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☆ The White House reportedly asked Elon Musk for help expanding electric-vehicle usage even after the billionaire's past taunts of Biden on the issue
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The White House asked Elon Musk for help expanding electric vehicle charging stations, the Washington Post reported. Musk's Tesla sells the highest number of electric vehicles in the country. The billionaire has taunted Biden in the past over electric vehicles, and the Post said Tesla officials made no firm commitments. Sources told the Post that Tesla officials were open to the idea of expanding its charging stations but did not make any commitments. Biden's Energy Department also granted a battery recycling company $2 billion on Thursday, which would allow it to pave the way for production of over 1 million electric vehicles each year.

☆ A subsidy arms race is kicking off between Europe and America
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

This premium is expected to shrink as clean energy technologies become more advanced and infrastructure to produce them is scaled up. Most of the money the IRA has earmarked for clean energy initiatives comes in the form of tax credits. In the meantime, government officials are lobbying the United States to rethink parts of the IRA. “Europe and other allied countries have nothing to fear from the Inflation Reduction Act and quite a bit to gain,” said Brian Deese, Biden’s top economic adviser. The fight over green subsidies also comes as geopolitical tensions are pushing countries to focus on greater localization of production — not just for green energy, but also for sensitive technologies like computer chips.

☆ Europe unveils $270 billion response to US green subsidies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Stung by the Biden administration’s huge green subsidy program, the European Union unveiled plans for its own “Green Deal” Wednesday to cut red tape and deliver tax breaks. The proposals, which will be debated by EU leaders next week, would make €250 billion ($272 billion) available from existing EU funds for the greening of industry, including offering tax breaks to businesses investing in net-zero technologies. EU leaders are worried that tax breaks for American companies, which amount to $270 billion, will disadvantage European firms and lure them to the United States. In a document detailing its new green industry plan, the European Commission also fingered China, saying it has provided green subsidies at a level twice as high as those in the European Union, relative to GDP. “Europe and its partners must do more to combat the effect of such unfair subsidies and prolonged market distortion,” it added.

☆ From green subsidies to chips, Davos debates reflect a world in flux
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Davos, Switzerland CNN —The World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps is typically a venue for politicians and business leaders to deliver sermons about the benefits of globalization and cross-border cooperation. European leaders used Davos to amplify complaints about the law’s tax breaks for American companies that make parts for green energy projects, which they claim will disadvantage European firms. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz addresses the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday. Representatives from Asia’s third largest economy showed up in force at Davos to meet with international investors. “We’re looking at a less efficient world,” US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said.

☆ 4 ways to pay for the climate crisis, according to Al Gore and other leaders at Davos
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Freya Graham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Panel speakers said philanthropy is often overlooked when thinking about the climate finance gap and that it could act as vital leverage. Michael Wilkins, executive director and professor of practice at the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment at Imperial College Business School, welcomed the comments made by panelists at Davos. "Philanthropy has been crucial in research and development for climate finance and its development," Wilkins told Insider. "The private sector has to join the public sector," Gore said. The solution is not just about scaling up climate investment, though, according to Gore.

☆ Bill Gates' climate investment firm is backing this reusable rocket startup
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Stoke Space is developing a clean-fueled, rapidly reusable rocket that can deliver satellites into earth's orbit, while protecting the earth itself by creating fewer emissions. Stoke Space is still in the first stages of testing the rocket and is a long way off from taking satellites into space. But its plans are ambitious and built around the idea of launching more satellites to combat climate change. We started thinking many years ago around how do we deploy more satellites focused on climate problems? In addition to Breakthrough Energy, investors include Spark capital, Toyota Ventures, Point72 Ventures, MaC Venture Capital and NFX Ventures.

☆ The U.S. passed a historic climate deal this year — here's a recap of what's in the bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

The IRA's provisions have major implications for clean energy and manufacturing businesses, climate startups and consumers in the coming years. As 2022 comes to a close, here's a look back at the key elements in the legislation that climate and clean energy advocates will be monitoring in 2023. Taking aim at methane gas emissionsSome pumpjacks operate while others stand idle in the Belridge oil field near McKittrick, California. Mario Tama | Getty ImagesThe package imposes a tax on energy producers that exceed a certain level of methane gas emissions. And the bill has a hydrogen production tax credit, which provides hydrogen producers with a credit based on the climate attributes of their production methods.

☆ How a GOP-controlled House will attack ESG and corporate climate change strategy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Tim Mullaney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"I don't think that's a proper characterization of my view," McHenry said in an interview with CNBC Senior Congressional Correspondent Ylan Mui. What I think corporations should do is focus on their key knitting," he said. Vanguard Group also had been scheduled to testify, but after the fund giant abandoned an investment industry climate alliance, that changed. McHenry, rated as one of the most moderate House Republicans by non-profit GovTrack US, doesn't seem interested in the state approach. "It plays politics with corporations, in the name of having corporations not play politics."

☆ Why aluminum plants in the U.S. are far more polluting than some of their counterparts abroad
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Phil Mckenna | Inside Climate News | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +15 min

A plant worker uses a crane to lift a cask of molten aluminum a Century Aluminum Company plant in Hawesville, Ky. in 2017. Of the five remaining facilities, only the Century Aluminum Sebree plant in Robards, which employs 625 workers, and a smaller Alcoa plant in Massena, New York, run at full capacity. Phillip McKenna/NBC NewsSteinsen, of Century Aluminum, said the company has no plans to shut down its Sebree facility in Robards. In 2015, when the U.S. aluminum production was in steep decline, the EPA ended its industry partnership. In 2019, 7,510 metric tons of PFCs were emitted from global aluminum production, according to a study published last year in the Journal of Geophysical Research — Atmospheres.

☆ Yellen says she 'certainly' plans to remain as Treasury secretary
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday said she "certainly" planned to stay on in her job for the duration of President Joe Biden's term, dismissing speculation she was considering leaving after this month's midterm elections. Yellen told an event hosted by the New York Times Dealbook she had no plans to leave Treasury. I'm excited about what President Biden has accomplished so far, and I think there's more to come." Asked if she would stay for the duration of Biden's term, Yellen said, "I have no plan to leave." She said implementing key laws enacted under Biden, including those dealing with climate investments, semiconductor manufacturing and infrastructure, would play a big role in the coming years.

A debate on lifting central banks' inflation targets re-surfaced this week - feeding speculation about just how much economic pain monetary policymakers are willing to inflict to drag decades-high inflation back to largely arbitrary 2% goals. Former International Monetary Fund chief economist and long-term advocate of higher inflation targets Olivier Blanchard thinks 3% could and probably should be the new 2%. That prodded central banks into extraordinary asset purchases, negative interest rates or both just to try and get inflation back up to 2%. And counter-intuitively for some he emphasised that higher inflation would not imply looser policy. So good and bad news - a potentially more balanced economy, with better wage distribution but higher nominal interest rates that may spook financial markets trying to parse the trajectory for Fed or European Central Bank interest rates years hence.

☆ India is harnessing renewable energy through the world's biggest solar farm. Here's how it happened.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( James O'Malley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Meanwhile, the world's richest countries pledged to contribute to a fund that would help developing countries deal with climate disasters. Since construction began in 2015, Bhadla Solar Park has slowly grown to cover an enormous 5,700-hectare desert site with solar panels. Sustainable financeThe park was built in four phases, with each field of solar panels larger than the last. "Transmission lines take about ten times as long to build as it takes to put up solar panels," Mukherjee said. "When you see technology costs dropping, sometimes precipitously like they have with solar panels, then the opportunity to do more just grows and grows."

☆ Indonesia, ADB launch first coal power plant retirement deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] A man stands on an escalator ahead of the G20 summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, November 13, 2022. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar UlfianaNUSA DUA, Indonesia, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Indonesia, the Asian Development Bank and a private power firm are teaming up to refinance and prematurely retire a coal-fired power plant, the first such project under a groundbreaking carbon emissions reduction programme, they announced on Monday. The Manila-based multilateral lender and Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati announced the MOU with independent power producer Cirebon Electric Power in Bali on the sidelines of the G20 leaders summit. ADB also said a number financial firms and philanthropic groups have expressed interest in participating in the transaction. The ADB officials said they expect the Cirebon deal to give private investors more confidence to explore future participation, and that the development finance institution's leadership may help shield them from any negative public perceptions regarding new investments in coal financing.

☆ EXCLUSIVE Indonesia, ADB launch first coal power plant retirement deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] A man stands on an escalator ahead of the G20 summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, November 13, 2022. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar UlfianaNUSA DUA, Indonesia, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Indonesia, the Asian Development Bank and a private power firm are teaming up to refinance and retire early the first coal-fired power plant under a groundbreaking new carbon emissions reduction project that moves from concept to reality on Monday. The Manila-based lender and Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati are set to announce the MOU with independent power producer Cirebon Electric Power on Monday in Bali on the sidelines of the G20 leaders summit. "With this announcement, we're taking the first steps in what was an ambitious project and making it real," he added. ADB also said a number financial firms and philanthropic groups have expressed interest in participating in the transaction.

☆ Climate advocates win key governors races as Democrats defy 'red wave' in midterm elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

This year, state laws could have the greatest implications for climate action since state officials can accelerate their own climate agendas even in a divided Congress, advocates say. Joseph Prezioso | AFP | Getty ImagesClimate action could also move forward in Maryland and Minnesota after environmental victories in those two gubernatorial races. Ahmad Gharabli | AFP | Getty ImagesThe climate victories in gubernatorial races have notable implications for national and local climate policies, advocates say, especially with respect to deploying funding from Biden's climate legislation. Still, climate groups are concerned for provisions within the climate bill if Republicans do seize control of one or both chambers of Congress. Biden, who will attend the summit on Friday, said he is eager to work with congressional Republicans after the midterm elections but emphasized he would not compromise his climate agenda.

☆ The world is heading toward a climate catastrophe and countries want the US and other top offenders to pay up — but the GOP likely won't let that happen
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Recent reports from the United Nations found the world is failing to meet climate goals, and it could be catastrophic. Some developing countries are calling on the top offenders, like the US and China, to pay reparations. GOP Sen. Ron Johnson recently called climate change "bullshit," and even centrist Democrats, like Sen. Joe Manchin, expressed hesitancy with the scale of climate funding President Joe Biden proposed in his Inflation Reduction Act, which ended up including $400 billion in climate investments. As Politico reported, other countries like Scotland and Denmark have already made small pledges to fight climate change, as well. "The climate crisis is killing us," Guterres said in a statement.

☆ Bill Gates' climate investment firm will put more money into adapting to climate change
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Eric Toone, one half of the investing committee at Breakthrough Energy, speaks to conference attendees at the breakthrough Energy Summit in Seattle on Wednesday October 19, 2022. Photo by Cat Clifford, CNBCSEATTLE — Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the climate technology investment firm started by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, will begin to invest more in companies that help people and businesses adapt to the consequences of climate change. "We're left with adaptation," Toone told the audience. But Breakthrough Energy Ventures is most certainly not a philanthropic organization. And in the past, the Gates Foundation has done a lot of work on adaptation," Toone told a group of reporters in a media briefing in Seattle.

☆ Australia, Singapore sign 'green economy' pact
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Lewis Jackson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong (left) shakes hands with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during a meeting at Parliament House in Canberra, Tuesday, October 18, 2022. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is in Australia on a 3-day official visit. Lukas Coch/Pool via REUTERSSYDNEY, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Australia and Singapore agreed on Tuesday on a "green economy" deal to boost cooperation on climate investment, financing and technology. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told a news conference in Canberra that the agreement would start with initiatives such as developing a list of environmental goods and services that could be given preferential trade treatment. "A project like Sun Cable which has the potential to export clean energy to Singapore is the ultimate win-win," Albanese said.

☆ How West can mobilise trillions to help save Earth
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Hugo Dixon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

LONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - War, inflation, debt, hunger, energy security and fear of recession will dominate the discussions at the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund this week. America and a group of other countries have given the World Bank until December to come up with a plan. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe West has self-interested reasons to mobilise trillions of dollars to help the poorer nations of the so-called Global South transition from fossil fuels. But getting this money to flow to the Global South is tough because investors don’t think the returns on offer justify the risks. It is therefore encouraging that America and other leading shareholders have given the World Bank its marching orders and that Malpass has responded positively.

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