Economy & Business

"A new report finds that climate-friendly financial institutions have been funding fossil fuel projects to the tune of $38 billion."

"Republicans today blocked the nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin and several other Federal Reserve nominees, creating confirmation chaos for the pro-climate bank regulator pick in what Democrats labeled a “smear campaign.”"

"The spread of misinformation about solar and wind energy is leading some states and counties to restrict or even reject projects. The Energy Department calls it a key threat to decarbonizing the grid."

"The influential rightwing lobby group the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) is driving a surge in new state laws to block boycotts of the oil industry. The group’s strategy, which aims to protect large oil firms and other conservative-friendly industries, is modelled on legislation to punish divestment from Israel."

"Powerful economic currents are already pushing electric utilities toward clean energy even if the U.S. Supreme Court hands down a ruling that limits the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gases, National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy said Thursday."

"Over 70 member organizations in the coalition received charitable contributions in 2020 worth $1.67 million from big California utilities that see solar as the competition."

"President Biden announced today [Fri.] he would extend the Trump administration’s tariffs on solar imports for another four years, but with key exemptions that pleased developers and disappointed U.S. manufacturers."

"Some of the world’s best-known corporations have clamored to show how seriously they are taking climate change, with an increasing number pledging to eliminate their carbon footprints in the decades ahead. But many of those firms are not yet doing nearly enough to back up their promises, according to a new analysis by the New Climate Institute, an independent organization based in Germany that promotes measures to slow Earth’s warming."

"President Biden’s nominee to be the Federal Reserve’s top banking regulator came out swinging yesterday against Republican assertions that she’s on a mission to combat climate change by diverting dollars away from the oil and gas sector."

"While world leaders have vowed to scale back the use of fossil fuels to help keep a lid on global warming, a drastic upheaval in the markets for oil, natural gas and coal could complicate the shift toward cleaner sources of energy."