climate risks

When Bad Things Happen to Good Regulations

When Bad Things Happen to Good Regulations - Legal Planet

The GOP’s effort cancel a pension reg illustrates the evils of the Congressional Review Act.

In their crusade against “wokeness,” congressional Republicans are taking aim at Labor Department rule about pension plan investments. The rule’s transgression is apparently that it makes easier for pension plans to consider how climate-related risks might affect a company’s bottom line. To avoid being woke, the GOP would apparently prefer pension managers to close their …

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Future Shock

The latest IPCC report contains crucial new information about how soon and how bad climate impacts will be.

When the IPCC released its latest climate science report a few weeks ago, many commentators observed that the report should heighten our sense of urgency about climate action. Most of that discussion was at a very general level. It’s worth taking a closer look at some key findings and their policy implications. Here, I want …

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Climate Change and the Financial Industry

How is one of the world’s largest industries responding to climate change?

As of 2018, the U.S. financial industry contributed $1.5 trillion to GDP.  How is the financial sector responding to climate change?  The short answer is “slowly so far, but there are signs of progress.” For instance, just last Friday, the NY Times reported that European Central Bank began a strategy review with climate change on …

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Risky Business

Risky Business

Last week, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis issued a report criticizing BlackRock, the world’s largest fund, for making bad bets on the fossil fuel industry that cost the firm billions of dollars.  What I found significant was less the plight of Blackstone’s shareholders than the fact that the energy firms weren’t doing …

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The Corporate Side of Climate Change

I was surprised a few years ago when one of the speakers at a conference on climate change turned out to be a lead partner at a Wall Street law firm who counseled corporations about disclosure of climate risks.  He may have been just a few years ahead of the curve. According to E&E News, …

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