With assistance from Anne C. Mulkern and Camille von Kaenel.
Risky business: The real costs of climate change are forcing California’s largest public pension system to reevaluate some of its large investment portfolios.
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System has long resisted calls from activists to divest all of its oil and gas holdings. say you can’t afford it This means that if there is a risk to a member’s pension, the company assumes a “social responsibility”.
but, The proposal was published on Friday.the system would add new scrutiny of climate risk to its $444 billion portfolio while expanding investments in things like renewable energy, carbon capture and drought-tolerant crops.
Inflation Control Act incentives, environmental protection obligations, and disasters brought about by intensifying extreme weather events are changing the economic landscape, creating new opportunities to profit from climate action and new risks of ignoring climate change. he said. peter cashionHead of System Sustainable Investment.
“The companies that are planning to make the transition are the ones that we think have the financial prospects and should actually be supported,” Cashion told reporters.
CalPERS has for years chosen to retreat from tobacco and assault weapons. Congress ordered a divestment from Sudan, Iran, and coal.
But Calpers prefers to engage with companies as shareholders seeking to advance environmental, social, and governance goals, and does not sell its securities to investors who don’t care about those things. . In contrast, New York’s state pension fund decided in 2020 to divest from fossil fuels by 2040.
Today’s proposals provide a path to divest from investments in companies that do not adapt.
Under the plan, CalPERS will review companies’ climate change plans against future framework standards and increase investments in climate mitigation, adaptation, and transition by approximately $53 billion by 2030 (up from approximately $47 billion today). (increased from $). The fund aims to have a net-zero portfolio by 2050.
Environmentalists who have been pushing CalPERS to cut its fossil fuel investments say that’s still not enough.
“We welcome CalPERS’ expansion of climate-safe investments, but there is no place for fossil fuels in sustainable finance or net-zero plans,” he said. Miriam Eideexecutive director of Fossil Free California, said in a statement.
The group has recently been pushing for divestment through legislation. Senate Bill 252, by Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach). The bill passed the Senate this year but was held up in Congress, so it could be considered again next year.
Gonzalez said he was “encouraged” by CalPERS’ move but still wants to divest. Because investing in fossil fuels has no place in the retirement accounts of hardworking Californians,” she said in a statement.
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Port payment: California ports today received approximately $75 million in federal infrastructure funding, including funding for offshore wind energy development in Humboldt Bay.
The largest of the four grants, $53 million, will go to the Port of Long Beach to expand rail and road infrastructure around the port and improve safety at railroad crossings. Redwood Marine Terminal in Humboldt Bay has been awarded $8.7 million for heavy-lift facilities to support offshore wind farms.
However, that funding is only 11 percent of the $653 million in fiscal year 2023. Port infrastructure subsidy Even though 40% of U.S. imports and 30% of exports pass through California ports, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced today.
state transportation officials; including Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka;traveled to Washington over the summer to push for more funding for ports, but instead the state’s share dropped from 15 percent to 11 percent in this round.
When asked about the disparity, the DOT Secretary said: pete buttigieg He pointed to the 2021 Emerging Projects Agreement between California and the Department of Transportation that allows state agencies to access federal credit assistance, which he said “recognizes the importance of California’s infrastructure and its importance to the U.S. economy.” It reflects gender.” He also noted that funding would go to inland river ports as well as ocean ports, and that “relatively small grants often have very long-term effects.”
EV ups and downs: This summer, U.S. electric vehicle sales hit a new record. Ann C. Mulkern reports From POLITICO’s E&E News.
Sales of zero-emission vehicles are increasing as EV prices fall and automakers introduce more models. They accounted for nearly 8% of all new cars purchased in the third quarter from July to September, up from more than 6% a year earlier, according to Cox Automotive.
In California, which has its own state incentives in addition to federal incentives, 26.7% of new cars sold in the third quarter were zero-emission vehicles. This is up from 25.4% in the previous quarter. 2 years ahead Governor Gavin Newsom’s office noted Thursday that California’s 1.5 million ZEV goal schedule has been significantly delayed.
However, it’s not just the upward momentum. EV inventories have increased 271% nationwide since last September, but the industry is warning of a possible slowdown, citing supply and price cuts as signs of a market slowdown.For example, General Motors has delayed production of some models and recently canceled plans Jointly developing an affordable EV program with Honda.
Some experts say the soon-to-take effect of direct rebates on EVs will keep the momentum going, and say the auto industry is trying to alert regulators to the Department of Transportation’s proposal to raise fuel economy standards.
“Car companies… want to push back against the EPA and unions.” Giltar, director of the Plug-in Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Research Center at the University of California, Davis, told Ann. He said companies are balancing long-term investments with what they’re telling Wall Street now, so “that’s the reason for the pullback, not because there’s an actual economic slowdown.”
One finished, three finished: The Klamath River is now flowing freely through Wards Canyon in Northern California after workers finished removing Copco No. 2 Dam this week as part of the world’s largest dam removal project. His three other dams scheduled for removal, Copco No. 1, Iron Gate and J.C. Boyle, are scheduled to be removed next year.
— Sean Fein of the UAW says: stole the republican party By ensuring that EVs create high-wage union jobs, several talking points can be addressed.
— California’s largest landowners are all in forestry or agriculture. Learn about them here.
— What lies ahead? in a legal battle against California’s two largest biofuel refineries, Phillips 66 and Marathon.
