Green Lights April 19: Top stories this week
Green Lights April 19: 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 adds some perspective to the latest outrageous price tag placed on climate change, Matthew Diebel writes about the surprising source for a new sustainable aviation fuel, and Mark Hulbert looks at whether two financial giants are really all that “woke.” Plus, don’t miss Jack Hamilton’s fun and fascinating dip into the iconic French 75. Happy Earth Day.
. . . . $38 trillion a year. Let’s repeat that, shall we? $38 trillion is an incomprehensible number, but it is the amount on the price tag attached to global warming by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. That staggering amount gets attention, David Callaway says. By comparison, the loss in U.S. financial markets during the great financial crisis of 2007 to 2009 was $8 trillion, he adds. As we celebrate the 54th Earth Day on Monday, we are moving into an era when the impact of global warming will be felt across financial markets and economies. The numbers will get more accurate as they add up. And they will begin to break down into losses far more personal.
. . . . As the fossil fuel markets hang on anticipation about the global oil supply, clean energy in the U.S. is facing a different problem, David Callaway writes. There is plenty of it, more than enough to help defray a decline in oil supply, but our grids in the U.S. grids cannot accept all the new connections.
. . . . There soon will be a commercial-scale factory on England’s southeast coast to turn biofuel into climate friendly sustainable aviation fuel, says Matthew Diebel. The twist here is that biofuel comes directly from the customers of utility company Anglian Water, via wastewater treatment. And get this: The first customer of this sustainable aviation fuel is Wizz Air, a low-cost airline based in Hungary.
. . . . The French 75: First concocted in the Paris opera district as a salute to a new Great War cannon, France’s iconic cocktail has had a long and storied history, writes Jack Hamilton in a new book about the drink. As Callaway Climate Insights salutes the 54th Earth Day on Monday, we can think of no better tipple — and iconic story — to celebrate with. A delight for all cocktail aficionados.
. . . . It has increased its stake in Exxon Mobil shares almost every year for the past two decades, yet mutual fund index giant Vanguard is still one of the villains of the anti-ESG right, suffering penalties and bad publicity from politicians in Texas and Florida, writes Mark Hulbert. Vanguard, like BlackRock, another whipping boy, has increased its stake as its passive index funds have grown and the oil giant’s weightings have increased in various stock indexes. The confusion casts another pall over the idea of divestment, which some activists want to see from finance giants holding oil shares. Hulbert cites a new study about how that’s working and has a surprising conclusion . . . .
More greenery . . . .
Oh, no! Not the cheese!: Climate Change Is Threatening Your Favorite Foods (Delish)
Planet vs. plastics: That’s the theme for this year’s Earth Day celebrations. Read all about it (World Economic Forum)
Blame it on climate change: Deadly West Africa heatwave (NPR)
‘Cold-air pooling’: How forests are resisting the worst of climate change (Phys.org)
A matter of policy: ISS rebukes Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway over climate change, governance (Reuters)
$100 million: Bezos Earth Fund to invest in AI-powered climate and nature solutions (ESG Today)