Climate spin: yesterdays disastrous climate investor news is “top marks”

Dismal failure can be rewashed as success. An outbreak of Dengue Fever could be a “hot holiday island with weight loss”.

Yesterday a study showed that the worlds sharpest fund managers couldn’t give a toss about climate change.  Less than a fifth could even manage a “tangible” effort. These guys manage trillions. They assess risks for a living. They can’t see either a green revolution, nor the need for one. As I noted, most heavyweight investors are acting like skeptics.

But some poor sods reading “The NewDaily” and listening to John Hewson would think it’s a booming thing. Hewsen, by the way, ran for PM in Australia circa 1993 as the leader of the Liberal Party.

Let’s translate the marketing: When the news is bad, find a reason to cheer (don’t mention the rest):

Super funds get top marks on climate index

Tony Kaye

On an index where 80% failed to do anything at all, there are still A, AA, and AAA rated divisions of tangibility:

Three Australian superannuation funds are among just 12 institutional investors in the world to receive the top rating for climate change risk management from the Asset Owners Disclosure Project’s (AODP) 2016 benchmark index, The Global Climate 500 Index, released today.

In a barrel of rotten apples, some will always get above the bottom.

Watch this wording: the vague “tangible” gets pivoted around the weasel word “signaling” to channel the readers mind to the ideal fantasy state (my bolding):

“This year’s index sees a fifth of the world’s 500 biggest asset owners taking tangible action to mitigate climate change risk – clearly signaling that these leaders see managing climate risk as a core function in protecting their financial returns.”

In marketing it’s important to make out there is momentum. It’s a psychological thing. Quick rush, beat the pack…

Note the key sales words (bolded) direct from Financial Marketing For Dummies 101:

“Globally, it is clear that climate change is now moving up the investment agenda as the world’s biggest pension funds, insurers and endowments recognise they need to take action to protect the savings and financial security of millions of people,” said Chair of the AODP, Dr John Hewson.

End carrot. Start Stick. Plant the seeds of doubt:

“Yet, there are still too many ignoring warnings that investors need to be stepping up action and disclosure on physical, transitional and liability climate risks – which is endangering retirement nest eggs, shareholder value and potentially even the stability of our financial system. Worldwide, 246 of the 500 appear to be ignoring climate risk completely.”

———–

Living in an information fishbowl can harm your health.

The New Daily is owned by a group of industry super funds.

Rule for any manager, investor, risk taker, read the enemies best work, seek out the critics and look for the data that matters.  In this case, to assess “climate risk” we need climate data — temperatures, cloud cover, stuff like that. Lists of ratings are fourth order fluff.

 

 

8.7 out of 10 based on 51 ratings

67 comments to Climate spin: yesterdays disastrous climate investor news is “top marks”

  • #
    ScotstsmaninUtah

    In this case, to assess “climate risk” we need climate data — temperatures, cloud cover, stuff like that. Lists of ratings are fourth order fluff.

    It is interesting to note that the sub-prime mortgages packaged into securities and sold by Goldman Sachs also carried a AAA rating ( under investigation).

    There is some very “hard sell” language used here and not untypical of that used by the less than ethical.

    The claim that…

    “… is endangering retirement nest eggs, shareholder value and potentially even the stability of our financial system”

    is from someone “possessed”, or has read too many IPCC reports.

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    • #

      I suspect that retirement nest eggs will be at greater risk if too much is directed towards ‘Green schemes’ that will ultimately fail.

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      • #
        Leonard Lane

        bemused, of course those retirement system nest eggs that invest in renewables are at greater risk.
        The hype seems to me to be from green investors that want to keep the hype up until they can get out and save themselves.

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  • #
    James Murphy

    It seems like some ‘climate investors’ may have already been unfairly victimised as a result of their exuberant approach to saving the world with carbon credits (allegedly)

    20

  • #
    Mentat

    Hi Jo,

    I’m concerned we’re running out of time to do what needs to be done.

    The global economy is deteriorating. Deflation and precariously inflated stock markets held up with chicken wire and global clubby elite agreements concocted at Davos and in Paris by people possessed of their own self importance; exuding warm carbon dioxide but little else of use.

    The vision of the anointed is baseless and the house of cards will collapse and soon

    We know what can be done to salvage something from the train wreck, but the gulch is now just around the corner and the blue team have no other obvious plan but the one you know and are a part of.

    Mentat

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    • #
      sophocles

      The global economy is deteriorating.

      Don’t panic. It does that — about every nine years. Then Wall St hits a wall and crashes … taking us all with it.

      Every second crash is a big one. The last Big One was in October 2008. The “financial markets” didn’t learn from it and hastily printed huge quantities of paper money to stave off the bankruptcies of the guilty. That has inflated our economies noticeably over the last couple of years to the point where ten years worth of inflation has taken place in about five.

      The best thing you can do is to leave as little money in the bank(s) as you can before and during the crash. If there’s nothing there for them to confiscate …

      Go back after the dust has settled.

      The problem lies in picking just when the crash is about to occur and moving just before it. When the USA and Europe were so heavily entwined and basically the only two big players, the economic cycle was just that: a predictable cycle. The rise, rise and rise of Asia has brought other big players into the melee. The 1987 Share Market crashes around the world were about two years `early.’ Asia, as it was called then, ran into a financial crisis in July 1987, triggering the economic slaughter. Wall St’s merchant bankers still hit the `timetabled’ wall in 1989 but its damage was almost unnoticeable in the carnage from Black Monday (Oct. 19, 1987.) The global recession starting halfway through 1990 and running through 1991 and 1992 was not missed.

      October 1999 didn’t happen whereas October 2008 was `right on time.’ There were the great insolvencies which fell out of the March 2000 popping of the DotCom technology bubble and the destruction of the World Trade Center in NY in September 2001 causing an estimated USD40 billion of insurance losses.

      The probability is that the coming one may not be so large—fingers crossed. (Note the `weasel words.’ Predicting the future is a very dodgy business, as any oracle will tell you. Those chicken’s intestines just don’t do as good a job as they used to.) The problem is that China is now at least as large a player as the US. Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea, while still economically strong, are minnows to the Chinese … ummm … tuna? Marlin? This time, China is showing speed wobbles. It had a huge surplus of the rest of the world’s money in 2008 and it has spent furiously since then to try and save its own economy. The rest of the world fell over with the USA. As the USA’s banks are mostly owned by Europe’s banks, when the USA falls over, Europe follows.

      Last year, the Chinese Stock Market showed us that that money has run out with a `re-alignment’ (or `a crash’ in english) over June to August last year. In January this year, it took another nosedive from steep selling which caused tremors around the world’s stock exchanges. The ensuing instability is probably what is behind the current fears of a another global crisis. It may be famous last words, 🙂 but it appears to be smoothing out and settling a bit at present. Whether this will last through to the last quarter of 2017, or will break and go early in the last quarter of this year or any time in between, is moot.

      If it doesn’t break this year, then it will be more likely to break in 2017.

      100

      • #
        sophocles

        This time around, the problem appears to be power generation and generators both private and public sector, driven by Green Blob propaganda, and its effect on energy costs.

        Tata Steel is withdrawing from the UK. It’s announced the closure of its British Steel division with 40,000 jobs lost. The energy pricing in the UK has worked: industry is moving out.

        Germany is shutting down it’s nuclear generation. It’s solar generation is a laugh. (I have a German colleague and he hastens to assure me that `parts of Germany get sunshine.’) The German wind farms were built where the wind used to be but now isn’t. German industry will start to move soon if it’s not already doing so.

        Last one out won’t need to turn the lights out. There won’t be any except for candles.

        When so much money has been spent on so little of use, then a `train’ crash becomes inevitable. Just when is the question.

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        • #
          tom0mason

          sophocles,
          Whether the politicos end up printing currency, borrowing from outside the country, selling the national wealth (gold, government properties, etc…), or just imposing some lopsided austerity measures — all these measures have the effect of stealing value from tomorrows currency.

          The politicos are just expeditiously diluting our children’s wealth to pay of yesterday’s debts. Debts that we really had no right to allow to mount-up, but because we believed the foolish blandishments of our elected representatives, it has happened.
          Still some of us have been paying-off the (national)debts of our fathers…

          How do we stop it? As far as I see it we don’t. It will however naturally stop when the human population stabilizes or starts to reduce.
          By then only true wealth will matter — maintaining good personal health and well being by owning good shelter, food, water, and cooling/warmth throughout the seasons. Either that or have something to trade…

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          • #
            Rereke Whakaaro

            One of the things my Father taught me, was to look at what everybody else is doing, and to listen at what the pundits are saying you should do, and to watch what the Government of the day assumes will happen, … and then do the exact opposite.

            I can remember him buying the first refrigerator we ever owned.

            The saleman was saying , “For so much down, and easy monthly payments of another amount, we can deliver it first thing tomorrow morning”.

            To which my father replied, “No, I am not interested in that. If you want to close the deal, you will accept my cheque for the stated purchase price, and deliver it this afternoon”.

            The salesman looked less than comfortable with that, and said, “Well we would need to wait for the cheque to clear, before we can deliver, and that will take a couple of days.”

            My father then said, “Good point. That is very prudent of you. Tell you what, I will give you cash, right now, but I will expect you to give me a 20% discount in return, and you will deliver it today. And that is my final offer.”

            We got the refrigerator, with the discount.

            Of course, today, everybody uses credit cards – well almost everybody … 🙂

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  • #
    Yonniestone

    There’s a lot of pigs that have had a lot of lipstick applied to fool the slave market into thinking it’s a commodity that’ll work.

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  • #
    Ruairi

    Fund managers don’t give a toss,
    About projects they deem a dead loss,
    As they see the futility,
    Of a gross liability,
    ‘Round their necks like a great albatross.

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  • #
    Robk

    Jo,
    I think you have nailed much of the spin. I would add:
    Using the word “climate change” when actually meaning “co2 abatement and projections programme as implemented by IPCC”.
    In other words; these investors have not taken the bait.
    The word “climate change” is loaded and means something very different to changing climate.

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    • #
      Robk

      The spin starts at the “CC” part of IPCC. It would more correctly be the “Intergovernmental Anthropogenic CO2 Panel”.

      50

  • #
    Peter Miller

    From the purveyors of the London Bridge came the idea to sell ‘clean’ ‘green’ energy products to a new generation of unsuspecting punters.

    The scam was the same, namely to sell something implausible to the gullible and stupid.

    As a general rule, most fund managers are not known for their stupidity, so no surprise they treat green energy ‘investment opportunities’ like you and I would treat a shoal of piranhas – leave well alone!

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  • #
    Robk

    taking tangible action to mitigate climate change risk – clearly signaling that these leaders see managing climate risk as a core function in protecting their financial returns.”

    Not necessarily “core” function, more likely a marketing pitch or response to legislation and government policy.

    30

  • #
    Ross

    Jo
    Has David and his fund manager friends progressed further with their fund to “bet against AGW” ( perhaps not the best way to describe their fund)? —I read a little bit about it a few months ago in a Delingpole article, but nothing more.

    22

    • #
      Analitik

      http://coolfuturesfundsmanagement.com/

      Timing is the key to shorting the “emergent green technologies” and a lot of it depends on politics

      It’s like The Big Short – lots of us could see the overhang of the subprime market and the packaged derivative but a short position costs a lot to maintain while you wait for the collapse.

      If I could finance it, I would hold a big short position on Tesla Motors as this is a prime example of a company propped up through subsidies and political support to give an illusion of success.

      30

  • #
    el gordo

    Strange bedfellows, opportunistic zealots.

    http://www.aodproject.net/about-us/our-board/

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  • #

    Initially the pundits were talking about how how to combat global warming by limiting “carbon pollution”; now that term has been replaced by the term climate change which is really a two way bet, heads I win, tails you lose.

    40

  • #
    • #
      Graeme No.3

      And neither Germany nor Denmark can point to any sustained emissions reductions. Indeed the claim is that Germany’s emissions have been climbing slightly for 7 years, and that is from before any nuclear closures.

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    • #

      Another Ian mentions this, and then has a link:

      A telling electricity cost comparison

      There’s something interesting I’d like to point out to you here about the cost for electricity.

      Take that link and look at the chart there. Not the costs, but the title ….. Industrial Electricity prices.

      Now don’t confuse that with what you may be being charged for your home power bill, the cost for electricity in the Residential sector, because, in every case, that is higher.

      Look at the data (for the U.S.) at this link. (http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_5_03)

      The cost for the Residential sector is highest, next is Commerce, and the cheapest is the Industrial sector.

      Now, before you think that the poor old citizen in his home is the most put upon by having to pay the most, (you know, being gouged maybe) you need to realise actual consumption data here.

      The average home uses a small amount by comparison. The average for a Commercial consumer is Residential multiplied by around 6, and the average Industrial consumer is Residential multiplied by around 65, and keep in mind that is just the average, as large Commercial consumers like a large supermarket chain might be around residential multiplied by perhaps as high as 200, (just for an individual Coles or Woolies) and a large Industry might be residential multiplied by anything up to 500+.

      So here, it’s scale. If they use a monstrously huge amount of electricity, then it’s obvious they will pay less per unit cost in KWH for it, and they have contractual prices for that.

      Also, the next time someone mentions to you that the cost of renewables will ultimately lead to lower electricity costs, please refer them to this data at that above link of mine.

      Note that since the ramping up of renewables over the last ten years or so, the cost for electricity has risen, and while it may only be a recorded couple of cents per KWH, work it out as a percentage.

      That’s a pretty large 20 to 25% increase, and what needs to be realised here is that this applies for a renewable inroad of only 5%. So, a tiny amount of renewables has led to a pretty large percentage increase in the cost for electricity.

      Tony.

      90

      • #
        Analitik

        And in Germany’s case, the renewables levy does not apply to industrial electricity rates at all.

        Graeme No.3’s link will show other fees and taxes which do, however, and some of these are also for subsidising renewables but not in an explicit manner.

        30

      • #

        Hey, have a look at this will ya!

        In my earlier comment I linked to the data for the Residential sector.

        I want you to look at the data for the Industrial Sector. (shown at this link, and it’s a 2 page pdf document) These consumers get a lowered cost rate for the electricity that they consume, and that’s set by contract, and I explained it by telling that they consume huge amounts of electricity, so they get a slightly better rate per KWH of consumed power.

        Okay then, so now you’re at that link, where it shows the number of Industrial consumers per State, the average Monthly consumption, the average cost, and the average Monthly bill for electricity consumed.

        Umm, now look at the District Of Columbia.

        One Industry.

        Look at the average Monthly consumption, the rate and the Monthly power bill.

        Hmm! One Industry. Wonder what that is now?

        That average Monthly consumption is the equivalent of 841,000 Homes.

        The Commercial sector for DC (at this link) is also the largest as well. 26,000 Consumers at an average consumption of 27,000, (almost three times the next highest average State consumption) so a total of 702,000,000KWH per Month, or around 29.3 Million homes. These commercial enterprises are either the same industry at a different rate, or supporting that same industry.

        So, the total Yearly power bill for that, umm industry in just DC alone, comes in at, umm, $1.2 Billion.

        That’s just for this one Industry in DC, which I’m certain has many branches in every other State.

        You guess what Industry that might be.

        Tony.

        40

      • #
        newchum

        In Australia The Good Guys website have a list of residential power prices in each state listed under “smart facts” at the bottom of the home page. http://www.thegoodguys.com.au/think-green

        11

  • #

    Can someone please hint at what a tangible may be?
    From here it seems to be a ‘fruit or a vegetable’; a small thin skinned orange. Does such grow well with much atmospheric CO2? 🙂

    30

    • #
      Graeme No.3

      My dictionery gives 2 definitions for tangible as an adjective.

      1. Able to be preceived by touch – implying? that those falling for AGW are ‘touched’? Unlikely.

      2. clear and definite: real. Probably what they thought they were saying.

      Mind you, under the second definition bringing the luxury yacht back from the Bahamas to Monte Carlo would qualify.

      20

      • #
        ianl8888

        … under the second definition bringing the luxury yacht back from the Bahamas to Monte Carlo would qualify

        🙂 🙂 🙂

        Sometimes, Graeme 3, you and I think exactly the same thought.

        I’m actually beginning to hope that a combination of being yelled at for 30 years while seeing nothing of any significance happening in line with the yellers’ prognostications, may be starting to cause fatigue in the general public.

        The unfortunate bit is that during that time the Greens have become established as king-makers with their 10% of the sheeple vote, so all hopeful parties have to accomodate them.

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      • #

        Graeme No.3 says May 4, 2016 at 9:01 am

        “My dictionery gives 2 definitions for tangible as an adjective.”

        Intent to confuse!

        “This year’s index sees a fifth of the world’s 500 biggest asset owners taking tangible action to mitigate climate change risk – clearly signaling that these leaders see managing climate risk as a core function in protecting their financial returns.”

        The ‘tangible’ is used as an adverb, but the whole phrase is a noun phrase, the subject of verbs ‘signaling’ and ‘managing’. A noun (thing) that is touchable or sail-able with large crew large is way different than adjective orange! Are not all ripe tangibles orange ? 🙂

        10

  • #
    Dennis

    I have not yet been able to get a satisfactory answer as to why superannuation fund member financial advisers receive (most common) a percentage of your funds invested which could amount to $4-7K on $500K of invested funds for very little work. Most often an annual review based on a print out of numbers provided by the fund managers taking half an hour or so, maybe three or four email “market updates” that are easily obtainable via the internet and maybe a Christmas card. A chartered accountant will handle an average individual tax return for much less money.

    And the above does not include the fees from the fund manager which on $500K could be another $3-4K but at least they do the accounting work and other management of funds functions.

    And financial advisers can go into business with a diploma.

    20

    • #
      Rick Will

      I will have a go at answering.

      It should provide two independent and honest identities looking after your nest egg. One provides the system for funds management and the other advises and oversees personal circumstances. The latter should include aspects such as insurance requirements, retirement planning, estate planning, tax effectiveness etc.

      From the system perspective you have to asks the question what happens if there is a system crash in a technical sense or a financial crash of either of the identities. Will you still be able to determine the size of your nest egg and have ability to get an income stream from it when needed.

      It also pays to put the same question you pose here to the financial planner. If you believe they are not giving you value for money then tell them what you think it is really worth and be prepared to go elsewhere.

      One of the common discussion around financial blogs starts with the question – why on earth would anyone put their money in a bond or deposit account that offered negative interest rates. The simple answer is – what are the alternatives!. A negative interest rate is effectively a security or insurance fee. You are paying for the ongoing safe keeping of the ones and zeros on a hard drive somewhere that identifies your nest egg. You could buy gold and bury it in the backyard but make certain you do not get dementia and forget about it or talk about it to others who might want to take care of it for their own purpose. Similar proposition to transferring the nest egg from the fund manager to a bank then fronting up with your suitcase to walk away with your nest egg. Just hope there is no one around to see what you do with the suitcase and you have secure fireproof location for it. Not sure what happens to plastic notes inside a safe that gets really hot. You may end up with a pretty coloured blob of plastic.

      I took a little of my nest egg and put some on the roof in the form of solar panels and some in the garage in the form of batteries and now have net income from energy production.

      10

  • #
    Reasonable Skeptic

    Spin, everybody does this, but some have turned it into a science.

    21

  • #
    michael hart

    “End carrot. Start Stick.”

    Lovely description. Apropos global-warmers, it reminds me of the title of an album by the Dead Kennedys:

    Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables

    Global-warmers offer humanity nothing of any value. At all. Less than nothing.

    20

  • #
    Binny

    Have you got the names of those 3 Australain funds? I need to manage my risk, by makeing sure I’m not in them.

    30

  • #

    OK this might be twisting an off topic..

    “climate risk” we need climate data — temperatures, cloud cover, stuff like that.

    what about LAI – the leaf area index of a few blog posts ago, which suggests a global increase. This suggests that photosynthesis is a growth area. I’m actually mentioning this as I finally read the paper in question and can pinpoint an answer to a question that Jo asked in the earlier post.

    http://joannenova.com.au/2016/04/18-million-square-kilometers-more-greenery-due-to-carbon-pollution-that-the-greens-hate/
    I don’t know why this study shows the opposite effect in WA.

    The answer is basically that the study did not account for everything in the system and leaf browning, as they call it can be cause by other factors (OF lol). So if you are going to invest in photosynthesis make sure you include OF in your local area otherwise there is a chance it will be a bad investment.

    from the paper:

    At the global scale, the observed LAI trend can be largely
    accounted for by eCO
    2
    , climate change, nitrogen deposition
    and LCC. However, at regional scales, other factors (OF) not
    considered in models, such as forest management, grazing, changes
    in cultivation practices and varieties, irrigation and disturbances
    such as storms and insect attacks, can be a cause of mismatch
    between observed and simulated LAI trends. The patterns of the
    eect of other factors were estimated as a residual, by subtracting
    the simulated trend caused by factors explicitly modelled from

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  • #
    OriginalSteve

    The New Daily…it seems to have quite a few hard core lefties who post in comments on articles and seem to have taken up “residence” on it ( leftist Ronin? ) ….then tell them climate change is a huge lie and watch the fur fly…it got so funny after a while it was like a bad kids panto, the theatrics…..

    20

  • #
    doubtingdave

    Breaking News ; Cruz capitulates , Trump wins Indiana by a landslide , Cruz funders pull the plug , no money no path .

    30

    • #
      Mari

      Cruz is/was much more terrifying than the Donald. I also hear that Kasich is pulling out. Now it’s up to the Democratic voters to pick either the burning one, or the cold one, for their front person.

      Then I will decide if I go left or right in the USA grist mill.

      00

  • #
    James

    Climate policy seems to be pushed by those who have massive investment in so called green technology that’s sole existence relies on tax payer subsidies, this is going to eventually turn out very badly for a lot of people.

    30

  • #
    Manfred

    Climate spin: yesterdays disastrous climate investor news is “top marks” reality.

    You gotta laugh your head off – the joke is:

    From $10 Billion to Worthless in 8 Months: Solar Hype Financial Engineering at Its Finest

    and here:

    Oh, you thought the drama was over now that Wall Street’s nightmare stock filed for bankruptcy?

    40

  • #
    pat

    some good news at New Daily…tho u have to laugh that the only worthwhile aspect of ABC – local news – is, as usual, said to be at risk.

    4 May: NewDaily: Anthony Colangelo: ABC hit with $20 million budget cut
    Public broadcaster’s controversial Fact Check unit is likely to be axed
    The ABC could be forced to close its Fact Check unit to endure an almost $20 million funding cut in the 2016 federal budget…
    While the budget continued ABC’s triennial base funding allowance of $3.1 billion dollars, it cut a $60 million set funding sum given by Labor, to $41.4 million across the next three years…
    This effective dip in funding of $18.1million would likely affect the ‘Enhanced News Gathering Program’ which encompassed the ABC’s Fact Check unit, regional news services, outer-suburban bureaux, state based digital news and improved “live-linking capacity in the regions”.
    “ABC News will seek to maintain as many of the initiatives as possible, with a focus on delivering for Australians in regional and outer-suburban areas,” the ABC statement said.
    ???ABC’s Fact Check unit specialised in verifying the claims of politicians and officials made in the media…READ ON
    ONE COMMENT AT PRESENT:
    Tim Upston:
    So the Libs are looking after their commercial TV promotions companies while again attacking the only intelligent media outlet in this country…the ABC…they don’t like anyone pointing out their many failings…they would rather operate in the dark..
    http://thenewdaily.com.au/money/2016/05/04/abc-hit-20-million-budget-cut/

    10

  • #
    pat

    do i need to say – READ IT ALL:

    4 May: CarbonPulse: The case of the skull ring: Poker pro, Polish broker on trial for French carbon “crime of the century”
    By Aline Robert and Mike Szabo
    A trial of 12 people accused of carrying out or facilitating up to 1.4 billion Euros worth of tax fraud in the EU carbon market kicked off in Paris this week, in a case dubbed France’s “crime of the century” and featuring a plotline worthy of a Hollywood film.
    Five of the suspects appeared in court on Monday, including French businessman and professional poker player Arnaud Mimran and Jaroslaw Klapucki, the director of Poland-headquartered emissions brokerage Consus SA…
    Mimran is suspected of having orchestrated so-called ‘carousel fraud’ in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme along with accomplices Mardoche “Marco” Mouly, who also appeared in court, and Samy Souied, who was murdered in front of Paris’ Palais des Congres in Sep. 2010 in a still unsolved case.
    The remaining seven suspects are still at large and believed to have fled to Israel…
    At the centre of the case is Paris-based trading firm Ellease, after which the case – having grabbed headlines across France – has been unofficially named.
    “It’s both a classical VAT fraud case and an entire new file, as fraudsters created a totally dematerialised market just to make money,” said Judge Peimane Ghaleh-Marzbancourt during the trial’s opening day…
    European authorities have estimated that carousel fraud in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme cost the bloc’s governments over 5 billion Euros since 2008, ***but experts put that figure at much higher levels, suggesting that some member states have not made their losses public…
    SKULL RING
    Souied had travelled to Paris from Israel to meet with Mimran on the day he died. Reports suggest that the pair met three times that day, with Mimran returning a gold, jewel-encrusted skull ring to Souied during their final meeting.
    Souied’s bullet-riddled body was found shortly after that final encounter, with police recovering the ring on the ground nearby…READ ALL
    http://carbon-pulse.com/19287/

    “clean dark spreads” – love that “carbon” language:

    3 May: CarbonPulse: Ben Garside: EU Market: EUAs sink to “last chance saloon” below 6 Euros
    “We do have strong support around 5.81-86 Euros so this could be classed as a bit of a ‘last chance saloon’ level; a level that needs to hold or we’ll be signalled to head back down to the lows,” said Clive Lambert of technical analysts FuturesTechs.
    “This drop somehow makes sense … Carbon jumped way too much with no strong fundamentals behind it [last week]. It makes me thing that traders are extremely nervous and we might see other jumps or drops like the one we saw last week,” added a trader…
    German clean dark spreads clawed back some of Monday’s loss as power prices fell far less than coal, but still remained well below last week’s close…
    http://carbon-pulse.com/19281/

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    Analitik

    It’s not too often you see 2 lots of good news like these posted on RenewEconomy!

    Labor abandons ARENA, blames NGO media releases

    Turnbull’s first budget ignores climate change, dumps clean energy

    While the CAGW and renewables agendas aren’t repealed, at least both parties are not seeing them as automatic vote winners

    20

    • #
      Analitik

      Meanwhile, Flannery and mates are still at it – yet another 100% renewables “plan”

      http://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/powershift

      20

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        Analitik

        And don’t bother downloading the PDF in the above link. The little graphic at the bottom of the page is as much information as contained in the 28 pages of the “plan”

        The so little content (absolutely ZERO technical details and analysis) that I can’t be bothered lampooning this one

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    Brendan

    Note that New Daily is actually a news service paid for by – the industry funds. I’ve already asked my fund, Australian Super, why they are wasting my fees on such a service and got a glib ‘oh its marketing and your fees don’t pay for it”. Yeah right.

    The other interesting thing is that Trustees have a fiduciary duty to do whats in the best interests of their members. Not whats politically correct or the current trend. So if they were to choose a path of say divesting of all fossil fuels investments, and end up making less than other funds, they would have failed in their duty.

    Alas its a pretty grey area as no doubt they’d trumpet the “we were saving our members children and their grandchildren etc etc etc”.

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    Dennis

    Andrew Bolt, Daily Telegraph

    The Green Car

    http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/andrewbolt/

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    pat

    2 May: HindustanTimes: Prasun Sonwalkar: I want to replace old plants, but don’t get enough capital: Piyush Goyal
    Q) You said recently that you wanted to eliminate thermal coal imports altogether within two or three years – can you elaborate how that will be possible?
    A) Our production of coal is increasing very rapidly. Coal India Limited increased production in our first year of government by 6.9 per cent; second year by 8.6 per cent. This kind of growth in coal production was never witnessed before…
    We have plans to ramp up coal production very aggressively – go up to a billion tonnes only in Coal India and as a nation up to a billion and a half tonnes. In this backdrop, our challenge will be to transport coal to distant, coastal plants, for which we are working for coastal movement of coal to take it to southern and western shores, so that we can eliminate imports.
    Q) What are the implications of this for the future.
    A) India is going to expand its energy consumption to four times what it is today in the next 15 years. Western countries can cut down coal and replace it by renewables; I will need to have more coal. Where will the baseload come from? I can’t tell my people that you will get power only from 6am to 5pm and after that we live in darkness. You need 24-hour power, you need a baseload; and that baseload for India is coal. We are looking at clean coal technologies to reduce the impact of pollution. In fact, the west has put an embargo on financing coal-based power plants. I think it is so counter-productive, because I want to replace my old plants with new super-efficient coal-based plants, but because of this embargo I don’t get enough capital. I won’t be able to replace them with energy efficient plants or less polluting plants and will continue to spew more carbon in the atmosphere because of this ill-conceived embargo…
    Q) Will there be new initiatives for fossil fuels?
    A) We are actively looking at clean coal technologies. We already have join research on clean coal going on with Australia. I’ll be going to MIT next month; I have already had one round of discussions; our teams are engaged with them and we are initiating more joint research with MIT on clean coal technologies. By and large all new coal-based plants coming up are super efficient plants; going forward we will also introduce ultra super efficient plants. So while using coal is an imperative for us, we are very committed to using coal efficiently and ensuring pollution is minimum…
    http://www.hindustantimes.com/business/i-want-to-replace-old-plants-but-don-t-get-enough-capital-piyush-goyal/story-SO4KYV84OU9XKJ9FxHYmHJ.html

    2 May: PakistanDefence: Chinese Lend ‘Isolated Russia’ $12bn for Gas Plant in the Arctic
    West throws a spanner in the works, the Chinese step in, the project proceeds
    by Vladimir Soldatkin & Olesya Astakhova
    Russia’s Yamal liquefied natural gas (LNG) project has signed loan agreements with Chinese banks worth over $12 billion, it said on Friday, circumventing Western sanctions in a major boost for the project led by gas producer Novatek…
    The new funds will help the $27 billion Yamal LNG project to start producing liquefied gas next year. Three LNG production lines are envisaged, each with an annual capacity of 5.5 million tonnes.
    About 95 percent of future production has been pre-sold…
    Yamal LNG, the world’s most northerly project of its kind, is located beyond the Arctic circle. The gas, frozen at a temperature of around minus 160 Celsius (minus 320 Fahrenheit)will be shipped to global markets including China.
    Russia wants to double its share in the global LNG market by 2020 from 4.5 percent currently. Kremlin-controlled Gazprom and Royal Dutch Shell are key shareholders in Russia’s only LNG plant, located on the Pacific island of Sakhalin. It produces over 10 million tonnes of LNG per year…
    http://defence.pk/threads/eurasian-g2-chinese-lend-isolated-russia-12bn-for-gas-plant-in-the-arctic.429007/

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    pat

    CBS Los Angeles report from 30 April, read the comments as well:

    Youtube: 6mins08ses: THE CALIFORNIA HERO SOLAR PANEL PROGRAM HAS BEEN EXPOSED AS A MASSIVE SCAM TO SCREW YOU.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKdPMv257Wg

    2 May: HuffPo: Kate Sheppard: One-Time Gore Staffer Leads Plan To Track The ‘Environmentalist Left’
    Washington is weird.
    A Republican opposition research group is launching an effort to track environmental organizations — and it’s being led by Brian Rogers, a former McCain spokesman who once worked for one.
    Rogers is now the executive director of America Rising Squared, the 501(c)(4) branch of the America Rising political action committee. The group announced on Friday that it would be deploying “trackers” to follow billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer, environmental writer and activist Bill McKibben and “other key players in the Environmentalist Left.” Trackers are most often deployed in political contests, with campaigns sending a dedicated staffer to follow opponents with a video camera in hopes they say something compromising.
    “Tom Steyer made a fortune investing in oil and coal, and now he’s dumping an unprecedented amount of money into political causes which promise to increase the value of his latest investments in ‘green energy,’” Rogers said in a statement. “America Rising Squared will hold Steyer and the Environmentalist Left accountable for their epic hypocrisy and extreme positions which threaten America’s future prosperity.”…
    But Rogers was also, for a short time, the research director for former Vice President Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection. Upon taking that job in May 2009, he said he would be “working on the Repower America campaign to pass comprehensive energy and climate change legislation.” (The announcement prompted one of his former McCain campaign colleagues to joke that “everybody knew Rogers was a tree-hugger.”)…
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/america-rising-squared-brian-rogers_us_5727a97de4b0f309baf18848?section=australia

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    pat

    3 May: WSJ: Appaloosa Management Calls for Probe of SunEdison
    Hedge fund seeks independent examiner for renewable-energy firm
    By Peg Brickley and Tom Corrigan
    David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management LP is calling for an independent bankruptcy probe of SunEdison Inc., the solar-power project developer that filed for chapter 11 protection amid failed deals and federal probes.
    Appaloosa is a shareholder of TerraForm Power Inc., one of two companies spawned by SunEdison as part of the financial engineering that fueled its growth…
    Appaloosa helped push SunEdison down the path to bankruptcy with Delaware court action over a $1.9 billion merger with Vivint Solar Inc. that involved TerraForm Power. The deal was scrapped earlier this year after banks balked at providing the funding.
    Litigation continues, with Appaloosa seeking permission to unseal papers from the Delaware case. Bankruptcy creditors would like to know what the hedge fund found out about SunEdison’s activities last year, when it was seeking to save the Vivint deal, lawyers for the hedge fund contend…
    The official creditors committee has hired two bankruptcy powerhouses, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP and Morrison & Foerster LLP, to represent it in the SunEdison bankruptcy proceeding…READ ALL
    http://www.wsj.com/articles/appaloosa-management-calls-for-probe-of-sunedison-1462311081

    3 May: WSJ: James Mackintosh: The Hazards of Financial Engineering
    How well is financial engineering working out for shareholders? Look at Valeant and SunEdison
    Shareholders who avoided both will be congratulating themselves, or thanking their luck. But they should also be asking themselves a bigger question: Is the entire stock market engaged in unsustainable financial engineering in an effort to satisfy shareholders? Put another way: We know the market is engaged in large-scale financial engineering in the form of a huge ramp-up of leverage. Is it sustainable?…
    Renewable-power companies created a line of yieldcos, gaining high valuations from income-starved investors, helped by those demanding environmentally friendly homes for their money. Almost all have been badly hurt by changes to state tax breaks for green projects and the cheapening of fossil fuels…
    According to David Kostin, a strategist at Goldman Sachs, the debt and equity of the median U.S. nonfinancial company is worth 11 times operating cash flow, higher than in 2007 and higher than at the peak of the dot-com bubble…
    So not only do companies have a lot of debt, but shareholders love it. What could possibly go wrong?
    http://www.wsj.com/articles/financial-engineering-shows-its-downside-1462224900

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    pat

    3 May: ValueWalk: Carter Dougherty: Solar Power Investments Don’t Pay Off
    Ivanpah is a 640,000 megawatt-hour solar farm in California that received $1.5 billion in taxpayer-funded federal loans. The project benefited from a loan-guarantee program where taxpayers bear the risks and the solar industry gets favorable rates to protect their profits.
    The Ivanpah plant has failed to provide the energy, and thus the environmental benefits, it promised consumers. ***Unfortunately, this foundering is barely news…
    Research by the Institute for Energy Research shows solar power is subsidized in excess of 345 times more than generation from either coal or oil and natural gas. In fiscal year 2013 alone, the federal government spent $5.3 billion subsidizing solar energy, as reported by the Energy Information Administration. This funding, and the millions before it, has resulted in only 0.6 percent of total U.S. electricity coming from solar energy technologies in 2015…
    Solar and wind were predicted to be competitive by 1990 if they were assisted by tax credits and federal funds for research and development, according to a 1983 study. With the help of current tax credits and subsidies, utility-scale solar photovoltaic facilities will become competitive by the end of this decade. according to a 2013 study. The 1983 study was not close to accurately predicting the renewable energy future and there is little chance the 2013 study will do any better as solar power remains one of the most expensive forms of generating electricity, according to estimates compiled by the Transparent Cost Database, an open source project of Open Energy Information.
    When subsidies are removed, investments in solar power plummet because the technology is not economical…
    The market for solar is clearly driven by the tax credits and protectionism procured through the political process, not by serving the energy needs of average people…
    http://www.valuewalk.com/2016/05/solar-power-investments-bad/

    technology is not immune from beech martens:

    4 May: Popular Science: Carl Franzen: CERN Confirms: Large Hadron Collider Downed By Small Beech Marten
    You may have seen some headlines floating around the world wide web (irony) last week indicating that a weasel took down the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the largest and most powerful particle accelerator in the world. It turns out, many publications (and even a spokesperson for CERN, the organization that runs the LHC) implicated the wrong animal at the scene. According to a CERN press release issued today:

    – At around 5:30 am on Friday 29 April 2016, a small beech marten found its way onto a large, open-air electrical transformer situated above ground at CERN, causing a short circuit and cutting the power to part of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
    The concerned part of the LHC stopped immediately and safely. Since then the entire machine has remained in standby mode. – …READ ON
    http://www.popsci.com.au/science/cern-confirms-large-hadron-collider-downed-by-small-beech-marten,419025

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    It has been quite amazing to me that anyone wants the opinion of a man who lost an election to a birthday cake.

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    Roy Hogue

    Yesterday a study showed that the worlds sharpest fund managers couldn’t give a toss about climate change.

    I can’t resist asking — Jo, does this vindicate my inference from the previous thread? 🙂

    My understanding of Australian colloquial might be faulty but…well…it seems too obvious to me.

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