Comment by elicash | Hacker News Reader

Comment by elicash | Hacker News Reader

Putting Sacca's previous bad behavior aside (and I have no idea whether or not we should), the no-jargon descriptions of each of the companies that they've backed is fantastic and I'm excited for each of them.

https://lowercarboncapital.com/companies/

- MAKING CHEMICALS WITH ENZYMES, NOT OIL.

- FUSION WITH PLASMA-TAMING MAGNETS.

- 100% BEEF THAT NEVER HAD EYES NOR HOOVES.

- KELP-FARMING CARBON-SINKING ROBOTS.

- GIANT CARBON SUCKING VACUUMS.

- PROTEIN FROM TRASH-EATING FLIES.

- FULLY ELECTRIC AIRPLANES.

- CLEAN, FAST, CHEAP LITHIUM MINING.

- REAL DAIRY SANS COWS.

- BATTERIES THAT MAKE SOLAR WORK 24/7.

- CARBON-NEGATIVE MICROBIAL FERTILIZER.

- INSANELY HIGH-TORQUE ELECTRIC MOTORS.

- CHEAP FUSION POWER. SERIOUSLY.

- AI TO CAPTURE CARBON AND RESTORE FORESTS.

- PUMPING OIL BACK UNDER-GROUND.

- FUNGUS EATS CARBON AND PAYS FARMERS.

- SUPERFAST HYDROFOIL CARGO SHIPS.

- PIGLESS BACON.

- CARBON-TRAPPING SEMI TRUCKS.

- FERTILIZER BORN FROM LIGHTNING.

- AUTOMATED CARBON FOOTPRINT REPORTING.

- CARBON-GUZZLING SUPERTREES.

- CATTLE THAT BURP LESS METHANE.

- TREE-PLANTING DRONES.

- CRYSTAL BALL FOR CLIMATE RISK.

- METHANE BOUNTY HUNTERS.

- CARBON X-RAY FOR DIRTY SUPPLY CHAINS.

- UPCYCLING CARBON INTO FUELS AND CHEMICALS.

- FIND THE WORLD’S BEST WIND + HYDRO SITES.

- LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS.

What bad behavior and who is the "we" you're referring to? The guy can invest his money however he pleases and regardless of his background, there is no "we" that has to have some shared opinion of him. IMO that kind of thinking is a major source of toxicity today, because there's a pervasive idea that we all need to judge (and agree upon the judgements of) people's backgrounds.

“We” is everyone who doesn’t want to work in the same industry as a sexual harasser. No one is under any obligation to help Sacca rehabilitate his image. We should all be working to keep people like him far from leadership in our industry. The tech industry is toxic because of people like Sacca and his defenders, not those who rightfully take offense to their actions.

We should give him the death penalty or life with no parole. We can't rehabilitate these types of monsters.

Well, historically this is what happens when you have an ill behaving upper class and great wealth inequality (c.f. French Revolution).

I think it’s enough that we just don’t rehabilitate his image and refuse to work with him or anyone else who embodies the worst of our industry.

I wonder if they are aware that there is an 'AI' that captures carbon and has been rolling itself out throughout the entire world for billions of years. Oh, right, that wouldn't rake in the same attention.

I am pessimistic when it comes to this stuff. Most initiatives like this are half virtue-signalling, half VC flytraps. I believe the only realistic way we can halt climate change is with geoengineering. One proposed method is an aerosol dispersed between the Earth and the sun to reduce the amount of energy received.

Oh, and fusion. But no amount of Elon Musk's reality distortion field is going to make that happen in 5 years. That needs time, a lot more funding, and educated scientists.

Are you talking about seaweed or some other germs for this "I wonder if they are aware that there is an 'AI' that captures carbon and has been rolling itself out throughout the entire world for billions of years. " ?

I don't know what the first part of your comment is talking about, but I do know from my tiny tiny interactions with him he scores in top 1% of people for honesty, intelligence, work ethic, integrity. He does still seem to have a chip on his shoulder, which I find amusing. Anyway no one is perfect, but some people are true gems.

I for one feel very happy to learn that his mind is focused on the climate problem.

I don't understand it too well, but my only question is: say we do figure out how to control earth's temperature, what do we agree to settle on? I'm hoping for a nice 78 degrees. My wife wants 80. Not sure how we're gonna resolve that.

Something about you being able to place someone into a top percentile of ‘honesty, intelligence, work ethic, integrity’ based on a tiny tiny amount of interactions is suspect...you must be a hell a good judge of character.

As a matter of fact I am quite talented when it comes to spotting outliers. :)

The reference is to a piece in NYT that led Sacca to admit to sexist behavior[1].

The allegations are mild compared to some others, but I still think you should re-examine your belief that you can assess someone's integrity when you don't know them personally at all.

1. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/03/chris-sacca-and-dave-mcclure...

Fair enough, but my judgement call still stands. His apology post only confirms that. I don't just someone by their origin but by their vector.

The layout is intriguing (and the kelp operation sounds interesting), but the problem I see is this is solely focused around carbon. Solutionism like this needs to be paired with cultural change.

Nothing about the other planetary boundaries covered such as geochemical flows, land-use change (which alters the distribution of water vapor, which is very important), methane use change, ocean acidification, etc.

i would like to see the feasibility of these projects. anything to do with energy and climate related startups have to deal with physics first. Its not at all like technology or even engineering.

Sounds like fluff to me.

Yeah, I think Sacca is just trying to sell himself as a good guy. I'm skeptical any of these companies will succeed (I only looked at a few but underwhelmed is an understatement), and unless Sacca is putting a significant amount of his own capital behind this initiative it's hard to believe he cares about it more than he cares about being rich. And I think that's what this is about - a rich guy trying to improve his image.

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