The CDC Group, the British government’s development finance institution, will end most fossil-fuel financing abroad. It says it will invest only in companies that align with the Paris Agreement to achieve net zero by 2050.
In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
A new study from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, published in Science Advances, provides strong evidence of the causal link between long-term fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure — air pollution — and premature death rates. The study provides the most comprehensive evidence to date.
The state of Minnesota filed a lawsuit yesterday against the American Petroleum Institute (API), Exxon Mobil Corp, and Koch Industries that stated the companies violated Minnesota laws barring consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, and false advertising.
The Trump administration has eliminated states’ and tribes’ rights to halt projects that risk hurting their water quality by rolling back a section of the Clean Water Act (CWA).
On February 20, Hartshorne Mining Group, who owns Poplar Grove, a thermal coal mine in western Kentucky that was lauded as the first to open under Donald Trump’s pro-coal administration, filed for bankruptcy. Hartshorne then filed a lawsuit against the US government this month because they were not awarded coronavirus relief money.
The March US coronavirus stimulus package, the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, featured the Small Business Association’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). But Big Oil and Gas, most of which are valued well over the $2 million threshold, received at least $72 million total.
EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson wants to make a Green Deal part of the pandemic recovery plan. Simson told Bloomberg, “Getting rid of fossil fuel subsidies while lowering taxes on electricity can nudge us in the right direction, without putting too much pressure on the consumers.”
ExxonMobil held its investor day at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) yesterday, and its CEO, Darren Woods, dismissed carbon targets as a “beauty match” with other companies.
Connecticut state senator Matt Lesser (D), a co-chair of the state senate’s insurance committee, is pushing a bill that would require the state’s insurance commissioner to study and report on climate change issues. A public hearing on the bill was held yesterday.
The SB583 solar bill debate was lively on the West Virginia House floor yesterday, and some of the delegates’ viewpoints were… interesting. However, the House of Delegates ultimately passed the bill on a 75-23 vote that will make it easier for companies to get a small portion of their power supply from solar energy.
You know what’s shortening people’s lives globally, far more than viruses, wars, disease, and smoking? It’s air pollution, according to a new study released today and published in Cardiovascular Research.
JP Morgan, the world’s largest financier of the fossil-fuel industry, announced yesterday that it will end fossil-fuel loans for Arctic oil drilling and phase out loans for coal mining.
Nearly 1 in 5 cars in Bergen, Norway’s second-largest city, are fully electric. The reality that such a place exists has sent oil and fuel-retail companies to Norway to prepare for the disruption ahead.
London’s Financial Times reported this week that Canada’s Couche-Tard, a multinational company with about 15,000 convenience stores, is using Norway as a “laboratory” to study a future without gas stations. Couche-Tard replaced fuel pumps with EV chargers in some of its Circle K gas stations in Scandinavia.
The Wyoming legislature proposed a bill this week that would have penalized — yes, penalized — utility companies for using green energy to supply electricity to customers. Fortunately, the bill didn’t receive sufficient votes to advance.
US House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) (pictured, with Donald Trump) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Greg Walden (R-OR) introduced climate-change legislative proposals today in an attempt to shift the Republican party’s message on climate change from nothing to something.
Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) introduced the Clean Economy Act of 2020 today. The act’s purpose is to put the United States on a pathway to achieve net-zero emissions by no later than 2050.
The bill is co-sponsored by 32 senators — all Democrats — as well as Angus King of Maine, who is an independent.
Jim Cramer, the host of CNBC’s Mad Money, cofounder of The Street, and former stockbroker and hedge fund manager, declared fossil fuels dead after oil giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron reported Q4 earnings this morning.
The 50th World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos launched its annual meeting today with an agenda focused heavily on climate change. This year’s theme is, “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World.”
BlackRock, the world’s largest investment manager, announced that it will no longer invest in thermal coal. It also said it will drop company directors who fail to act on financial risks from climate change.
In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
US Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette had his first Senate hearing for the post of secretary of energy yesterday. He was tapped by Donald Trump to replace Rick Perry. Brouillette previously worked for Ford as a VP of their policy team. Here’s a snapshot of his thoughts on green energy and fossil fuels.
In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):