Liberation Day anything but for climate investors
Plus, Energy Department reportedly targets two major direct air capture hubs for cuts
In today’s edition:
— Liberation Day may be the most poorly-named political event since the Inflation Reduction Act
— DOE reportedly targets two major DAC hubs given grants by Biden
— NASA reported that global sea levels rose more than expected last year
— Investors looking to AI to help with complex weather catastrophe models
— Counting sheep: Diminishing snow in the Arctic is making it harder to monitor herds
Of all the post-truth, surreal, dystopian ideas to spring from the frothing anti-globalist maw in Washington in the past 10 weeks, “Liberation Day” may be the most inaccurate and least impactful to ever grace the White House Rose Garden. At least for climate investors. Even the poorly named Inflation Reduction Act actually achieved what it said it would, while creating hundreds of thousands of jobs in the meantime.
While President Donald Trump’s team gussies up the lawn for a big tariff announcement nobody wants — especially the markets — thousands of vital doctors, drug regulators and climate aid workers were losing their jobs a few miles away on Tuesday morning. Covid vaccination programs and weather-disaster aid programs were swept up in the chaos, their loss only to be felt by others when they most need them at some point in the future.
Against that harmful backdrop, the impact of massive tariffs seems much less urgent, as no business leader or economist expects whatever is announced Wednesday to stick long enough to have a major effect. That’s why stocks, which had their worst quarter in three years in the first quarter after the Inauguration, have held somewhat steady ahead of the announcement tomorrow.
There is a school of thought that if you say something enough, no matter how outrageous, some people will start to believe you. It’s not that way for investors, who are trained to spot and exploit disinformation. Ask gold investors this week, who are making a fortune on the chaos.
In fact, Liberation Day may be aptly named after all. It may be the day that investors finally put all the threats and false narratives of the last 10 weeks behind them and focus again on the underlying tech and energy investment that really drives American competitiveness.
Most business leaders are keeping their heads down these days but plowing right ahead with their strategies, understanding all too well they can’t operate in an isolated protectionist world. They are adjusting, which is what businesses do. At some point soon, the markets will too.
Don’t forget to contact me directly if you have suggestions or ideas dcallaway@callawayclimateinsights.com.
Follow us . . . .
Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram
Tuesday’s subscriber insights
Trump’s spending cuts target two major direct air capture plants
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Callaway Climate Insights to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.