The great data wipeout of 2025
Plus, how Tesla's future might depend on Elon Musk's $1 trillion compensation
In today’s edition:
— The White House’s new plan to fix unwelcome data; just eliminate it
— Tesla stock’s future secure as long as Elon Musk keeps buying it
— UK water company using dogs to sniff out wastewater leaks. And newts!
— Emissions from deforestation more than four times aviation and shipping industries combined
— How autumn nights impact the pace of fall color changes to tree leaves
President Donald Trump’s call this week for public companies to eliminate quarterly earnings reports in favor of every six months follows a well-trodden path for this administration in seeking to eliminate helpful data wherever it can.
While accounts and finance types might enjoy being released from the quarterly treadmill and proponents of the move will cite cost savings for companies, it still comes at the expense of investors who seek regular updates from their holdings.
The same is true of the White House’s decision last week to get the EPA to propose scrapping emissions reporting from companies. Calling the requirement for companies to report just how much pollution they are putting into the atmosphere “burdensome” to companies, EPA head Lee Zeldin claimed the plan would save businesses some $300 million a year in reporting costs.
Almost all of that would accrue to large oil and gas companies, which have the most to report since, well, they are putting most of the pollution into the atmosphere.
Of course, this is just another high-five toward fossil fuels by the administration that will do little to prevent smart investors from finding the right data. Most of the companies did everything they could to limit their reporting anyway. But with advances in AI and the monitoring of atmospheric changes, it will become easier and easier to monitor where the emissions are coming from as well as from who.
The amount of data and scientific research the administration is seeking to wipe out this year is staggering. It weakens the credibility of the U.S. government as well as U.S. companies on the global stage. But there are plenty of other sources of data on corporate performance and smart investors will simply migrate to those.
If you have ideas or suggestions for us, contact me directly at
dcallaway@callawayclimateinsights.com.
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Tuesday’s investor insights
Tesla’s future is secure as long as Musk gets that $1 trillion
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