlooked and giving themselves a sustainable source of income. (Inside Climate News)

  • Churches like Glad Tidings in Hayward, CA are installing solar panels and EV charging stations that could produce $500,000 annually, with projections to double as electric vehicle adoption grows.
    • It's a symbiotic relationship between faith and climate action: declining membership and rising costs threaten the survival of Black churches nationwide, which makes the revenue from these investments a crucial foundation to providing community services.
    • The idea of transforming parking lots into "revenue-generating microgrids" wouldn't work if there wasn't enough demand. The fact that they can generate half a million dollars each year helps reinforce the need for renewable energy and charging infrastructure in these communities.
    • It didn't come cheap, however: the project at Glad Tidings cost $4.3 million dollars, meaning they won't see a return on investment for many years.
  • These aren't just business ventures, though. Communities of color face disproportionate climate risks, and part of the intent is to build climate resilience hubs that can provide shelter for hundreds of people during power outages or extreme weather events.
    • For an example of why this matters, take a look at Charleston, SC – a rapidly-sinking city in the U.S. that is already experiencing significant flooding. New development, including a seawall to protect its historic city center, poses additional flooding risks to low-income neighborhoods.
    • Solar panels and EV charging do not save flooding neighborhoods, but they do add resilience when the power goes out – they provide one part of the puzzle.
  • Over the years, I've become more interested in the intersection between climate action – perhaps environmental impact more generally – and groups that may not normally ally themselves with such causes.
    • The transition to renewable energy is mature enough now that smaller groups can invest in their own infrastructure as a market opportunity.
    • How might the organizations in your community create similar sustainable revenue for social impact services?

Job of the week

This week's featured job points towards effective altruism, which is the idea that we should use data-driven decisions to drive the most impact possible. GiveWell specializes in this area: they're a nonprofit that researches and funds other charities based on the number of lives they can improve, and they've directed over $2.4 billion to date.

GiveWell is hiring a Manager, People Operations to own their HR systems and support their growing team. This role is perfect for someone who enjoys the nuts and bolts of people operations – you'll own everything from HRIS management to payroll administration to benefits oversight. The compensation is solid too: $152,400 in the New York City and San Francisco metro areas, or $138,200 elsewhere in the United States. And yes, that means they're remote-friendly.

Community roundup

  • A new paper published in Nature says that our ability to store carbon underground in rock formations may be more limited than previously thought. (Grist)
    • As you can imagine, we can't just store carbon anywhere – the land needs to be suitable for that use. That's what the researchers studied: taking into account the areas that are too risky to use for storage.
    • Based on their analysis, the potential storage area is a magnitude less than before – or to put it in terms we might understand, only enough to cut global warming by 0.7 degrees Celsius.
  • A group of startup companies, including Oklo and Curio, is looking to turn radioactive waste into another source of electricity, effectively recycling it. (Axios)
    • Given how much news we've seen about nuclear reactor development, I'm happy to see some attention given to the fuel source itself and being better stewards of it.
  • The College Board, known for administering the SATs, is discontinuing a tool called Landscape that helped identify promising students from disadvantaged backgrounds. (Axios)
    • Admissions officers could use the tool to get a better sense of where an applicant came from and the types of opportunities available to them.
  • Say your goodbyes to the world's largest iceberg, which broke off the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf in Antarctica in 1986. It has since traveled and melted and broke apart in the South Atlantic Ocean, and it is on track to disappear in the coming weeks. (NPR)
    • Part of why this matters is it gives scientists a better understanding of how the loss of ice affects the surrounding environment.
    • I'm quite enjoying the idea of a scientist whose career was punctuated by the periodic study of a massive iceberg. That's a committed relationship right there.

Civic corner

  • Federal employees working at Yosemite, Sequoia, and King's Canyon National Parks have voted to unionize to the tune of 97% of workers. (The Guardian)
    • Evidently, they have been trying to unionize for a while, but it wasn't until the mass firings that the movement caught on. The results were certified by the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and workers will be represented by the National Federation of Federal Employees.
    • The NFFE is very large: around 200 local bargaining units and 100,000 federal employees.
  • The Department of Energy has issued a second "stay open" order, this time for a gas-fired power plant that was approved for shutdown around two years ago. (Grist)
    • This type of order is a directive under the Federal Power Act that allows the agency to force a power plant to continue operating, even after its planned retirement date, during a national energy emergency.
    • The shutdown process noted no impacts to the region's power reliability, which runs contrary to the idea of an energy emergency. From the consumer's point of view, it makes little financial sense: given the plant was going to shut down, they deferred fuel and maintenance costs that now get passed on to ratepayers.
  • Idaho passed a law last year that requires parental consent for almost any medical treatment for minors, and it has had unintended consequences for the suicide crisis hotline and sexual assault exams. (Seattle Times)
    • Essentially, when a minor contacts the 988 hotline, the counselor needs to ask for permission from a parent or guardian before they can proceed unless they sense an immediate threat to life. Some callers hang up at that point because they don't feel like they can get that support.
    • Likewise, if the perpetrator of a sexual assault is a parent or family member, it can impede a young person's ability to get examined.
    • Lawmakers are looking to clarify the law to avoid these issues in the future. A bill was proposed this year but didn't advance in the House.

Hot job opportunities

Resource of the week

If you've been paying attention to the environmental policy shifts lately – and I know you have – you might be wondering what the defenders of the natural world are doing. I am happy to report that they're hiring.

One of the better places to look for conservation job opportunities is the aptly-named Conservation Job Board, which bills itself as the "world's largest career website in conservation, ecology, forestry, wildlife, and fisheries." I can't claim to know every conservation-related job board out there, but this is definitely the most extensive that I've come across in this impact area.

The website aggregates opportunities from nonprofits, government agencies, and environmental consulting firms all in one place. I found everything from entry-level to director-level jobs, so you're likely to find a few that match your level of experience and interests.

Test your knowledge

We've gone through multiple coral bleaching events, and last week I asked you how the world's coral reef area has been impacted by the latest heat stress. According to NOAA, Nearly 85% of the coral reef area was impacted from January 1, 2023 to August 31, 2025, which is pretty remarkable when you consider how large our oceans are.

By coincidence, I noticed a story in Fast Company this week where you can contribute to coral research projects if you have an aquarium at home. Check it out if you have the equipment to help.

In the past, I've written about the constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment captured in the Montana Constitution. This week's trivia question covers the environment's own rights:

Which country was the first to create constitutional rights for nature?

Email me your guess, and I'll send one lucky winner a couple of One Work stickers!

I am gearing up for my last camping trip of the season. Fall restoration, here I come.