There’s an eerie resemblance between today’s ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investing and the Porter Hypothesis, an earlier claim about how regulation can lead to profits. (Its architect, Michael Porter, Harvard business professor, is pictured here.) First, some definitions: ESG investing means investors choose companies that meet certain non-financial criteria. So, in the environmental area…
Tag: Regulation
California: The Ecotopia that Failed
Joel Kotkin discusses California on RealClearEnergy: “One is often at a loss to explain California to people from other planets—like, say, earth.” The problem: “This is a state that issues mandates for electrification of everything while reducing its generating capacity. It blames devastating fires on climate change, without taking the blame for forestry practices that…
The Irony of Solar: Dealing with Its Waste Is a Headache
Enthusiasts for solar energy are beginning to realize that solar panels don’t last forever. In fact, says Maddie Stone writing in Grist, already panels are being decommissioned. They’re supposed to last about 25 years, but if they are damaged in a storm, say, they have to be removed much sooner. So what to do with…
Don’t Panic over Climate Change, Says Bjørn Lomborg
Since the publication of his book The Skeptical Environmentalist in 1998, Bjørn Lomborg has been a thorn in the side of climate alarmists who call for a rapid decarbonization of the world economy to prevent apocalyptic global warming. His new book, False Alarm, drives that thorn deeper. False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us…
Headlines: California Climate Spurs Crops . . . but Climate Policies Cause Blackouts
Report says climate change endangers future crops in California, but crop production is setting records, says James Taylor . . . California’s blackouts caused by its climate policies, says Michael Shellenberger in Forbes . . . EPA ex-administrators cite “virtually meaningless” statistics to condemn the Trump administration, says Rich Trzupek of the the Pipeline. ….
‘Natural Gas Bans Will Worsen California’s Poverty Problem’
California already has more people under the poverty line than any other state, says Robert Bryce in RealClearEnergy. And bans on natural gas will make life harder for the poor.