Anti-ESG movement faces a Biden roadblock

Presented by Panasonic:

Mar 03, 2023 View in browser   By Debra Kahn Presented by Panasonic THE WEEK THAT WAS Biden's promised veto gives moderate Democrats a free pass to oppose ESG investing. | Francis Chung/E&E News/POLITICO DOL REPEAL DOA — The anti-ESG movement is set to produce the first veto of Joe Biden's presidency. Republicans, with a little help from moderate Democrats, jammed through a repeal of a Labor Department ESG investing rule this week, as Eleanor Mueller and Allison Prang report. Biden has already promised to veto the rollback that would have left money managers facing a return to Trump-era restrictions on how they weigh environmental and social factors in retirement investments. His quick veto vow made things easier on Wall Street, Eleanor reports. Financial industry lobbyists were confident that Biden would block the repeal, so they didn't have to speak up against it. “Everyone knows that the [rollback] isn't ultimately going anywhere,” said a trade group source granted anonymity to speak candidly. Another reason is that asset managers are laying low as the issue makes its way through the courts. Texas is leading a multi-state lawsuit to undo the rule. “People will actually be relieved to see the decision down in Texas, whatever it is, and to see however it gets worked out, presumably all the way up to the Supreme Court, because that will give the regulatory certainty that we currently don't really have,” the industry representative said.   A message from Panasonic: Deepening our commitment to sustainability. Learn more about Panasonic’s green impact.   BUILDING BLOCKS MOTION OF THE OCEAN — How big is too big for wind turbines? Turbines are getting bigger along with the offshore wind industry itself, Heather Richards reports for POLITICO's E&E News. Taller turbines generate electricity more cheaply, but shifting size standards could make it hard to invest efficiently. “It’s a tough choice for a vessel builder,” said Sam Salustro, vice president of strategic communications at the Business Network for Offshore Wind, a trade organization that represents suppliers and manufacturers. “It’s much cheaper to build a vessel that only has to do 15 megawatts, but you are essentially expiring yourself on the day that your vessel is built, because all of a sudden, the market has decided that 20 megawatts is the size they are going for.”   DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID.     WASHINGTON WATCH CAPTURE CLUB — The carbon capture tent is getting bigger. A bipartisan group of lawmakers this week introduced legislation to raise the tax credit for certain types of carbon-capture technologies. The Carbon Capture and Utilization Parity Act would make projects that capture and use carbon dioxide eligible for up to $180 per metric ton — the same maximum that capture-and-storage projects are eligible for under the Inflation Reduction Act, Allison Prang reports. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) are the Senate sponsors; on the House side, it's Reps. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) and Terri Sewell (D-Ala.). And Carlos Anchondo of POLITICO's E&E News has an interview with the new head of the Carbon Capture Coalition, Jessie Stolark. The group has been around in one form or another since 2011 and is poised to take advantage of the "dramatic" increase in interest: On bipartisan support for carbon capture: I think the political strength of this issue is because people do come to the table for different reasons. It could be climate hawks like Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D-R.I.] or Rep. Scott Peters [D-Calif.]. It could be members of Congress whose top priority is protecting good-paying union jobs, like from the Rust Belt, and including Sens. [Joe] Manchin [D-W.Va.] and [John] Barrasso [R-Wyo.], who are looking to support domestic energy production. On criticisms of the technology: [W]e should not be taking solutions off the table. If carbon management is a potential solution in terms of the climate crisis, we need to be seriously looking at this technology. [O]ne thing the coalition and some of our allied organizations are focusing on now is trying to understand what are the potential co-benefits of deploying the technology. If you are going to see a reduction in air pollutants, what does that look like? On EPA's permitting process for CO2 injection wells (known as Class VI): It can be a pretty lengthy process. I think project developers are getting there, just getting prepared, that this is going to take some time. It’s going to take some investment to make sure that your Class VI permit application is complete and working with EPA through that. [F]or so long, we just had two Class VI wells that have been approved in the United States. Now there’s over a dozen or around a dozen projects that are applying.   A message from Panasonic:   Movers and Shakers DIVERSITY AT USDA: L’Tonya Davis will be the Agriculture Department’s first permanent chief diversity and inclusion officer, Marcia Brown reports. Davis is a veteran of the Food and Drug Administration, where she served as director of the Office of Regulatory Affairs' Office of Communications and Project Management as well as ORA's executive DEIA champion. She'll oversee USDA’s first strategic plan for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. YOU TELL US GAME ON — Happy Friday! Welcome to the Long Game, where we tell you about the latest on efforts to shape our future. We deliver data-driven storytelling, compelling interviews with industry and political leaders, and news Tuesday through Friday to keep you in the loop on sustainability. Team Sustainability is editor Greg Mott, deputy editor Debra Kahn, and reporters Jordan Wolman and Allison Prang. Reach us at gmott@politico.com, dkahn@politico.com, jwolman@politico.com and aprang@politico.com. Want more? You can have it. Sign up for the Long Game. Four days a week and still free. That’s sustainability!   LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today.     WHAT WE'RE CLICKING — Republicans are objecting to what they contend are "woke" labor standards in CHIPS Act funding guidance, the AP reports. — Volkswagen's Xinjiang plant is under fire for alleged labor issues and isn't even making any cars, the WSJ reports. — Amazon is putting its Virginia headquarters on hold amid layoffs and people working remotely, Bloomberg reports.   A message from Panasonic: Panasonic is helping lead the changes necessary to address the climate crisis. Here’s how: From creating more sustainable business practices, products and solutions to helping our customers integrate sustainable technologies in their projects. Learn More     Follow us on Twitter Debra Kahn @debra_kahn Greg Mott @gwmott Jordan Wolman @jordanwolman Allison Prang @AllisonPrang   Follow us

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings This email was sent to rouf@idiot.cloudns.cc by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA Please click here and follow the steps to unsubscribe.