7. The State of New York versus the utility sector. What Climate Risk?
In August Xcel Energy agreed to disclose their risk to climate change to their investors in response to a legal suit previously filed by the NY State attorney general Andrew Cuomo.
Mr. Cuomo subpoenaed Xcel and four other companies in September 2007 to determine if their plans to build coal-fired power plants posed risks not disclosed to investors such as lawsuits or higher costs to comply with possible regulations restricting carbon emissions. The attorney general is apparently still negotiating with the four other companies, AES, Dominion, Dynegy, and Peabody Energy.
We will see increasing pressure on utilities to disclose the potential risks from climate change to their investors as state and federal climate regulations move closer to reality.
8. Poznan…Perhaps Progress?
Historically, I have never viewed climate negotiations as a top story. The reason is that the only real progress we have seen in the US has come from business and states. When a real agreement is reached then it will be a top story.
However, the recent negotiations at Poznan give me reason to hope that we are getting closer to a real global agreement. The U.N. climate talks apparently achieved some modest goals with a “renewed sense of purpose and momentum” (see Top Story #1).
Some progress consists of credit for saving forests and opening up a long-planned fund to help poor countries adapt to climate change.
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December 29th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Thank you for this post. Renewable energy is a term used to describe energy that is derived from resources, like the sun and the wind resources that are continually available to some degree or other all over the world. We never run out of them. And their use or capture does not inflict any material damage on the environment, but it seems it is affecting on the environment either direct or indirectly. We are the group working on Global Warming and Green World and spreading the benefits of this to many of them with the help of Internet and many sites… Recently i liked JustMeans.com, nice platform to share and debate on Green and Corporate Social Responsibility. Justmeans is where individuals can talk to organizations about their social and environmental initiatives and stay updated on CSR news and jobs. Please do spread the word and save the world.