Green Lights Feb. 28: Top stories this week
Don't miss a single story from the best of Callaway Climate Insights.
. . . . Welcome back to Green Lights. Here’s our roundup of the best of Callaway Climate Insights. This week, it’s all about power. David Callaway asks if the AI boom is losing its magic and how that could spread to shares of energy providers. Allison Prang writes from Washington, D.C. about how Big Oil’s ambitions for direct air capture are getting swept up in the confusion around President Donald Trump’s government personnel cuts and spending freeze. Power down and have a great weekend. Please subscribe to support our climate finance journalism.
. . . . The lack of investor enthusiasm for Nvidia’s NVD 0.00%↑ 78% jump in revenue last quarter underscores concerns that the AI boom is losing its magic, and the ripple effect is spreading to shares of energy providers who power the industry. Perhaps, David Callaway writes, a more thorough look at valuations of any stocks tied to the AI theme is likely at hand.
. . . . Big Oil’s ambitions for direct air capture (DAC), one of the most-hyped technologies for reducing harmful carbon emissions, are being swept up in the confusion around President Donald Trump’s government personnel cuts and spending freeze, writes Allison Prang from Washington, D.C. What does that mean for the $3.5 billion government venture fund for DAC hubs around the country, which was part of the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill and supported by the oil industry?
. . . . For those who view the re-emergence of nuclear energy as a viable renewable alternative to solar and wind, Germany’s recent election marks a major shift in the industrial alignment of Germany with France in favor of nuclear power plants. Fourteen years of anti-nuclear sentiment in the German government is about to come to an end.
. . . . New research adds context to the work-from-home / return-to-the-office debate. The paper looks at the impacts of extreme weather on people’s work patterns in the context of work flexibility. And the results show that job flexibility plays an important role in shaping people’s adaptation to extreme weather.
. . . . The new European Union parliament wasted little time this week moving to secure its green credentials in the face of anti-climate broadsides from Trump, announcing a €100 billion ($105 billion) Clean Industrial Deal to compete with China and the U.S. to decarbonize heavy industry.
. . . . “The Wild Robot,” a DreamWorks film based on the classic children’s book by Peter Brown, has garnered three Oscar nominations this year: best original score, best sound and best animated feature. But it also is the only Oscar-nominated film this year to pass the Climate Reality Check. Good Energy, the non-profit behind the Climate Reality Check, said it’s unfortunate there’s been a downturn in Oscar-nominated climate acknowledgment compared to last year — especially in light of the LA wildfires. But check out the movie, and don’t miss the Academy Awards on Sunday night.
More greenery . . . .
Save the frogs: They can tell us a lot about climate change (WXXI/NPR)
Look around you: Scientists scorn EPA push to say climate change isn’t a danger (AP)
Heat pumps and EVs: How to fight climate change from home (BBC)
Contamination threats: How Climate Change Puts the Safety of Drinking Water at Risk (Yale 360)
Laughable if it weren’t so dangerous: Hurricanes, hoaxes and finding common ground (Columbia Climate School)