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☆ 'We're in a perfect storm.' Insurers flee parts of America amid the climate crisis and rising costs to rebuild.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Some insurers have stopped selling new policies in states like California and Florida. "We're seeing escalating catastrophe risk, a historic rise in inflation, and the cost to recover and rebuild homes is increasing." Still, Friedlander doesn't see Florida's insurance market improving any time soon. Beyond the rising risk of disaster, property insurers are also dealing with construction costs that are outpacing inflation, according to an analysis by the Insurance Information Institute. Insurers saw a 55% increase in rebuilding and replacement costs between 2019 and 2022.

Persons: Carole Walker, Walker, Mark Friedlander, Friedlander, Ian, Ron DeSantis Organizations: Service, Rocky Mountain Insurance Association, State Farm, Allstate, Colorado Division of Insurance, FAIR, Property Insurance Corporation, Insurance, Research, Institute, Contractors Locations: California, Florida . Colorado, Gulf Coast, California , Colorado , Florida , Louisiana, Texas, Colorado , New Mexico , Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, California , Louisiana, Florida

☆ Exxon and Chevron investors shoot down climate proposals after a year a record profits
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Investors shot down proposals urging Exxon and Chevron to set more ambitious climate targets. Climate-minded investors blame Big Oil's soaring profits and Republicans' criticism of ESG. "It's incomprehensible why investors are accepting this when they have more to worry about than the profits of Big Oil. Exxon in December said more than 70% of its capital investments in the coming years would flow to fossil-fuel development. "To be fair, we have seen change at Exxon in the last two years.

Persons: Big, Mark van Baal, Critics, Andrew Logan Organizations: Exxon, Chevron, Service, ExxonMobil, BlackRock, Vanguard, Big, Big Oil Locations: Ukraine

☆ Charm Industrial is getting $53 million for turning agricultural waste into oil that can be pumped underground to lock away carbon dioxide for 1 million years
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The company says the oil hardens within days and it estimates the carbon dioxide is locked away for 1 million years. That's far more than the 6,055 tons that Charm Industrial has removed to date under pilot programs. Meeting that global climate goal will likely require billions of metric tons of carbon dioxide to be removed from the atmosphere by 2050. Startups like Climeworks are using fans to suck carbon dioxide out of the sky, while others are using enhanced weathering that speeds up the natural ability of minerals to store carbon dioxide. For its part, Charm Industrial buys agricultural waste from farmers and heats it to high temperatures in a contraption called a pyrolyzer.

☆ The US wants to cut carbon emissions from power plants. Here are the 15 states where coal is king.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Biden administration proposed steep pollution cuts by coal- and gas-fired power plants. Most US electricity comes from fossil fuels — the sector creates 25% of the nation's emissions. Coal is the most polluting fossil fuel, and plants have been closing over the past decade. Most of the country's more than 3,400 fossil-fuel power plants would have to nearly eliminate their planet-warming greenhouse-gas emissions by 2040 under a proposal announced by the Environmental Protection Agency last week. Coal plants could also opt to shut down in the first half of the 2030s to avoid meeting most or even all pollution caps.

Persons: Biden, it's Organizations: Service, Environmental, Agency, EPA, Biden, US Energy Information Administration, West Virginia —, Missouri —, Wyoming, Kentucky —, Utah —, Indiana —, Dakota —, Nebraska —, Montana —, Wisconsin —, Colorado —, Mexico —, Arkansas —, Michigan —, Minnesota — Locations: Mexico

☆ Microsoft bets that a fusion power plant from Helion Energy will be operating this decade
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Microsoft agreed to buy electricity from a fusion power plant being developed by Helion Energy. Microsoft on Wednesday agreed to buy 50 megawatts of electricity — enough to power about 40,000 homes — from a fusion power plant being developed by Helion Energy. The seventh prototype, expected be completed this year, is set to be the first to convert fusion energy into electricity, Kirtley said. If Helion doesn't deliver Microsoft the 50 MW of electricity from its fusion power plant, there will be financial penalties, Kirtley said. Helion had previously projected that it would start building a commercial fusion power plant by 2022 — if it obtained sufficient funding.

☆ Women in Climate Leadership: Meet 10 leaders who refuse to let the climate crisis go unchecked
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

"It's like a comedy-drama satire," Margolin, a junior at New York University, told Insider of the film, called "Doomers." It's about a former youth climate activist and a former NASA climate scientist who go out for a night of hedonistic destruction to celebrate giving up on fighting the climate crisis. Margolin started to worry that the youth climate movement had inadvertently created a capitalistic monster. So many companies, even big polluters or those with sweatshops in their supply chains, talk about sustainability and climate justice. "Corporations and politicians have exploited the youth climate movement," Margolin said.

☆ Oliver Stone says you should be more worried about the climate crisis than the risks of using nuclear power
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Oscar-wining director Oliver Stone released a documentary calling for more use of nuclear power. And nuclear power kills far fewer people than fossil fuels — the main cause of the climate crisis — in terms of air pollution and accidents. These events distorted the safety risks of nuclear energy, Stone argues, noting that beyond the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, few people have died from nuclear accidents. Stone told Insider he didn't know that Ralph Nader, who famously campaigned against nuclear power plants, described the documentary as a "propaganda boomerang." "I'd rather not," Stone told Insider.

☆ Youth climate activists plan to protest the biggest social event for Washington's political-media class
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

On Saturday, the group plans to blockade the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, DC. So the White House Correspondents' Association dinner is an appropriate target, Salamon said. The White House did not return requests for comment. Haught acknowledged she had little political choice because GOP candidates have shown paltry interest in prioritizing climate action. "If you're putting your body on the line and risking a record of arrest, that shows you're serious," Haught said.

☆ The steps that could help address biodiversity loss could also help fix the climate crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Biodiversity loss doesn't always get as much attention as the climate but the crises are linked. The animal, named Sudan, was the last male northern white rhino. The loss of biodiversity doesn't always get as much attention as the climate crisis but the two challenges are linked. "Anybody who's working with these issues — biodiversity, climate change, and the underlying drivers of it — realize the interconnectedness of it," Chomba said. Nachmany said some parts of the financial world are recognizing that biodiversity loss and the climate crisis are two parts of the same problem.

☆ Companies are selling us more stuff by telling us it's 'sustainable'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The federal government is updating guides around how companies can prove their environmental claims. Companies are advertising what they plan to do, such as addressing the climate crisis or using more recycled materials in their products. She pointed to a case BBB National Programs' National Advertising Division brought against the American Beverage Association, which represents companies such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. The beverage industry appealed the finding, arguing that the ad was intended to increase awareness that plastic bottles could be recycled. The National Advertising Division's appellate body upheld the original decision.

☆ Affordable housing is the best way to prevent heat-related deaths, Phoenix's chief heat officer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Phoenix's chief heat officer says more affordable housing will prevent heat-associated deaths. "It can be a little shocking," Hondula, director of the city's office of heat response and mitigation, told Insider. All these factors led Phoenix in 2021 to establish the country's first publicly funded heat office, with Hondula at the helm. Gallego told Insider in a statement that she and other city staff are working daily to address this issue. Hondula, for his part, said the heat office needs to be the biggest advocate for investments in affordable housing and homelessness services inside City Hall.

☆ I took ThredUp's Fashion Footprint quiz. My annual shopping habits equaled driving 614 miles in a gas-powered car.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

ThredUp's Fashion Footprint calculator tallies the climate impact of the clothes we buy. Turns out, the climate impact of my annual shopping habits is still 65% lower than the average customer, at least according to ThredUp's new Fashion Footprint calculator. Resale captured 9% of the US apparel market in 2022, compared with 3% a decade ago, according to ThredUp's latest annual report. Americans spent $1.4 billion on secondhand clothes last year that they normally would have bought new, a 40% jump over 2021. I plugged that into ThredUp's calculator.

☆ Viral fast-food hacks, like the Chipotle 'fajita quesadilla,' prove American appetites haven't caught up to the climate crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The TikTok creator, known for reviewing fast-food staples, posted last summer about leveling up Chipotle's steak quesadilla with fajita veggies. Nathan Llorin, another popular TikToker, told Insider that it wasn't until he started eating and reviewing fast food that his videos took off. A climate message for menusIn January, research showed that labeling fast-food menus with their climate impacts swayed people away from red meat. But about 10% of customers now choose a meatless option, including Sofritas, the chain's plant-based mainstay made from tofu. Frost, the TikToker, told Insider that of all the things viewers attack her for on the platform, the environmental impact of fast food isn't among them.

☆ Reactions: Canada 2023/24 budget deficit to jump, Ottawa to boost spending
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

JULES BOUDREAU, SENIOR ECONOMIST, MACKENZIE INVESTMENTS"The surprise was more on the revenue side more than the spending side. Prior to this budget we were not eligible for the carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) investment tax credit, but they have now broadened the eligibility parameters." "The big open question, heading into this budget was how was Canada going to react to the Inflation Reduction Act ... MARK ZACHARIAS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CLEAN ENERGY CANADA"We thought today's budget was generally excellent and it sets Canada on a path for prosperity. "The investment tax credits for clean tech manufacturing positions Canada as a leader, particularly in zero-emissions vehicles."

☆ Fossil fuels are the new nukes: Pacific island nations at risk from rising sea levels support a nonproliferation treaty for oil and gas
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Leaders from Pacific island nations at risk from the climate crisis gathered last week in Vanuatu. The nations of Vanuatu and Tuvalu support a treaty to limit fossil-fuel use. Public and private financing for fossil fuels is also still greater than investment in climate adaptation and mitigation. Developing countries need financing to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, Berman said. "A fossil-fuel treaty could shift the social norm and make expansion unacceptable within foreign policy," Berman said.

Last year VCs invested $19.8 billion into these property-technology, or proptech, startups. We surveyed venture capitalists to identify the hottest proptech companies right now. Climatetech and AI-powered tools are major themes of the proptech industry in 2023, just as they are in the wider venture world. Insider asked more than 20 venture investors who focus on real-estate and construction technology to nominate the most exciting proptech startups in 2023. Here are the 26 buzziest proptech companies right now, presented in alphabetical order.

☆ This could be Big Oil's last surge
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The era of Big Oil could end sooner than its massive profits suggest, analysts told Insider. But the worst-case scenario for the environment — that oil and gas companies reinvest all their extra money to keep growing — isn't happening, Logan said. The role of oil and gas companies in the energy transition is an ongoing debate, analysts told Insider. The UK company cited the need for an "orderly" energy transition. And while Big Oil's finances may begin to show some cracks over the next decade, he doesn't expect them to "suffer financially" for another 25 to 35 years.

☆ A climate tech CEO took calls from an airplane bathroom to try and save his company when his bank collapsed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest on the culture & business of sustainability — delivered weekly to your inbox. Baird, the founder and CEO of BlocPower, a climate-tech company electrifying buildings in underserved communities, had more than $1 million in deposits at SVB. SVB worked with more than 1,550 clients in the climate-tech and sustainability sectors, particularly community solar. Baird said SVB was a great partner for early-stage startups because, unlike many traditional banks, it would provide loans, credit cards, and bank accounts. "People who aren't in Silicon Valley are thinking, 'Look at these rich, immature tech bros who cannibalized their own bank.

☆ SVB's collapse could make it harder for climate startups to get the funding they need
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

SVB's was a leading provider of venture capital to climate startups. And according to ImpactAlpha, SVB was a leading provider of venture debt to climate startups. The move has stoked fears that climate startups will face a tougher road than many of them already do. The fallout has led to a network of climate startups, venture-capital firms, and other lenders to mobilize their resources and help blunt the impact, Impact Alpha reported. Climate tech has been a bright spot in the broader tech downturn, with venture-capital and private-equity funds raising $64 billion in the fiscal year that ended in November — more than double the previous year's total, according to an analysis by Climate Tech VC.

☆ Companies that mine copper are making plans to go green so they can help the rest of the world do the same
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The plans call for using renewable electricity sources to reduce the industry's carbon footprint. Broader use of these technologies could also help shrink the copper industry's carbon footprint. "A lot of these technologies do exist," Anthony Lea, the president of the International Copper Association, told Insider. "There are prototype vehicles out there, so it's going to take a dialogue between mining companies and equipment manufacturers. Lea said the climate strategy can help show the public, policymakers, and investors that copper mining can expand in a responsible way, which can help attract investment.

☆ Reporters hid tracking devices in shoes that were supposed to be recycled, and they ended up at a market in Indonesia instead
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Reuters tracked 11 pairs of donated shoes to test a recycling program launched by Dow and Singapore. Dow launched its own investigation and removed an exporter from the recycling program. That's not what happened to 11 pairs of sneakers in which a team of Reuters reporters hid tracking devices. After dropping the shoes in the program's recycling bins across Singapore, Reuters traced most of the shoes to secondhand markets or remote locations in Indonesia. A 2021 media release said the program aimed to divert 170,000 pairs of shoes annually from landfills.

☆ Oil and gas companies are investing billions to make energy from waste but some climate groups call it greenwashing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Canadian gas company Enbridge pledged up to $1 billion to a US firm turning food waste into energy. Oil and gas companies see a green opportunity from food waste like rotting spinach but some climate advocates say it's more like greenwashing. The company's software tracks retailers' food waste and Divert then recovers what can be donated to food banks. The plan is to build 30 plants, enough to manage 5% of US food waste; Divert now handles about a half percent. Making gas from waste can avoid greenhouse gas emissions that seep out of landfills.

☆ Carbon emissions hit a record last year, but rapid growth in renewable energy kept the increase from being far bigger
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Global carbon emissions rose in 2022 from an increase in air travel and coal power, a report found. A spike in clean power like solar and wind kept the growth in emissions from being worse. Still, the growth of solar, wind, electric vehicles, and heat pumps helped prevent a massive spike in emissions. Without the increase in clean technologies, the year-over-year increase in energy-related emissions would have been almost triple, the report found. Meanwhile, China's emissions stayed flat in 2022 compared with previous years because industrial production slowed amid strict COVID-19 policies.

☆ I'm an EPA worker who's responded to more than 100 toxic spills and chemical fires, and I'll never forget one that got my adrenaline going
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Kelly worked on disasters like the BP oil spill and lead drinking-water crisis in Flint, Michigan. I'm one of the 220 emergency responders that the EPA has across the country who's on call when there's a major oil spill or chemical fire, like after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. There are also smaller events, like fires at oil refineries and paper mills and hazardous waste left behind by mines. EPA on-scene coordinators sample air, water, and buildings for toxic chemicals to determine public-health risks. Brian KellyThe EPA issues an enforcement order to the companies responsible for a spill or fire to take over the cleanup.

☆ BNP Paribas is the first commercial bank to be sued over its fossil-fuel financing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Climate activists say BNP Paribas is violating a French law meant to reduce environmental risks. BNP Paribas defended its plan to exit the fossil-fuel sector and have a net-zero portfolio by 2050. BNP Paribas has pledged to achieve net zero carbon emissions across its portfolio by 2050. Ripoll said BNP Paribas should adopt a policy requiring fossil-fuel companies to stop developing new projects. If they fail to do so in a certain time frame, BNP Paribas should divest from these companies, she said.

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