“The spat in Bonn highlights what many opponents of the Paris Agreement believed: the global climate crusade is really about redistributing global wealth.”
“Expect European governments to announce revised carbon reduction targets, as their inability to reach their 2020 targets becomes clear. Kicking the ball down the road and focusing on the new goals makes it easier to avoid explaining why earlier targets were missed. Next year will likely usher in an era of environmental mea culpas from Europe.”
Eurostat, the statistical agency of the European Union, reported that the organization’s members’ carbon emissions increased last year by 1.8% compared to 2016.
The performance of the individual countries was mixed. Among the five countries accounting for 10% or more of total EU emissions, three were up significantly, one was essentially flat, and one was down materially.…
“Sky, an exposition of what consumers would have to pay in the near-term in order to defer the climate-model-predicted disastrous future, may be Shell’s ‘cover your ass’ defense against environmental lawsuits and attacks. But by providing a scenario for evaluation, Sky might just prevent the politically correct from becoming the economically incorrect.”
Major oil and gas companies do seemingly funny things in a socio-economic climate where their main products are demonized. One company tried to get “beyond petroleum.” Another touts its support for a tax on carbon-dioxide emissions. Still another publicizes its long-run forecasts that demote the demand for its main products. Shell is that third company.
Shell’s Previous Scenarios
Leading up to Earth Day, the media was replete with articles and opinion pieces about the need to kill the fossil fuel industry before it kills the planet.…
“At the end of the day, it seems that smaller markets are clustered at the higher end of the EV penetration ranking. This suggests it will be much more difficult to mandate and effect massive vehicle fleet shifts in favor of EVs in much larger markets without significant government subsidies and/or mandates, as well as significant infrastructure investment in EV charging facilities.”
“Tesla had about 80% of the EV market in Hong Kong. The cessation of the subsidy in April has raised the cost of Tesla cars by between 50% and 80%. Will Hong Kong’s EV penetration rate follow the others who have ended subsidies, and fall?”
The US Congress is hammering out the details of tax reform proposals from the House and Senate. At risk is a continuation of the subsidies for clean energy investments—investments in new wind turbines and solar panels, along with the subsidies for electric vehicle (EV) purchases.…