GOLDEN CRESCENT AND 1000 ISLAND NEWS

  March 27, 2025   Takeaways   NEW Mentions of sustainability and related terms on earnings calls have dropped 76% since 2020, with  the lowest level of "green chatter"  in 2025 since the second quarter of 2020.   The decline in climate talk on earnings calls is attributed to the current US administration's anti-climate stance, with companies avoiding the topic to stay under the radar and avoid unwanted scrutiny.   Despite the decrease in public discussion, investors remain interested in companies' exposure to climate change, and many companies are still making progress on sustainability initiatives, albeit quietly. In boardrooms across America, mentions of sustainability and related terms on earnings calls have dropped steeply as public companies see less to gain from associating themselves with environmental goals. Bloomberg Green  analyzed transcripts of S&P 500 company earnings calls going back to 2020, tracking mentions of more than a doz...

  March 28, 2025 In New Jersey, polls show Republicans have a shot at winning the governorship this November — their candidate in 2021 only lost to incumbent Phil Murphy by 51 percent to 48 percent. State Democrats are now freaking out over the rising energy prices created by their green policies. Electricity bills are set to go up by at least $25 a month statewide this summer and Democratic state legislators are in revolt against Governor Murphy’s extremism . Politico  reports :   “Assembly members brought friendly fire that suggests Murphy’s energy legacy is facing a meltdown before he leaves office.” Democratic Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald has doubts about Murphy leaning toward electric vehicles but banning natural gas heating and cooking: “Is it wise to continue a public policy push towards electrification that will only further increase demand when we haven’t addressed supply constraints?” It’s dawning on progressives that their fanciful plans to reshape so...

  18 House Republicans ask Mike Johnson not to target IRA clean energy tax credits In the letter, first shared with Politico’s E&E News, members led by Rep.  Andrew Garbarino  (R-N.Y.) criticized the IRA as a whole but wrote that repealing the credits could undermine the growth in the energy sector spurred by its tax provisions. They noted that a number of companies have already broken ground on investments they made assuming the credits would remain in place, and that eliminating them could lead to a “worst-case scenario” in which billions of dollars have already been spent for financial benefits that no longer exist. In addition to Garbarino, the letter was signed by GOP Reps. David Valadao (Calif.), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (Ore.), Marc Molinaro (N.Y.), Erin Houchin (Ind.), Anthony D’Esposito (N.Y.), Mike Lawler (N.Y.), Nick LaLota (N.Y.), Young Kim (Calif.), Jen Kiggans (Va.), John Curtis (Utah), Don Bacon (Neb.), Tom Kean Jr. (N.J.), Dave Joyce (Ohio), Mariannette Mil...

  For over 15 years, I’ve tracked the backlash against solar and wind energy projects. Lately,   the rejections and restrictions have been piling up   so quickly that it has been difficult to keep track of them all. Over the past month, wind projects in Shasta County, California, and Knox County, Nebraska, have been dealt deadly blows. In Carroll County, Arkansas, local officials  enacted a moratorium on the development of solar and wind projects .   In Michigan, state officials vetoed  a solar project backed by the German firm RWE   after a widespread backlash. That “green” energy project was going to require clear-cutting 420 acres of forest land near the town of Gaylord. The global opposition to wind and solar energy also continues to grow. In early February, I introduced the Global Renewable Rejection Database. At that time, the global database had 72 rejections. Today, that figure is 91. And  those numbers don’t represent the full extent of t...

  An iron law of entitlements is they become harder to reform as they grow. The Inflation Reduction Act’s green handouts are proving to be another regrettable case in point. President Trump campaigned on repealing the IRA’s Green New Deal, but the renewables lobby won’t give up its iron rice bowl without a fight. Some Republicans have bought their line that rolling back the subsidies will raise energy prices. If you believe this, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has a $120 billion bullet train to sell you. Like other entitlements, the green subsidies have outgrown their original purpose. Congress established the wind production tax credit in 1992 and the solar investment tax credit in 2005 to support these “infant” industries. They are now creating huge distortions in electricity markets and will add trillions of dollars to the deficit if not checked. *** Start with the costs, which were vastly underestimated by the Congressional Budget Office when the IRA was debated. The Ca...

  “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” — Isoroku Yamamoto As any international business traveler can attest, understanding local rules and customs is essential—especially in conservative cultures. While some leeway may be granted to foreign visitors, ignorance of the law is rarely a convincing excuse, and it's best to avoid needing one in the first place. Foreign jails are far less comfortable than foreign hotels, and if you find yourself in contact with your home embassy while abroad, chances are something has gone terribly wrong. Consider Singapore, where spitting in public is illegal and possession of even a small amount of an illicit drug can carry a death sentence. Or Saudi Arabia, where alcohol is largely banned and adultery is a capital offense (public beheading is the preferred method of execution, in case you were wondering). Shoplifting while overseas is also a bad idea, as one never knows which countries still impo...

  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has hired a new general counsel who was, until recently, pursuing legal challenges to offshore wind farms on behalf of the fishing industry, Heatmap has learned. NOAA’s Fisheries division , also known as the National Marine Fisheries Service, regulates species protection within U.S. waters. Activists have sought to persuade the Trump administration to review the division’s  previous and future approvals for offshore wind projects  that interact with endangered marine life, which would be a huge win for the “wind kills whales” movement. Enter Anne “Annie” Hawkins, NOAA’s new general counsel, who comes to the agency after serving for years as the executive director of the  Responsible Offshore Development Alliance , an organization founded in 2017 that has fought offshore wind projects on behalf of the fishing industry.   Hawkins stepped down as RODA’s  executive director last fall , shortly after Trump wo...

ALBANY — The state commission that decides if gas and electric rates will go up and by how much is facing fresh scrutiny from Democrats in the state Legislature, who have begun talks on replacing and restructuring it. 0:30 / The Public Service Commission regulates public utilities in New York, including electricity, gas, water and the telecommunications industry.   “At this point for me, this is a declaration of war on the Public Service Commission,” said state Sen. James Skoufis, a Democrat from Orange County. “They are a pathetic excuse for a regulatory body here in New York state.”   Companies that distribute energy to ratepayers, like National Grid or Con Ed, have to get authorization from the commission when they want to increase rates.    The burden is on the utility provider to make its case for the requested rate hike. The state Department of Public Service, under which the commission is housed, is then supposed to review the request and represent the pu...

  More than 100 clean energy companies, trade associations, and other industry stakeholders are descending on Capitol Hill this week to amplify an ongoing lobbying push to preserve clean energy tax credits in the upcoming budget reconciliation bill. Groups such as Clean Energy for America, the Solar Energy Industries Association, and the Carbon Capture Coalition will be making their case alongside battery storage companies like Enphase, investors from CleanCapital, utility-scale wind and solar developers, small residential solar installers, and customers that have benefited, including school superintendents. Their mission? Convince Republicans on the House Ways and Means committee that the  clean energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act  are key to executing President Trump’s energy agenda. The Ways and Means Committee oversees tax writing, meaning that it will be responsible for proposing which of Trump’s tax cuts to include in the upcoming budget reconciliation...