| | | | |  | | By Debra Kahn, Zack Colman, Jordan Wolman and Catherine Boudreau | | | | | 
Oklahoma, home to one of the world's largest oil hubs, might dump investment vehicles that shun fossil fuels. | (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images) | MEDIUM CHILL — Boycott me? Boycott you! A wave of anti-anti-fossil fuel investment policies in red states is spooking investors and pension fund managers who are trying to move away from petroleum. The state-level policies are creating a minefield for investors looking to limit their exposure to climate-related risk, be it physical effects of higher sea levels, deeper droughts and more frequent flooding or policies that make fossil fuels more expensive and less popular. "The fear is that politics does get in the way of investment management where these folks are trying to help retirement savers," said Greg Hershman , head of U.S. policy at Principles for Responsible Investment. He said he's gotten inquiries from members of his U.N.-backed investor coalition about how they might be affected by bills barring state officials from dealing with businesses that are moving to ditch fossil fuels or considering climate change in their own investments. It's the typical players behind the push: the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Heartland Institute and the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which are supported by oil companies. Bills in Indiana, Louisiana and Oklahoma all draw from language that ALEC came up with, while the Heartland Institute has been involved in New Hampshire, Kansas, West Virginia and Wyoming. Who's playing politics is in the eye of the beholder. Republicans deride the private sector's burgeoning embrace of climate risk analysis as performative. "From a fiduciary standpoint it has nothing to do with markets or market viability," said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) Red states' recalcitrance could cause a medium-sized wave, money-wise. To put it in perspective, the 15-state coalition that's come out against "woke capitalists" restricting fossil fuel finance represents 19 percent of the $7.6 trillion of cash and securities held by states and local governments, according to ClearView Energy Partners. Areas that voted for President Joe Biden account for 63 percent. Fossil-loving red states will also have to contend with the SEC and Federal Reserve, which are developing ways for firms to disclose climate risks and analyze how portfolios perform under climate scenarios. But the policies are further deepening the country's divide when it comes to climate change (question: Is anyone studying how these policies are affecting states' financial performance?) "The point is to chill this stuff," said Ivan Frishberg, chief sustainability officer with Amalgamated Bank, an employee-owned bank that doesn't do business with fossil fuel companies. For more, check out Zack and Jordan's story here.
| | | HERE WE GO — Welcome to the expanded Long Game (Longer Game?), where we'll be delivering you the latest on efforts to shape our future. Tuesday through Friday, we'll have data-driven storytelling, compelling interviews with industry and political leaders, and more news to keep you in the loop on sustainability. Our team is growing! Sustainability editor Greg Mott and deputy editor Debra Kahn are taking the lead and Jordan Wolman joins us as a digital producer. Reach them at gmott@politico.com, dkahn@politico.com and jwolman@politico.com. As always, you can find Lorraine Woellert and Catherine Boudreau at lwoellert@politico.com and cboudreau@politico.com. Thanks to Danielle Muoio Dunn, Ry Rivard, David Ferris and Avery Ellfeldt for pitching in. Want more? Sign up for the Long Game. Four days a week and still totally free!
| | | | BECOME A GLOBAL INSIDER: The world is more connected than ever. It has never been more essential to identify, unpack and analyze important news, trends and decisions shaping our future — and we've got you covered! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Global Insider author Ryan Heath navigates the global news maze and connects you to power players and events changing our world. Don't miss out on this influential global community. Subscribe now. | | | | | | | | | 
New homeowners won't be cooking with gas if some state lawmakers get their way. | (Sean Gallup/Getty Images) | LAST GASP — Cities and states fed up with Congress' fumbling on climate change are voting to drive down their carbon footprints by banning natural gas hookups in new buildings. And it's dividing Democrats and putting the party at odds with key allies, as Danielle Muoio Dunn, Ry Rivard and Debra report. Local gas bans now cover some 15 million people, with the addition of New York City in December. But just as the campaign to force developers to swear off natural gas has started to gain its footing, it's beginning to feel political limits. Even in Democratic-controlled states, the prospect of phasing out gas-fired stoves and furnaces has lit new tensions between moderates concerned about energy costs and progressives frustrated by the nation's patchwork response to global warming. Where 50 municipalities in California have banned natural gas in new buildings, not a single city in New Jersey has done so. Instead, the natural gas industry helped shepherd a bill through the state Senate in January that would've made it harder for state agencies to ban gas. "We need to make sure we understand the pricing, because we don't want to price anybody out," said state Sen. Vin Gopal (D), one of the bill's sponsors. The industry is taking the threat to their business seriously: At least 19 states, mostly Republican-controlled, have enacted laws backed by the fossil fuel industry that prevent cities from placing bans on natural gas. Similar bills have been introduced in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Virginia this year.
| | | PLASTIC PACT — The U.S. and France will join dozens of other countries in pressing for a global treaty to curb plastic waste during a United Nations meeting later this month. The White House and French President Emmanuel Macron issued a joint statement on Friday endorsing an agreement that requires countries to develop national action plans to reduce plastic pollution. Supporters are calling it the Paris of plastics. The position marks a shift for the U.S. The Trump administration opposed a global plastics treaty. Last week's statement was the first time the White House endorsed an agreement with commitments that cover the "full lifecycle" of plastics – from the oil it's made from to the manufacturing lines to the landfills and oceans where waste often ends up. Global leaders will be in Nairobi, Kenya, from Feb. 28 through March 2 for the U.N. Environment Assembly. They are expected to agree on the scope of the treaty and establish a negotiating committee. Optimists hope countries clinch a deal in just two years, but that would be record speed for any global accord. The scope of the problem: The U.S. generates more plastic waste than any other country, according to a December report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Americans created 42 million metric tons of plastic waste in 2016, exceeding that of the entire European Union. The vast majority ends up in landfills or is exported to countries with weaker waste management systems. An estimated 8 million metric tons enters oceans each year, but it is impossible to get an accurate figure because there is little data collected, the National Academies report found.
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Source: The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine | | | | A $7.5 BILLION DOWN PAYMENT — The Biden administration has $7.5 billion to spend on EV charging. But demand for the money is so high that even that historic sum is starting to look like the smallest of down payments on the nationwide charging system Biden has promised, as E&E News reports. Until now, the largest source of funding for EV charging infrastructure was a penalty paid by Volkswagen AG to settle its emissions cheating in 2015. That put, at most, $180 million toward U.S. charging systems. The first federal tranche alone, announced last week, is $615 million. Here are five things to watch: The rural expanse: America's farms, forests and rangeland are expensive places to fuel EVs. Rural stations will take years to make a profit and will need taxpayer subsidies until they do. Disadvantaged communities: Demand also is lacking in low-income neighborhoods. Uber and Lyft could help — they envision urban fleets of shared EVs. Maintenance: Charging stations currently aren't moneymakers, and no one knows when they will be. Many have been abandoned by companies that went bankrupt. Trucks: Tractor-trailers and other heavy-duty vehicles need special charging stations. Retailers want FedEx vans and heavy-duty haulers to juice up alongside cars parked by shoppers. Bigger is better: Biden has set certain minimum standards, but the industry thinks levels will need to be higher. In a minute, a 150-kW charger delivers about nine miles of range; a 350-kW charger 20 miles. The difference is significant, but the higher capacity costs a lot more to build.
| | | PREP WORK — Citigroup Inc. has joined forces with two data and modeling powerhouses as it and other major banks brace for climate regulation, E&E News reports. The lending giant said last week that it will use a tool developed by S&P Global Market Intelligence and Oliver Wyman to gauge clients' vulnerability to climate change and its impacts. The model weighs the financial and environmental profiles of more than 1.6 million companies and calculates how each would fare in a clean energy transition.
| | | — Sunny with a side of sadness: Californians are lounging in parks, wearing shorts to the beach and dining al fresco without heat lamps in February — and feeling terrible about it. — Demand for India's organic cotton is booming, but the industry is rife with misrepresentation and fraud. The New York Times has the story.
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