SPOTLIGHT

Expanded labor strikes in the auto industry are driving Republican attacks on President Biden’s climate agenda. While Donald Trump accused Biden of sending autoworkers to the unemployment lines, other candidates focused on the strikes in the second Republican primary debate, and some GOP legislators have called for cuts to Inflation Reduction Act clean energy tax credits. Some striking workers aren’t buying Republican sympathy, with United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain saying that Trump doesn’t have “any bit of care about what our workers stand for, what the working class stands for.” Nevertheless, tension over labor standards and new technologies in the auto industry is projected to only increase as America approaches the 2024 elections. 

NEWS

• American Banker: California could complicate banks’ climate reporting obligations
• Axios: Austin’s home insurance premiums could rise 
• The Banker: Why are banks still financing fossil fuels?
• Bloomberg: Climate Looms Large Over Middle East’s Biggest Oil Gathering | UAE Oil Giant Doubles Carbon Capture Target Ahead of COP Summit | Barclays Sees Risk of Meaningful Hit to ESG Fund Flows in EU
• Bloomberg Law: EPA Adds Details to Implement Climate Change Enforcement Plan 
• DeSmog: Major Polluters In ‘Ludicrous’ Push For Carbon Capture at Party Conferences 
• The Economist: How carbon prices are taking over the world
• Edie: ExxonMobil Pension Plan fined for failure to disclose climate risks 
• Financial Times: France pushes ‘new vision’ for development finance
• FInTech Global: SEC reviews Scope 3 emissions in upcoming climate disclosure rules
• Forbes: Cancelled Vs Celebrated. Will We See A Geographical Shift In ESG Leaders? 
• Fortune: Wildfire smoke is a huge crisis for the wine industry. Researchers are scrambling for a solution before climate change devastates the industry 
• The Hill: California and Newsom prep for the future with new climate rules | Single Democrat votes ‘no’ on House GOP’s government funding bill
• The Independent: New York is latest state to require flood disclosures in home sales as storms worsen
• Inside Climate News: The United Auto Workers Strike Is the Latest GOP Culture War Talking Point 
• Insurance Business: Top European firms underwriting 30% of US coal despite net zero commitments
• Investments & Pensions Europe: Investors do not care about physical climate risks
• LA Progressive: Could Courts Force Climate Action?
• Law360: Deutsche Bank ESG Fine May Be Preview Of SEC Climate Rule 
• MarketWatch: U.S. Treasury details extreme-weather strain on households, steps up scrutiny of insurance gap 
• Nebraska Public Media: ‘Unbelievable’ insurance increases are walloping Nebraska homeowners. Climate change is a big reason why. 
• Politico: Biden’s offshore oil plan pleases no one | Science vs. ‘wokeism’: The growing tensions between the doctors’ lobby and the GOP
• Reuters: Would-be EU climate policy chief seeks green light from lawmakers | Big Oil, heavy industry discuss emission curbs ahead of COP28 | Climate change means New York City’s flooding is ‘new normal,’ governor says | Tens of thousands demand climate action in Swiss capital 
• U.S. Department of the Treasury: The Impact of Climate Change on American Household Finances
• The Wall Street Journal: More Than 600 Aussie Companies Could Be First to Report Climate Change Response 
• The Washington Post: How a government shutdown affects climate rules, parks, weather forecasts
• Yahoo News: Republican State Treasurer says GOP is losing out 

OPINION

• Bloomberg: Hurricane Ian: Florida Has Met the Climate Enemy, and It’s Us 
• Chicago Tribune: Young conservatives at odds with climate change denial 
• Financial Times: In an age of greenwashing, appropriate fund names matter
• New York Post: NYC lawmakers urge rollback of climate change law, citing costs to constituents 
• The Chronicle: Duke’s obsession with shareholder returns in a climate crisis
• The Sacramento Bee: Why is it that Californians hardest hit by climate change are in denial about it?

OPPOSITION

• 1819 News: Nonprofit claims RSA’s investment managers voted for higher percentage of ‘Pro-ESG’ shareholder resolution than vast majority of public pensions in 2022
• Independent Women’s Forum: BlackRock Dissolving Two ESG-Linked Mutual Funds
• Washington Examiner: The ESG bait and switch | Biden plans taxpayer-backed ‘green giveaway’ climate change operation in Morocco

 

SOCIAL 

• DataRade quoted a tweet: There’s ~130 oil refineries in the USA. Last one was built in 2021 and began operating in 2022. The new ESG regulations make Texas wealthier, they will basically require more Oil and Gas than ever before for every EV mile traveled and CO2 unit that is supposedly minimized.
• London Business School shared an article: “(It) does a good job of highlighting the folly in simple claims like ‘ESG investing outperforms, period.” LBS’s @aedmans responds to new research showing ESG-informed exchange-traded funds investing, has not outperformed the market- in the @FinancialTimes

DATES

• Today: NY Fed 2023 Environmental Economics and Policy Conference: Measuring and Adapting to Climate Risk. 
• October 3: FHFA Fall Economic Summit in DC at the Constitution Center. 
• October 17: Orbitas The High Cost of Ignoring Scope 3 Deforestation Emissions Webinar. Register here.