Green Lights March 21: 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 notes Callaway Climate Insights’ anniversary and highlights what’s changed and what hasn’t. Mark Hulbert takes a look at why Republicans and right-of-center think tanks are joining with those on the left in recognizing that it would be a bad idea to repeal the clean energy tax credits that were a key part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Welcome to spring. Have a good weekend and please subscribe to support our climate finance journalism.
. . . . In case you missed it, Monday was Callaway Climate Insights’ 5th anniversary. David Callaway writes: When we launched Callaway Climate Insights five years ago, it was St. Patrick’s Day, the first day of Covid lockdown in California, Donald Trump was president, and climate change threatened the world. We don’t know where the markets and politics will be in five years, but we expect to be here to tell the stories and share the insights of the only real battle that matters.
. . . . A growing number of Republicans and right-of-center think tanks are joining with those on the left in recognizing that it would be a bad idea to repeal the clean energy tax credits that were a key part of the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, writes Mark Hulbert. What makes for these unlikely bedfellows? Data from a conservative environmental advocacy group shows the result would be higher electricity rates, slower economic growth and the loss of jobs. Plus, some House Republicans argue that a repeal would risk “sparking an energy crisis in our country, resulting in drastically higher power bills for American families.” Who would have thought?
. . . . Even in the best of times, investing in Russia carried high risk and enormous pitfalls. Its stock market would rise one year and collapse the next. Entrepreneurs could see their share of partnerships suddenly seized or their partners arrested. So expectations that peace talks with Russia will yield a bonanza of re-investment from Western companies and investors are significantly over-optimistic, writes David Callaway.
. . . . Another alarming report this week about global temperatures steadily rising sent us to the charts of U.S. cooling companies, as demand is forecast to soar. There are never any one-way streets in the markets, we acknowledge. But with temps rising and humanity doing little to arrest the core pollution reason for it, it’s hard to see business fading for these types of new technologies in the short term.
. . . . And then they heard a crunching sound. They being the scientists who had struggled for years to control an invasive species of crab destroying an important ecosystem near Monterey Bay on the California coast. Guess who stepped in and took a big bite out of the problem?
. . . . BYD has leapfrogged Tesla TSLA 0.00%↑ with claims of a new charger that can charge an EV in under five minutes. If true, that would pass Tesla’s fast-charging stations, which can charge your EV in about 15 minutes, or the latest technology from Mercedes, which claims 10 minutes. The developing arms race in chargers is changing the game for EV buyers.
More greenery . . . .
Trouble’s brewing: What is the Impact of Climate Change on Coffee? (Sustainability Magazine)
Eyes in the sky: California steps up to monitor methane pollution (San Francisco Chronicle)
Defending: Here’s why the US military has cared about climate change since the Cold War (Military Times)
Spring forecast: NOAA says it’s likely to be warmer and drier (ABC News)