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☆ China’s climate targets at risk as coal power approvals rose in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —China, the world’s top carbon polluter, is at risk of falling short on its climate targets after approving dozens of new coal plants, according to research published Thursday. In just two years, the country has approved 218 GW of new coal power, enough to supply electricity to the whole of Brazil. China approved 114 gigawatts (GW) of coal power capacity in 2023, up 10% from a year earlier. China’s total power capacity is already sufficient to meet demand, but its inefficient grid is unable to deliver electricity where it is needed, especially across provincial borders, encouraging more plant construction. “This risks significant financial problems for coal power plant operators and potential pushback against the energy transition,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, CREA’s chief analyst.

Persons: CREA, ”, Lauri Myllyvirta Organizations: CNN, Global Energy Monitor, Research, Energy, Clean Locations: China, Helsinki, Brazil

☆ Glencore's 2023 earnings halve on lower commodity prices
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

An employee stands by a logo for Glencore Agriculture in Glencore Plc's offices in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Glencore said on Wednesday lower commodity prices had halved its earnings last year, and slashed its payout to investors, as the company saves to fund the acquisition of a 77% stake in Teck Resources' metallurgical coal business. After two consecutive record years, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) halved to $17.1 billion from $34.1 billion a year earlier, in line with analysts' consensus estimates of $17.15 billion. In preliminary 2023 results, the miner and trader said net debt stood at $4.92 billion at the end of the year, from just $75 million at the end of 2022. London-listed Glencore's payout of $1.6 billion announced on Wednesday does not include a new buyback scheme, after the existing one ends this month, nor a special dividend, as the company uses its cash to fund the $6.9 billion acquisition of Canadian miner Teck's steelmaking coal unit.

Persons: Glencore Organizations: Glencore Agriculture Locations: Glencore, Rotterdam , Netherlands, Teck Resources, London

☆ What’s behind Wall Street’s flip-flop on climate?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( David Gelles | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Many of the world’s biggest financial firms spent the past several years burnishing their environmental images by pledging to use their financial muscle to fight climate change. Now, Wall Street has flip-flopped. In recent days, giants of the financial world, including JPMorgan, State Street and Pimco, have pulled out of a group called Climate Action 100+, an international coalition of money managers that was pushing big companies to address climate issues. Bank of America reneged on a commitment to stop financing new coal mines, coal-burning power plants and Arctic drilling projects. And Republican politicians, sensing momentum, called on other firms to follow suit.

Organizations: JPMorgan, State, Bank of America, Republican Locations: BlackRock

☆ BHP half-year profit beats expectations, inflation impact recedes
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In this photo illustration, BHP logo of a multinational mining, metals and petroleum company is seen displayed on a smartphone in front of BHP Billiton logo. BHP Group on Tuesday logged first-half underlying profit that slightly beat analyst expectations, buoyed by strong iron ore prices, and said inflationary impacts were receding. BHP said underlying profit attributable to shareholders was $6.60 billion for the six months ended Dec. 31, unchanged from the previous year, but topping an LSEG estimate of $6.42 billion. It declared an interim dividend of $0.72 per share, compared with $0.90 per share a year earlier. Shares in BHP edged down 0.3% to A$45.91 amid a sour tone in resources stocks.

Persons: BHP Organizations: BHP Billiton, BHP Group, BHP, Citi Locations: China, India

☆ More Wall Street Firms Are Flip-Flopping on Climate. Here’s Why.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( David Gelles | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Many of the world’s biggest financial firms spent the past several years burnishing their environmental images by pledging to use their financial muscle to fight climate change. Now, Wall Street has flip-flopped. In recent days, giants of the financial world including JPMorgan, State Street and Pimco all pulled out of a group called Climate Action 100+, an international coalition of money managers that was pushing big companies to address climate issues. Bank of America reneged on a commitment to stop financing new coal mines, coal-burning power plants and Arctic drilling projects. And Republican politicians, sensing momentum, called on other firms to follow suit.

Organizations: JPMorgan, State, Bank of America, Republican Locations: BlackRock

☆ Wall Street giants like JPMorgan and Pimco are walking back their environmental pledges after years of outspoken support for fighting climate change
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewSome Wall Street giants, many of which have spent the last few years pledging to fight climate change through corporate responsibility, are now retreating from some of their environmental initiatives. Founded in 2017, Climate Action 100+ initially launched as a five-year initiative that in 2022 was extended until 2030. AdvertisementFollowing the departures of JPMorgan, State Street, and Pimco, financial investors including Neuberger Berman, William Blair Investment Management, and Wellington Management remain members of Climate Action 100+, whose targeted companies include American Airlines, Chevron, and Procter & Gamble. Other finance giants have similarly stepped back from previous environmentally friendly initiatives, The New York Times reported. They include BlackRock, which scaled back its participation with Climate Action 100+ in recent weeks, as well as Bank of America, which walked back a pledge to stop financing coal.

Persons: —, Neuberger Berman, William Blair Organizations: Service, JPMorgan, State Street, Business, New York Times, Politico, State, William Blair Investment Management, Wellington Management, Climate, American Airlines, Chevron, Procter, Gamble, The New York Times, BlackRock, Bank of America

☆ A ‘Natural’ Gas Pipeline in the South Will Be Disastrous - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Margaret Renkl | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Earlier this month, the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company announced its intention to build the South’s largest gas pipeline in more than a decade. The Union of Concerned Scientists instead uses “methane,” “fossil gas” and “gas” as interchangeable terms for this greenhouse gas which, in its first 20 years of reaching the atmosphere, has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide. The problem with gas is not simply that it’s a fossil fuel or that gas pipelines routinely leak and can explode. And it’s not simply that gas is a human health and environmental nightmare. Perhaps the most damaging problem with gas pipelines is that they permit the construction of new gas-fired power plants that will be in service for decades.

Organizations: Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, Carolinas, of, Environmental Defense Fund Locations: Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, American, Southern

☆ Opinion | Why Don’t We Just Ban Fossil Fuels?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Imagine there were no law against arson and we were trying to figure out a way to stop it. One way would be to require people to pay for the right to burn down buildings. Another would be to issue a strictly limited number of tradable arson-permission certificates, which would-be arsonists could trade among themselves. Burning fossil fuels isn’t the same as burning houses. Unlike arson, the combustion of oil, natural gas, coal and other fossil fuels provides real benefits — running our cars, heating and cooling our homes and so on.

Persons: Let’s Organizations: “

☆ Second Trump Presidency Would Axe Biden Climate Agenda, Gut Energy Regulators
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +7 min

Much of that work could go up in smoke if his likely rival Donald Trump beats him at the polls in November, according to Republican policy advisers. Reuters spoke with a dozen Republican policy consultants and former Trump administration officials who are helping lay the groundwork for a second Trump presidency to sketch out the administration's likely approach to energy and environmental issues. Trump formally withdrew the U.S. during his first term in office but Biden swiftly reversed the move in 2021. "A big lesson that everybody in the first Trump administration learned was that personnel is really important. The idea of taking a hatchet to the entire IRA could, however, give some oil industry officials and Republican politicians pause, a former Trump administration official said.

Persons: Valerie Volcovici, Gram Slattery WASHINGTON, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, Stephen Moore, Trump's, Larry Kudlow, David Bernhardt, Rick Perry, Kevin Hassett, Harold Hamm, Biden, George David Banks, Ivanka, Mike McKenna, Diana Furchtgott, Roth, Timothy Gardner, Richard Valdmanis, Deepa Babington Organizations: Republican, United Nations, Trump, Reuters, White, Heritage Foundation, Republicans, Economic, Energy, Biden, America, Policy Institute, Heritage Locations: United States, Paris, Biden's

☆ Ross Gelbspan, Who Exposed Roots of Climate Change Deniers, Dies at 84
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Trip Gabriel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The cause was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, his wife, Anne Gelbspan, said. Mr. Gelbspan’s career included reporting on dissidents in the Soviet Union and on F.B.I. harassment of domestic critics, and his interest in the climate crisis, like those other subjects, came from a sense of outrage that powerful interests were suppressing information needed for democracy. “I didn’t get into the climate issue because I love the trees — I tolerate the trees,” he said on YouTube last year. “I got into the issue because I learned the coal industry was paying a handful of scientists under the table to say nothing was happening to the climate.”

Persons: Ross Gelbspan, —, Anne Gelbspan, Gelbspan’s, ”, “ Organizations: Republican, YouTube Locations: Boston, Soviet Union

☆ 'The holy grail’: Startup backed by a Nobel laureate vying for a breakthrough on hydrogen storage
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Sam Meredith | Www.Linkedin.Com In Samuelmeredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty ImagesA California-based startup backed by two pioneering scientists, one of whom is a Nobel laureate, believes it is on the cusp of a "quantum leap" in the hydrogen energy race. H2MOF, which was co-founded in 2021, is working to develop a solution for hydrogen storage by deploying the latest advancements in the field of molecularly engineered materials. It says a breakthrough in what it regards as the greatest challenge facing the hydrogen economy is just a matter of time. I would say that in the next couple of years we should be able to make another quantum leap forward. "But I would say that in the next couple of years we should be able to make another quantum leap forward," Yaghi said.

Persons: Fraser Stoddart, Stoddart, Omar Yaghi, H2MOF, That's, Yaghi, H2MOF's, Allen J Organizations: Getty, H2MOF, CNBC, Hydrogen, Los Angeles Times Locations: Germany, California, United States, Japan, Australia, Fountain Valley

☆ Google is making a map of methane leaks for the whole world to see
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Oil, gas, and coal operations are thought to account for 40% of global methane emissions from human activities. At least 155 countries have also signed the Global Methane Pledge, which calls for a 30% reduction in emissions. The pledge initially launched in 2021, but since then, methane emissions have continued to rise . To help change that trajectory, the US and Europe last year issued regulations cracking down on methane emissions from fossil fuel infrastructure. By 2027, those imports will have to meet methane emissions standards on par with Europe's.

Persons: Steve Hamburg, —, Yael Maguire, Maguire Organizations: Service, Google, Environmental Defense Fund, Business, International Energy Agency, Google Geo Locations: Agriculture, MethaneSAT, Dubai, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Hamburg

☆ Biden Faces More Pressure From Environmentalists to Block Steel Merger
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Jim Tankersley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden is facing new pressure to block Nippon Steel’s acquisition of the iconic manufacturer U.S. Steel, this time from environmental groups that say the tie-up would set back America’s efforts to curb climate change. In interviews, environmental activists working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions say the merger would bring together two steel giants that are laggards on transitioning away from fossil fuels. Researchers at Industrious Labs, a nonprofit pushing to decarbonize steel and other heavy industries, drew on both companies’ public disclosures to calculate that Nippon and U.S. Steel are relatively high emitters of heat-trapping gases from steel production. Three U.S. Steel facilities — in Pennsylvania, Indiana and Illinois — combine to emit more greenhouse gases in a year than a comparable number of coal-fired power plants, the researchers estimate. Officials from Nippon and U.S. Steel say they are pursuing multiple strategies to decarbonize by 2050, including high-grade steel production in more efficient electric-powered furnaces and using hydrogen-injecting technology in blast furnaces, and that their merger will advance those efforts.

Persons: Biden Organizations: Nippon, U.S . Steel, U.S, Steel Locations: Pennsylvania , Indiana, Illinois

☆ Indonesia’s Vote: Three Takeaways for Climate Change
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Somini Sengupta | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Coal, nickel, palm oil, rainforests. The new government’s approach on the management of its natural resources could have a significant effect on the world’s ability to keep global warming to relatively safe levels. Environmentalists are also watching what the vote might mean for their ability to operate freely in a country with a history of repression. Indonesia is the world’s largest exporter of coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel and something that the world must quickly stop burning in order to avoid the worst consequences of global warming. But Indonesia also has huge reserves of nickel, which is critical to battery-making and the transition to cleaner energy.

Persons: Prabowo Locations: Indonesia

☆ An English City Gave Soccer to the World. Now It Wants Credit.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Rory Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As far as the man in the food truck is concerned, the patch of land he occupies in Sheffield, England, is about as humdrum as they come. To him, the spot — in the drab parking lot of a sprawling home improvement superstore, its facade plastered in lurid orange — is not exactly a place where history comes alive. John Wilson, an academic at the University of Sheffield’s management school, looks at the same site and can barely contain his excitement. He does not see a parking lot. He can see the history: the verdant grass, the sweating players, the cheering crowds.

Persons: John Wilson, Monty ” — Organizations: University of Sheffield’s, Sheffield Locations: Sheffield, England

☆ I spent Valentine's Day at the bottom of a coal mine. It was the highlight of that relationship.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Charlotte Ahlin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

I spent a Valentine's Day in an active coal mine. The relationship only lasted months, but that is still one of my most memorable Valentine's Day. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementIt was Valentine's Day, and I was taking a zipline into hell. Or rather, I was suspended from a swinging bicycle seat, descending into an active coal mine.

Persons: —, We'd, I'd, Jay, stupidly Organizations: Service Locations: India, parasailing, —

BERLIN (AP) — The 74th Berlin International Film Festival opens Thursday with the world premiere of “Small Things Like These” starring man of the moment Cillian Murphy. Festival directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian, who will step down after this year, expressed their aim for “open dialogue” surrounding the war. The duo’s previous film, “Ballad of a White Cow,” premiered in competition in Berlin in 2021. Kenyan-Mexican actor Lupita Nyong’o will serve as the Berlinale’s first black jury president at this year’s festival. Isabelle Huppert will return to Berlin to collect her unclaimed lifetime achievement from 2022, when the French acting icon could not attend.

Persons: Cillian Murphy, Murphy, “ Oppenheimer, ”, “, Blinders, Tim Mielants, Eileen Walsh, Michelle Fairley, Emily Watson, Magdalene laundries, Mariette Rissenbeek, Carlo Chatrian, ” It’s, haven’t, Ayo Tsalithaba, Suneil Sanzgiri, Maryam Moghaddam, Sanaeeha, Berlinale, AfD’s, Kristin Brinker, Lupita Nyong’o, Brady Corbet, Jasmine Trinca, Ann Hui, Christian Petzold, Albert Serra, Oksana Zabuzhko, Kristen Stewart, Adam Sandler, Stephen Fry, Lena Dunham, Marvel’s Sebastian Stan, Martin Scorsese, Golden Bear, Isabelle Huppert, Hong Sang Organizations: BERLIN, Berlin, West Bank, Palestinian, Germany, Kenyan Locations: Ireland, Gaza, Germany, Israeli, American, Israel, Tehran, Berlin, Berlin’s, AfD’s Berlin, Mexican, Ukrainian, Czech, Poland, French, South Korean

In the U.S., lab-grown diamond sales jumped 16% in 2023 from 2022, according to Edahn Golan, an industry analyst. Social media posts show millennials and Generation Zs proudly explaining the purchase of their lab-grown diamonds for sustainability and ethical reasons. Natural diamonds take billions of years to form and are difficult to find, making their price more stable. Globally, lab-grown diamonds are now 5-6% of the market and the traditional industry is not taking it sitting down. It's also still true in more rural areas of the United States, while lab-grown diamonds have taken off more in the cities.

Persons: Bario Neal, Haley Farlow, ”, Golan, Zs, Farlow, that's, Cupid, Martin Roscheisen, Paul Zimnisky, Zimnisky, It's, Mother Earth, ” Zimnisky, Page Neal, it’s Organizations: PHILADELPHIA, Diamond, Diamond Foundry, telltale, Gemological Institute of America, Mother, Associated Press Locations: Philadelphia, U.S, India, China, Henan, Zhuhai, Na Diamond, HeNan, Ningbo Crysdiam, United States, Wenatchee , Washington, Columbia, AP.org

☆ U.S. Gas Producers Are Racing to Sell to Asia. And Mexico Is Key.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Max Bearak | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As soon as next year, the United States’ fossil fuel industry will gain its first foothold on a valuable shortcut to sell natural gas to Asia. The shortcut goes straight through Mexico. The terminal is symbolic of an enormous shift underway in the gas trade, one that will influence fossil-fuel use worldwide for decades and have consequences in the fight against climate change. The American fracking boom has transformed the United States into the world’s largest gas producer and exporter. Demand is particularly growing in China, India and fast-industrializing Southeast Asian countries.

Locations: United States, Asia, Mexico, Coast, Panama, American, China, India

The bill would bar counties from usurping state law on agricultural operations, including revoking such county regulations that were previously adopted. “This bill is of specific interest to many Hardy County residents because it contains language that would explicitly address a situation specific to Hardy County,” county planner Melissa Scott wrote in an email to The Associated Press. It’s unknown whether Allegheny Wood Products, which has eight sawmills in the state, wants to resume its efforts to obtain an air permit. Also under the bill, county commissions also would be barred from adopting ordinances that regulate buildings on agricultural land or operations. "What activities are considered ‘related to agricultural operations’?

Persons: ”, John Rosato, comas, Melissa Scott, didn’t, Steven Schetrom, “, Jim Justice, Scott Organizations: Allegheny Wood Products, Environmental, Air Quality, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, Associated Press, AP, Republican Gov, Virginians Locations: CHARLESTON, W.Va, West Virginia, Allegheny, Hardy County, Baker, ”, Hardy, Virginia, Washington ,

☆ What to Know About Indonesia’s Election
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Sui-Lee Wee | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

And within hours, if history is any guide, the world will know the outcome of the biggest race of the day: the one for Indonesia’s presidency. Indonesia, the world’s third-largest democracy, will hold its general election on Wednesday. Election Day is a national holiday, and on average, about 75 percent of eligible voters have turned out. In addition to the president, voters are choosing members of Parliament and local representatives. As one of the world’s biggest exporters of coal, nickel and palm oil, Indonesia has a large role to play in the climate change crisis.

Persons: Joko Widodo Locations: Indonesia, United States, China, Asia, Washington

Increasingly, voters are demanding that the men vying to succeed him address the tradeoffs between fast growth and a healthy environment in the world's fourth most populated country. In recent years, surging commodity prices have fueled fast economic growth and helped Indonesia become a middle-income country. That growth is expected to slow as the boom loses steam, according to a World Bank report. “That means, if the government forces its development, it will involve inefficient and unproductive allocation of resources.”Another campaign issue: food estate programs, massive plantations the government set up to fortify national food security. INDONESIA’S ENERGY TRANSITIONIn 2021, coal-rich Indonesia was the world’s ninth-largest source of carbon emissions that are causing global warming, according to a report by the International Energy Agency.

Persons: —, Joko Widodo, It's, Joko Widodo —, Prabowo Subianto, Josua Pardede, ”, Arianto Patunru, Baswedan, Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara, El Organizations: Permata Bank, EV, Australian National University, of Economic, Law Studies, International Energy Agency, World Bank, Youth, Bank, El Nino, AP Locations: JAKARTA, Indonesia, Jakarta, Nusantara, Borneo, Anies, Central Java, Widodo, Washington, Kalimantan

Credit expanded by just 0.4% in the month, according to the Federal Reserve’s monthly credit report released Wednesday. And it still leaves consumers with record levels of credit card debt. Of that, credit card balances grew by $212 billion to $1.13 trillion, while mortgage balances rose by $112 billion to $12.25 trillion. “Credit card and auto loan transitions into delinquency are still rising above pre-pandemic levels,” said Wilbert van der Klaauw, economic research advisor at the New York Fed. Average card balances rose by 10% from a year ago to $6,360, a record.

Persons: ”, Wilbert van der, TransUnion, Michele Raneri, Scott Haymore, “ Deleveraging, Wells Fargo Organizations: Federal, Federal Reserve Bank of New, Auto, New York Fed, millennials, TransUnion, TD Bank Locations: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Wells Fargo

☆ India’s Gautam Adani rebounds from Hindenburg attack with return to the $100 billion club
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Diksha Madhok | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hindenburg Research published a blistering report in January 2023, accusing Gautam Adani, then Asia’s richest man, of engaging in fraud over decades. “The group has done exceptionally well on various fronts since the Hindenburg report,” said Manish Chowdhury, head of research at brokerage StoxBox. On Thursday, his wealth once again crossed the $100 billion threshold, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. An ‘attack’ on IndiaHindenburg Research, named after the 1937 airship disaster, had accused the Adani Group of “brazen stock manipulation” and it questioned the “sky-high” valuations of Adani firms. However, since the Hindenburg report, the group has worked on reducing its borrowing.

Persons: David, Gautam Adani, Hindenburg, Adani, ”, Manish Chowdhury, ” Adani, Jeff Bezos, Mukesh Ambani, John D Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Narendra Modi, Chowdhury, “ Organizations: New, New Delhi CNN, Hindenburg Research, Bloomberg, India Hindenburg Research, Adani, GQG Partners, “, America’s, Adani Enterprises, Indian, Bharatiya Janata Party Locations: New Delhi, India, ’, ”, Times

☆ Nuclear fusion: Scientists just set a new energy record in a step toward unleashing the limitless, clean energy source
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Angela Dewan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN —Scientists and engineers near the English city of Oxford have set a nuclear fusion energy record, they announced Thursday, bringing the clean, futuristic power source another step closer to reality. To generate fusion energy, the team raised temperatures in the machine to 150 million degrees Celsius — around 10 times hotter than the core of the sun. An animation showing how tokamaks generate nuclear fusion energy. “Our successful demonstration of operational scenarios for future fusion machines like ITER and DEMO, validated by the new energy record, instil greater confidence in the development of fusion energy,” Fasoli said in a statement. A view of Torus Hall, where the JET tokamak machine lies.

Persons: Ambrogio Fasoli, ” Fasoli, Aneeqa Khan, Khan, ”, Copernicus Organizations: London CNN —, CNN, JET, EUROfusion, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, University of Manchester Locations: Oxford, France

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