Green Lights July 25: 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, David Callaway takes a closer look at the winners and losers in the second-quarter earnings/tariff standoff, as well as what the withdrawal of the U.S. from UNESCO means. Plus, Mark Hulbert argues that if climate investors believe in the long-term potential of clean energy, they need to have the conviction to look past this era of White House hostility. Have a good weekend. Please subscribe to support our climate finance journalism.
. . . . America’s withdrawal from the United Nation’s science agency likely kills any remaining chances of the U.S. sending a meaningful delegation to the UN’s climate conference this year in Brazil. David Callaway writes that while expected by the UN’s Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) based on the Trump administration’s hostility to other international science and climate groups, the abrupt departure from the group leaves the U.S. with little commitment left to the UN or any of its programs.
. . . . The whipsaw effects on investors will be the dominant story of the next two weeks of earnings season, writes David Callaway. In the first quarter, 411 of the S&P 500 companies cited the potential impact of Trump tariffs in their earnings statements. But this time, companies have actual impacts to talk about and they can measure them better. For example, take a look at GE Vernova (good) GEV 0.00%↑ and General Motors (bad) GM 0.00%↑ .
. . . . Nathan Mayer Rothschild, one of the scions of the Rothschild family banking dynasty, famously said after Napoleon’s loss at the Battle of Waterloo to “buy when there’s blood in the streets, even if it’s your own.” Potentially sound advice for climate investors who have been battered this year by attacks on renewable energy stocks, writes Mark Hulbert. Citing examples of specific renewable companies that have been crushed before but gone on to huge gains, Vestas Wind Systems (VWDRY) and First Solar FSLR 0.92%↑, Hulbert argues that if climate investors believe in the long-term potential of clean energy, they need to have the conviction to look past this era of White House hostility and focus on the impact of an expected energy transition on their portfolios.
. . . . A new poll over the weekend showed that Americans are increasingly concerned President Donald Trump isn’t doing enough to lower prices of groceries as he focuses on tariffs. But high costs for fruits, vegetables and other commodities such as coffee or chocolate might not be something Trump — nor former President Joe Biden for that matter — can control any longer, thanks to climate change.
. . . . The question hanging over the sale of BP’s U.S. wind power assets late last week was never really who but how much. But at what discount to the $2 billion valuation estimate did LS Power score the assets will be the issue for BP BP -0.05%↓ investors and other potential renewable buyers as the company seeks to sell another $18 billion in assets, including $2 billion to $3 billion more this year.
. . . . Climate circles celebrated this week as the United Nations International Court of Justice ruled in favor of Vanuatu, a small South Pacific island nation (above), agreeing that global warming is an existential threat and that wealthy countries will be held responsible for their pollution and forced to pay damages. But while the rest of the world sees real climate progress in the ruling, the Trump team is pushing the EPA to overturn a 16-year-old scientific finding that has become the basis for all U.S. environmental regulation.
More greenery . . . .
Underground heating: London Commutes Aren’t Ready for Climate Change (Bloomberg)
Don’t worry: Greenhouse gases don’t endanger people (NPR)
Watch your step: Is climate change causing more and bigger sinkholes? (DW)
The forest for the tree: Climate Change Is Making Fire Weather Worse for World’s Forests (NYT)
Must-read stories: A collection of stories bringing climate change into personal focus (Yale Climate Connection)