Industry emissions and the simple acts of living every day is heating our world. Climate change is scientific fact. It’s a tangible part of our existence that no longer is focused thousands of miles away as ice sheets break off glaciers in the Artic or retreat from distant mountains. The consequences of our polluting actions have arrived at our doorsteps.

As countries and companies work to decarbonize in an effort to align with the Paris Agreement and limit global temperature rise, public conversation can take on an “electrify everything” theme. While electrification is helpful in making big strides toward decarbonization, covering the final stretch to net zero requires integration of various emerging technologies.

This year has seen an unprecedented amount of regulatory activity aimed at mitigating the effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in our environment and consumer products. This flurry of activity has been accompanied by a spate of announcements from state and local governments, along with publications of technical papers and findings, which all clarify that “the PFAS Challenge” is more complicated than it seems.

Advanced by the U.S. Senate and now awaiting a House vote, a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill calls for hundreds of billions of dollars of direct federal spending to broaden electric vehicle charging stations, wind and solar energy generation, battery energy storage and the development of clean hydrogen fuels across the country. With all of these ambitions, century-old Black & Veatch stands ready to use its broad construction, engineering and procurement expertise to guide the development.