This week’s Current Climate, which every Saturday brings you the latest news about the business of sustainability. Sign up to get it in your inbox every week.
Earlier this week, the candidates for president from the Republican Party held their first debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Eight candidates stood on stage taking questions on various topics, one of which was climate change. Unfortunately, as “debates” with large numbers of candidates tend to do, it quickly devolved into a game of one-liners and one-upmanship with very little attempt to answer the actual question, apart from candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s claim that the “climate agenda is a hoax” and calling for the U.S. government to “drill, frack and burn coal” (apparently unaware that domestic oil and gas production has been significantly increasing over the past decade, and that building new wind and solar installations is less expensive than operating existing coal plants.)
It was a missed opportunity because the question offered a chance for the candidates to address some of the fastest growing sectors in the American economy. According to the Energy Information Administration, over one-third of the country’s electricity comes from non-fossil fuel sources and more of that capacity continues to be built. And perhaps disappointingly for Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has previously lauded debate participants Ramaswamy, Ron DeSantis and Tim Scott, not a single candidate mentioned electric cars. This despite the fact that EV sales reached new records in the last quarter–7% of all new car sales–and that Tesla, the current EV leader, has seen its stock price more than doubled in the past year.
Hopefully, future discussion among candidates from all parties will include constructive discussion of 21st century technologies instead of being stuck with visions of returning to the technologies of the 19th.
The Big Read
Stocks And Funds For Climate Change Worriers
Climate disasters seem to be happening everywhere. Earlier in the summer, record breaking heat overtook parts of Europe and China. Then there were the Canadian forest fires that produced smoke that blanketed the U.S. More recently wildfires consumed parts of Hawaii and a few days ago, the first tropical storm landing in California since 1939 caused destructive mudslides and flooding. The question for investors is whether or not the obvious changes affecting our environment and making headlines weekly, should begin to drive portfolio allocations. The answer, experts say, is “yes”—as long as you stick to investing fundamentals.
Read more here.
Discoveries And Innovations
The loss of Antarctic sea ice—caused by increased global temperatures—could cause emperor penguins to be nearly extinct by the end of the century, according to new research.
Los Angeles-based startup Ambercycle has developed methods to repeatedly reuse and recycle polyester in clothing.
Record-breaking ocean warming, shifting currents and continued development in coastal communities stand to dramatically impact the world’s seafood supply and could deliver a $10 billion hit to fisheries annually by 2050.
The Big Transportation Story
Nikola’s New CEO Says Hydrogen Semis Still Coming This Year As It Recalls Battery Trucks
Electric truckmaker Nikola has had a bad month. Since it announced a surprise management change just days before recalling all its battery-powered big rigs for potential fire risk, its stock has tumbled more than 60%. But amid the turmoil, the company says it remains on track to be the first manufacturer to deliver hydrogen fuel cell semis to customers this year. That’s important because the company’s survival may come down to its ability to ramp up production of the zero-pollution big rigs.
Read more here.
Sustainability Deals Of The Week
Fermenting Chemicals: Menlo Park, CA-based Antheia, which is using bioengineered yeast to produce the chemical ingredients used to manufacture drugs, announced that it has made its first commercially-scaled batch of product.
AI For Proteins: EvolutionaryScale, which was formed by ex-Meta AI employees, has raised $40 million at a $200 million valuation. The company aims to develop models to predict protein folding to guide the creation of useful products. Among the suggestions in their pitch: making green chemicals or cleaning up pollution.
Batteries: Battery manufacturer Northvolt just raised a $1.2 billion convertible note to finance its expansion plans in North America and Europe.
What Else We’re Reading This Week
As oil activities encroach on sacred natural sites, a small Ugandan community feels besieged (Religion News)
One of Europe’s Hottest Cities Rediscovers an Old Cooling Technique (Bloomberg)
Scientists brew stronger concrete with coffee grounds (Popular Science)
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2023/08/26/current-climate-gop-presidential-candidates-missed-opportunity-on-sustainability/