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<p><i><font size="+1"><b>May 23, 2020</b></font></i></p>
[Insurance Journal]<br>
<b>Report: Financial Community Sees Climate Risk as Improperly
Priced</b><br>
Climate risk is widely seen in the financial community as being
improperly priced.<br>
<br>
A recent survey with an emphasis on the financial sector shows the
overwhelming majority of respondents think that climate risk has
only been either partially priced or totally omitted from the
market's pricing of products, with the complexity of climate-change
forecasting and the lack of reliable climate risk data being cited
as among the pricing difficulties...<br>
- - <br>
The survey out this week from the Global Association of Risk
Professionals, a group with members in 190 countries, is more
extensive than last year's survey with more than triple the number
of companies participating. The GARP survey included 43 banks, 13
asset managers and 15 other firms, including insurers. Interviews
for the survey were conducted between December 2019 and February
2020.<br>
<br>
The survey shows that in the short term, the biggest concern for
most firms is the lack of reliable models for climate risk, followed
by regulatory uncertainty.<br>
<br>
Other highlights from the survey include:<br>
<br>
- Banks and other financial institutions are intensifying their
focus on climate risk management – 90% of firms have board-level
governance of climate-related risks and opportunities, up from 81%
in 2019, however only 30% feel their firm's strategies are resilient
against climate change beyond 5 years.<br>
- Most (93%) firms do not have a dedicated team for managing climate
risk. This is probably because most firms view climate risk as a
transverse risk that cuts across risk types such as credit, market
and operational, as opposed to a principal risk, and so are managing
climate risk within existing risk teams.<br>
- Firms recognize there are opportunities arising from climate
change and are modifying product lines. Three quarters of firms have
already introduced new products or services due to climate change,
and a similar proportion (76%) plan to change existing products or
services or launch new ones in the future...<br>
- - <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2020/05/21/569577.htm">https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2020/05/21/569577.htm</a><br>
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[VOA says]<br>
<b>Asia Builds up Coal Despite Falling Demands</b><br>
Coal power plant building will continue in Asia despite falling
electricity demand and environmental concerns. Experts say the move
comes as governments try to help economies hurt by the coronavirus
crisis.<br>
<br>
In a report last month, the International Energy Agency said that
demand for electricity will decrease this year due to lockdowns...<br>
- - <br>
The Global Energy Monitor says about 500 gigawatts of coal power
capacity is planned or being built around the world, and more than
80 percent of that is in Asia. Even a small number of new plants
will increase CO2 emissions and drive demand for coal mining in
places like Australia and Indonesia.<br>
<br>
Meanwhile, there is bad news in the short term for renewable energy.
Wood Mackenzie estimates 150 gigawatts of wind and solar projects
across the Asia Pacific region could be delayed or cancelled over
the next five years.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/asia-builds-up-coal-despite-falling-demands/5421328.html">https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/asia-builds-up-coal-despite-falling-demands/5421328.html</a><br>
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<p><br>
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[Royalty]<br>
<b>Scoop: Prince Charles leads global meeting on climate change and
economy</b><br>
Dozens of the world's leaders in business, finance and politics are
planning to convene June 3 to discuss how the global economy can be
"reset"-- with climate change a defining theme -- as nations recover
from the coronavirus pandemic.<br>
<br>
Driving the news: The online event will be hosted by His Royal
Highness Charles, Prince of Wales, and Klaus Schwab, founder and
executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.<br>
<br>
What they're saying: "The meeting will see various guests from the
public and private sector make contributions on how we can achieve a
'Great Reset' of our global economic system in the post-COVID era,"
a forum spokesman told Axios.<br>
<br>
The intrigue: Others involved include International Monetary Fund
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Bank of America President
and CEO Brian Moynihan, according to spokespeople.<br>
<br>
Other top leaders across business, finance and additional sectors
are slated to attend, but a forum spokesman said such details, along
with a specific agenda, are still being worked out.<br>
But, but, but: Climate change concerns appear near the bottom of a
survey the forum itself released this week conducted with nearly 350
senior risk professionals across a variety of sectors.<br>
<br>
Two climate-related actions -- reducing emissions and adapting to a
warmer world -- barely broke the top 20 out of a list of 31 concerns
(check out the appendix charts on page 51-53 of the survey.)<br>
Respondents were asked to assess what areas of society would face
the most fallout due to the pandemic, which are the greatest
concerns for the world and which are the greatest concerns for their
businesses.<br>
Flashback: The World Economic Forum has increasingly focused on
climate change, and this year's annual Davos confab saw a greater
emphasis. Prince Charles delivered a speech on the issue and created
a sustainability initiative with executives to focus more on climate
going forward.<br>
<br>
One level deeper: While the event is broadly about the economy,
multiple people involved told Axios that climate change is a core
part of the mission.<br>
<br>
"When the public health emergency recedes, the obvious biggest
crisis you have to address is climate change," said one person
involved, who would only speak on the condition of anonymity because
the event was still being planned. "The understanding of this group
is that this public health crisis reveals that you also have an
enormous social and economic crisis in terms of inequity."<br>
Reality check: A healthy dose of scrutiny is always needed for
rhetoric-heavy moves like this.<br>
<br>
In addition to the lack of priority among risk professionals
surveyed, it's also unclear whether political leaders -- especially
outside of Europe -- will have the appetite to prioritize
clean-energy and climate-change policies as they seek to recover
from the pandemic.<br>
This effort also faces heightened scrutiny of the concept of
globalism, as nations have literally closed borders and looked
inward to handle the pandemic's wrath.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.axios.com/prince-charles-global-meeting-climate-change-economy-4cf3b9bf-57d2-401e-bf48-c6b09c43a969.html">https://www.axios.com/prince-charles-global-meeting-climate-change-economy-4cf3b9bf-57d2-401e-bf48-c6b09c43a969.html</a><br>
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[Ick, ick]<br>
<b>Lone star ticks are on the hunt in New York</b><br>
NEW YORK - Some states have reported a tenfold increase in ticks.
But the blacklegged tick and Lyme disease aren't the only things to
focus on. Other species of ticks that don't spread Lyme disease can
still transmit other serious infections. And these ticks are booming
in New York with no end in sight.<br>
<br>
As the world focuses on COVID-19, some top tick educators have a
stark reminder that insidious predators an eighth of an inch in size
lie in wait. <br>
A migration of lone star ticks is flooding the state, according to
Joellen Lampman of the New York State Integrated Pest Management
program. They've been here and are now expanding their range up the
Hudson Valley, she said.<br>
<br>
Brian Leydet is a vector-borne disease biologist with SUNY. He said
the lone star tick is historically associated with the southern
United States and the female has a dot on its back, hence the name.
The lone star tick isn't a Lyme carrier but can transmit other
harmful bacteria and viruses, which can cause serious complications
such as ehrlichiosis, Bourbon virus disease, and heartland virus
disease. And its saliva has a protein that can even spark a red meat
allergy, Leydet said...<br>
- -<br>
The thinking is that if you can mitigate the deer population you may
be able to control the tick population. But because of COVID-19,
many of the labs are shut down.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.fox5ny.com/news/lone-star-ticks-are-on-the-hunt-in-new-york">https://www.fox5ny.com/news/lone-star-ticks-are-on-the-hunt-in-new-york</a><br>
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<br>
[in to the courtroom]<br>
<b>As a New Suit Accuses ExxonMobil of Misleading Ads, Oil Companies
Are Still Finding Novel Ways to Greenwash</b><br>
amywestervelt<br>
Echoing some of the claims made in Massachusetts' attorney general
Maura Healey's fraud case against ExxonMobil, nonprofit Beyond
Pesticides filed suit in Washington D.C. Superior Court last week
alleging that the company's "false and deceptive" ads about its
investments in "clean" algae-based biofuels and technologies like
carbon capture are misleading consumers about its approach to
climate action.<br>
<br>
Ironically, the suit echoes a shareholder action brought against the
company by longtime climate denier and one-time Exxon consultant
Steve Milloy. In that action, Milloy has demanded that ExxonMobil
conduct an internal greenwashing audit of its ads, and stop wasting
money on such campaigns.<br>
<br>
"Exxon is out there saying it's solving the climate problem," Milloy
told me recently. "If you look, they're not doing anything. Even if
you believe the climate junk, which Exxon claims they do, if they do
they're not really accomplishing anything. Exxon's own operational
emissions are a drop in the bucket compared to the gasoline they
sell."<br>
more at: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://drillednews.substack.com/p/as-a-new-suit-accuses-exxonmobil-b2e">https://drillednews.substack.com/p/as-a-new-suit-accuses-exxonmobil-b2e</a><br>
- - <br>
[snip from court filings]<br>
<b>BEYOND PESTICIDES, v. </b><b>EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION,</b><br>
COMPLAINT<br>
On behalf of itself and the general public, Plaintiff Beyond
Pesticides, by and through its<br>
counsel, brings this action against Defendant Exxon Mobil
Corporation ("ExxonMobil")<br>
concerning its false and deceptive marketing representing that it
engages in and has invested<br>
significantly in the production and use of "clean" energy and
environmentally beneficial<br>
technology. Beyond Pesticides alleges the following based upon
information, belief, and the<br>
investigation of its counsel:<br>
<b>INTRODUCTION</b><br>
1. Dramatic changes to the Earth's climate have caused concern among
the citizens of<br>
the District of Columbia and the country.<br>
2. Consumers within the District and across the country believe that
climate change<br>
poses an existential threat and that these changes are directly
caused by the activities of humans.<br>
3. Specifically, consumers believe that humans' use of fossil fuels
for energy and the<br>
release of methane gas and carbon dioxide into the air are among the
causes of climate change.<br>
4. Due to these concerns, consumers are reevaluating their choices
and the effects of<br>
their actions on the environment.<br>
5. Because of these concerns, consumers, as ExxonMobil knows, are
willing to seek<br>
out services or products that cause less of an adverse impact on the
environment, and to support<br>
companies that purport to share their values, including a commitment
to reducing impact on the<br>
environment.<br>
6. In particular, there is a growing desire among consumers to
reduce their reliance on<br>
fossil fuels, and to find opportunities that allow them to fulfil
their needs while using energy<br>
generated through means they consider less harmful to the
environment.<br>
7. Oil and gas companies, because of the threat of climate change
and because these<br>
industries are seen as engaging in activities that are believed,
including by consumers, to cause<br>
climate change, are beginning to invest resources into clean,
renewable, and less environmentally<br>
impactful forms of energy.<br>
8. Traditional oil and gas companies are now publicly setting
long-term goals to<br>
develop new sources of "clean" energy, to reduce business practices
that consumers believe lead<br>
to climate change, and to develop other environmentally beneficial
technology.<br>
9. At the same time, many of these same companies continue to invest
heavily in<br>
exploring for fossil fuels and developing infrastructure to refine
and deliver these fuels in<br>
contravention of their public commitments. <br>
10. ExxonMobil's advertising and marketing mislead the public by
presenting<br>
ExxonMobil's clean energy activities as a significant proportion of
its overall business.<br>
11. In contrast to ExxonMobil's representations, its investments and
activities in clean<br>
energy constitute only a very small percentage of its total
business, the majority of which continues<br>
to be based in traditional fossil fuels and in petrochemicals,
including those used in<br>
environmentally harmful pesticides.<br>
12. In short, ExxonMobil is greatly overstating the level in which
it engages in cleaner<br>
forms of energy and the extent to which that energy is available,
thereby deceiving consumers into<br>
believing that even purchases of ExxonMobil's traditional
fossil-fuel-based products are an<br>
investment in cleaner forms of energy in the future.<br>
13. No reasonable consumer who sees ExxonMobil's representations
would expect the<br>
size of its investments or the level at which ExxonMobil generates
clean energy to be as small as<br>
it is, relative to the overall size of ExxonMobil's business.<br>
14. By deceiving consumers about the nature and quality of the
products that it<br>
produces and sells, and about the nature of its underlying business
practices, ExxonMobil is able<br>
to capture the growing market of consumers in D.C. and elsewhere who
are concerned about<br>
climate change and seek to support clean energy.<br>
15. ExxonMobil's false and misleading representations and omissions
violate the<br>
District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act ("DC CPPA"),
D.C. Code §§ 28-3901,<br>
et seq.<br>
16. Because ExxonMobil's marketing and advertising tend to mislead
and are<br>
materially deceptive about the true nature and quality of its
products and business, Beyond<br>
Pesticides brings this deceptive advertising case on behalf of
itself and the general public, and<br>
seeks relief including an injunction to halt ExxonMobil's false
marketing and advertising.<br>
<b>FACT ALLEGATIONS</b><br>
17. Plaintiff Beyond Pesticides brings this suit for injunctive
relief under the DC CPPA<br>
against ExxonMobil, based on misrepresentations and omissions
committed by ExxonMobil<br>
regarding its business practices, which ExxonMobil represents as
consisting substantially of<br>
investments in biofuels, carbon capture technology, "clean" energy,
including natural gas, and that<br>
ExxonMobil plans to reduce the aspects of its business that cause
carbon emissions.<br>
18. ExxonMobil's marketing is false and deceptive because the
"clean" energy and<br>
environmentally beneficial technology championed in its marketing
make up only a very small<br>
percentage of its overall business and, at the same time, ExxonMobil
is increasing its production<br>
and distribution of traditional fossil fuels...<br>
- - -<br>
<b>PRAYER FOR RELIEF</b><br>
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff Beyond Pesticides prays for judgment against
Defendant<br>
ExxonMobil, and requests the following relief:<br>
A. a declaration that ExxonMobil's conduct is in violation of the DC
CPPA;<br>
B. an order enjoining ExxonMobil's conduct found to be in violation
of the DC CPPA;<br>
and<br>
C. an order granting Plaintiff costs and disbursements, including
reasonable attorneys'<br>
fees and expert fees, and prejudgment interest at the maximum rate
allowable by law.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.beyondpesticides.org/assets/media/documents/BeyondPesticidesv.Exxon.pdf">https://www.beyondpesticides.org/assets/media/documents/BeyondPesticidesv.Exxon.pdf</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
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<br>
[humorous, informative video]<br>
<b>Will Fusion Power solve Climate Change? (feat @Our Changing
Climate)</b><br>
May 22, 2020<br>
ClimateAdam<br>
Harnessing nuclear fusion could give us a virtually limitless source
of relatively green energy. But can fusion arrive in time to fight
global warming? And can it really single handedly save us?<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7gGaejzCyU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7gGaejzCyU</a><br>
- - -<br>
[simple video on techno faith]<br>
<b>Could Geoengineering save us from climate change? (ft.
@ClimateAdam)</b><br>
May 22, 2020<br>
Our Changing Climate<br>
<br>
In this Our Changing Climate environmental video essay, I join
forces with @ClimateAdam to look at silver bullet geoengineering
solutions to climate change. Specifically, we look at how silver
bullet geoengineering ideas can be appealing in theory, but in
practice, they often have a lot of ethical, economic, and social
drawbacks. We dive deep into two geoengineering practices that some
are touting as climate saviors: Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and
Storage and Solar Radiation Management (specifically Stratospheric
Aerosol Injection). Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage is a
very appealing geoengineering technology but it requires massive
amounts of land if it is scaled up. Stratospheric Aerosol Injection
essentially dims the sun and there are many climate-related
drawbacks as well as political ramifications that could arise if we
use aerosol injections as a way to stave off the worst of climate
change. Essentially these geoengineering silver bullet propositions
are in many ways an excuse for us to continue business as usual
instead of digging in and actually reducing emissions.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgyhnFHm1uE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgyhnFHm1uE</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
[Digging back into the internet news archive]<br>
<font size="+1"><b>On this day in the history of global warming -
May 23, 2006 </b></font><br>
<p>In perhaps the most hilariously demented attack on "An
Inconvenient Truth," former Delaware Congressman and Governor Pete
Du Pont declares in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that we don't need
to reduce C02 emissions because C02 is "vital for plant growth."<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20060602003144/http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pdupont/?id=110008416">http://web.archive.org/web/20060602003144/http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pdupont/?id=110008416</a><br>
</p>
<p><br>
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