Solar, Wind ESG/ETC Closures Accelerate

“One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.” ( – Milton Friedman, 1975)

The “socially responsible” investing bubble–a combination of government subsidies and political correctness–is leaking air. Yesterday’s post reported the demise of the Net Zero Banking Alliance. Now the wind and solar Exchange Traded Fund [ETF] is in freefall. As Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, recently reported:

Solar, Wind ETF Closures Show Just How Much the Climate Has Changed. 5 ESG ETF closures in Aug, now 21 for year, 74 total… with 50 more in danger bc under the $50m mark. Basically when all is said and done about half of all ESG ETFs launched will likely be shuttered

One wealth analyst commented: “It seems to be a category started with good intent (ESG/Impact) but was quickly hijacked by politicians for their own causes and that dilutes any initial good intent.”…

Net Zero Banking Alliance Terminated

“RIP—and not a moment too soon for the 2.1 billion humans that suffer in abject energy poverty and much too late for the 16.5 million loved ones they have lost due to indoor air pollution during the 5 1/2 years the Net Zero Banking Alliance was working to prevent financing for fossil fuel projects all over the world.” (- Ryan Zorn, below)

“NZBA votes to cease all operations, abandon membership model,” reported ESG Dive. Lamar Johnson summarized:

• Members of the United Nations-backed Net-Zero Banking Alliance voted Friday to immediately cease operations and shift to a guidance-based model, an NZBA spokesperson told ESG Dive.
• The spokesperson said that the vote also “provided a mandate to explore how best to carry this work forward.” Banks will be involved in that process over the next six to 12 months where further plans will be developed. 

Thatcher & UK Politics: Up from Alarmism

Ed. Note: The UK is again at a crossroads with climate policy. Reformers want to severely weaken, if not repeal, the Climate Change Act of 2008. With UK media posts mentioning Margaret Thatcher’s original (alarmist) position (here), but not her reversal (below), the record should be set straight.

“Government interventions are problematic, so intervene only when the case is fully proven.”

– Margaret Thatcher, Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World. New York: HarperCollins, 2002, p. 453.

“An Inconvenient Truth About Margaret Thatcher: She Was a Climate Hawk,” declares Will Oremus in Slate. In “The Iron Lady’s Strong Stance on Climate Change” (Daily Climate, reposted at Climate Progress), author Douglas Fischer notes “how seriously [Margaret Thatcher] viewed the threat of climate change and the robustness, more than 20 years ago, of climate science and United Nations body tasked with assessing state of that science.”…

NRDC in Climate Denial (forced smiles at ‘Climate Week’)

Finance vs. “Climate Finance” (Lisa Sachs’s Problem)

When the NYT Fairly Reported on Global Warming (December 13, 1989)

“Climate Pragmatism”: The New Retreat

Fisher on the NASEM Climate Report

The Fallacy of ‘Exxon Knew” (Part II)

“Exxon Knew” as Historical Fallacy (Part I)