Wall Street Latches On
Wall Street has latched on the the idea there is money to be made in green energy finance.
That is what it took to get things humming, not politicians screaming nonsense about the end of the world.
The WSJ reports Green Finance Goes Mainstream, Lining Up Trillions Behind Global Energy Transition
Assets in investment funds focused partly on the environment reached almost $2 trillion globally in the first quarter, more than tripling in three years. Investors are putting $3 billion a day into these funds. More than $5 billion worth of bonds and loans designed to fund green initiatives are now issued every day. The two biggest U.S. banks pledged $4 trillion in climate-oriented financing over the next decade.
Even if investors and governments suffer losses, the inflow of cash could produce innovations in areas like batteries that are needed to significantly reduce carbon emissions. “Wall Street will throw money at this problem,” said David Brown, principal analyst in the energy-transition practice at consulting and research firm Wood Mackenzie.
As recently as 2014, the world’s energy companies spent $735 billion on oil-and-gas extraction. The figure was less than half that last year, while spending on wind and solar projects rose to nearly $220 billion, up from about $135 billion six years earlier, according to Rystad Energy, a consulting firm. Some analysts predict spending on renewable energy will exceed oil and gas in the next several years.
Green Energy Spending Spree
Story Morals
- If there is money to be made, Wall Street will find it.
- If there is a good solution to the alleged ‘Existential Threat of Our Time’ the free market would find it.
- Politicians like Al Gore and AOC spewing nonsense about the end of the world as we know did little for this effort.
The clean energy cause is picking up steam because clean energy is now competitive or nearly competitive with fossil fuels.
Tesla founder Elon Musk delivered a big boost on battery technology. That free market inspired impact actually meant something vs all of Gretta’s and AOC’s meaningless moaning.
Energy SPACs Flying
Energy SPACs are flying. Many will fail. But if investors want Green Energy Risk (GER), I just made that up, Wall Street is happy to oblige.
Meanwhile, in case you forgot, please consider AOC “New Green Deal” Stunningly Absurd: Far More Ridiculous Than Expected
$90 Trillion Plans
In 2015, Business Insider noted A Plan Is Floating Around Davos To Spend $90 Trillion Redesigning All The Cities So They Don’t Need Cars
The $90 trillion proposal came from former US vice president Al Gore, former president of Mexico Felipe Calderon, and their colleagues on The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate.
Also recall AOC’s Green New Deal Pricetag of $51 to $93 Trillion vs. Cost of Doing Nothing
I concluded “The notion that politicians will do anything sensible about the problem seems ridiculous.”
I have been preaching for a decade that if there was a problem, the free market would find the solution, and in due time.
Well, lookie, lookie, that’s the path we are on and it will not cost $90 trillion of taxpayer money.
Mish
Perhaps it’s time that every residential/business
structure began harvesting at least some of its own energy through solar cell
panels, even if only as an emergency/backup source of power via storage system;
albeit the idea likely would be opposed by various corporate interests.
power lines that are susceptible to being crippled by unforeseen events,
including storms of unprecedented magnitude, especially considering our very
vulnerable overreliance on electricity? There also are coronal mass ejections
to consider, albeit their damaging effects are rare, in which power grids are
vulnerable to potentially extensive damage and long-lasting power outages.
Of course there will be those (e.g. Internet trolls)
who will mock the idea for ‘not being realistic’. One post I read based his rebuttal
solely on the erroneous notion that if it were possible to have such
independent solar-power generation and storage, it would have been done by now
and made a few people very wealthy. Unfortunately, when such illogic is widely
believed, it’s much easier for some entity to maintain an outdatedly
problematic but still very profitable status-quo energy system.
Earth to libertarians : “The vaccine works only if almost EVERYBODY on the planet gets it, not just those who can pay!”