Green Lights April 12: Top stories this week
Don't miss a single story of the best from Callaway Climate Insights.
. . . . Welcome back to Green Lights. Here’s our weekly roundup of the best of Callaway Climate Insights. This week, David Callaway looks at how energy inflation is shocking the clean energy securities markets. Plus, we have an abundance of news and insights on EV innovation — taxis, tugboats and golf carts. Here are the highlights in a simple and convenient format that makes it easy for our readers. It’s also easy to subscribe.
. . . . Energy inflation is smacking the clean energy securities markets, writes David Callaway. Renewable energy funds suffered outflows of $4.8 billion in the first quarter, as high prices and the specter of a Trump presidency weighed on optimism for the sector. Add to that, the potential escalation of war in the Middle East. All three could still play out in favor of a powerful rally at some point, but it’s hard to see it short term.
. . . . While the battle over Chinese EVs rages in global political capitals, there’s no controversy on the golf courses and pickleball courts of U.S. retirement communities, where an arms race in electric golf carts features some impressive new Chinese innovations, Bill Sternberg writes from Florida. Progress in the particular low-speed brands favored by the retirement crowd, especially with parts that are shipped to the U.S. for assembly, are giving both Chinese and Korean companies a foothold. No word on whether the carts are spying on our golf games. . . .
. . . . The bounce back of Tesla TSLA 0.00%↑ stock over the past month would be no surprise to taxi drivers and ride-share drivers, says David Callaway. They are the first adopters of meaningful technology transitions on our roads. They know what works. And doesn’t. But after nine months of declines and the overall market for EVs challenged, it may be too soon to start looking for value here, especially with EVs playing an increasing role in the culture wars that will define this year’s presidential election. But it will certainly make Tesla earnings later this month an important bellwether for the EV field.
. . . . Continuing the electric vehicle theme: The first all-electric, ship-assist harbor tugboat in the U.S., named the eWolf, has arrived for duty at its new home in the port of San Diego. Operator Crowley Shipping says eWolf will operate with zero emissions while providing all the performance capabilities of a traditional tug. But wait, there’s more: The vessel was christened eWolf in honor of Crowley’s first tug, the Seawolf, used in the early 1900s.
. . . . Plastic or paper? It’s not just your grocery bags. Matthew Diebel plumbs the struggle most consumers face when a delivery hits our doorstep. More plastic, less plastic and more paper, more paper in other countries, and inequalities in the effort to reduce waste. Read about the environmental group taking aim at Amazon.
. . . . We’re still in hot water. Scientists say the world’s oceans have now broken high temperature records every single day for more than a year. The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service says that in March, the average global sea surface temperature reached a new monthly high of 69.93°F. “There’s no ambiguity about the data,” Gavin Schmidt, a climatologist and the director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, tells The New York Times. “So really, it’s a question of attribution.”
More greenery . . . .
Cocoa, coffee prices surge: Climate change will only take them higher (WSJ)
Shoring up: Biden Administration awards $830 mln to toughen U.S. infrastructure (AP)
Time’s almost up: U.N. climate chief says two years to save the planet (Reuters)
Take a really close look: Ants shift habitats due to climate change (NBC affiliate 9News)
It’s a human right: Swiss women win landmark climate case in Europe (Axios)