Green Lights Jan. 30: Top stories
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, David Callaway writes in his Zeus column that this past week’s snow, ice and football battles show we are no match for Mother Nature. But grid, utility and natural gas stocks are telling a story of resilience that investors can warm up to. Plus, he reports on the Doomsday Clock, and reads the green energy tea leaves for 2026 after investment in renewables rose 8% last year. Have a great weekend and please subscribe to support our climate finance reporting.
. . . . Scientists at the Bulletin for Atomic Scientists have moved their iconic Doomsday Clock four seconds closer to midnight — to 85 seconds — citing a reversal in progress on existential dangers such as nuclear arms and climate change as the global order ruptures and political attacks on science wipe out decades of vital information. David Callaway writes that while the Bulletin, which he is affiliated with, made it clear the scientists considered a host of global factors in making their decision, including positive movement in some areas, the elephant in the room, as always, was President Donald Trump. “This is the closest the world has ever been to midnight,” said Alexandra Bell, CEO of the Bulletin.
. . . . Much of the investment in renewables, Callaway writes, has been around adding capacity to feed more power to data centers while keeping consumer electricity flowing. But crisis testing for these periods of extreme weather are equally important. This past week was a good example. In his Zeus column, he explains how grid, utility and natural gas stocks are telling the story of demand in a different way.
. . . . We’ve written several times over the past year how green stocks managed to defy the White House crackdown on climate investment, rising with demand for energy for data centers and also global electric vehicle growth. But it’s important to know that since growing more than 21% five years ago, the global rate of renewable investment growth has faded.
. . . . Electric vehicles in Europe passed a key milestone last month as EV sales surpassed those of petrol-powered cars for the first time. The record sends a powerful message to U.S. automakers paring back on EV production. How GM, Ford and Tesla manage White House hostility to EVs while staying relevant on the international stage will be one the great auto industry stories of 2026.
. . . . The Trump administration reportedly is trying to convince the U.S. private sector to invest in mineral and gold projects in the Venezuelan Amazon region, promising military support if they do so, writes Michael Molinski. If history serves, this may be a good model for the U.S. in the short run, but inevitably it will mean resentment on the part of the peoples of Latin America. It also could usher in a widening of the wealth gap, protectionism and a dismantling of all of the economic changes in the name of free trade over the past 30 years.
. . . . Michael Bloomberg’s philanthropic organization confirmed for the first time this week that the New York billionaire who once ran for president has committed over $3 billion to efforts to fight climate change in the past decade. The financial donations place Bloomberg above even Bill Gates in terms of climate pledges, with some estimates placing Gates’s commitments at about $2 billion.
More greenery . . . .
Dangerous crossing: Climate change is eating away at NYC bridges (City and State of NY)
The Good News Bears: Study show surprising resiliency and adaption among polar bears in Norway (Vox)
Court orders: The Netherlands must protect a Caribbean island from climate change (The New York Times)
Overshoot: The World Is Hitting Point of No Return on Climate (Yale360 analysis)
Crumbling: Destructive landslides becoming more common across Alaska (Alaska Public Media)