Green Lights March 14: 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 assesses the changes at the EPA, and the outlook for Canada’s new prime minister. Plus, read more about the oil-is-back party in Houston and the layoffs this week at Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Have a good weekend. And please subscribe to support our climate finance journalism.
. . . . Holding big business to account is part of the mission of business journalism, but also of certain government agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, writes David Callaway. The gutting of the EPA this week by Administrator Lee Zeldin, celebrated as the “most consequential day of deregulation in American history,” will go down as one of the most irresponsible and harmful acts of the Trump era.
. . . . The layoffs this week at Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures are more than just a retooling for the Trump years. They are a signal that for the indefinite future any attempts at influencing or creating climate policy in Washington are dead.
. . . . The oil-is-back party in Houston for CERAWeek is in full swing, with none other than new Energy Secretary Chris Wright himself declaring the Trump Administration will destroy all vestiges of the Biden team’s agenda to fight climate change. But as the booze flows and energy executives bask in a new era of “energy pragmatism” that ignores the harmful impacts of oil and gas production in favor of profit, one guest is conspicuous in its absence — higher oil prices.
. . . . Investors will look to Mark Carney, Canada’s new prime minister, to either stand up to President Donald Trump or find a way to diffuse the tariff tirades that have shaken global markets. It is a test that will be measured in weeks, not months — more than enough for any leader. But Carney has a much bigger responsibility — reversing the sudden attacks on climate everywhere.
. . . . The Trump chaos that has crushed financial markets and threatened economies created a domino effect on investors, with climate initiatives specifically targeted as each day brings word of more cuts to U.S. climate funding around the world. While Europe’s political leaders put a brave face on it, without private financing, much of the work in electric vehicles, wind power, solar power and tech innovations is slowing down. David Callaway writes in his Zeus column this week, If the Trump presidency has proven anything, it’s that it doesn’t take long to change the direction of the world once leadership is established. Fortunately for climate entrepreneurs and innovators, that works both ways.
More greenery . . . .
Hotcakes: Why the maple syrup industry is under threat from climate change (CBS News)
Curtains: NOAA monthly media calls on climate change suspended (Axios)
Lost in space: How climate change will mess up Earth’s orbit (The Independent)
Leaning in: UK and China restart meaningful climate change dialogue (UK government)