Advanced BioFuels USA

by Yereth Rosen (Reuters) Three big U.S. banks have publicly announced break-ups with Arctic drilling in recent months, reflecting Wall Street’s increasing desire to cast itself as environmentally friendly amid a political firestorm in Alaska. … Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) & Co said on Monday that it does not “directly” fund oil and gas projects in the Arctic region, and has not done so since 2018. The bank had hinted at that decision in previous statements about improving business practices but had not mentioned Arctic drilling specifically.

The bank’s statement followed similar moves announced by JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) & Co last week and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) in December.  READ MORE

SULLIVAN SOUNDS ALARM ON ANWR (Politico’s Morning Energy)

HOW GREEN IS ESG? (Politico’s Morning Energy)

MORGAN STANLEY JUST SAYS NO TO ARCTIC DRILLING: (Politico’s Morning Energy)

NYC COMPTROLLER TO INSURANCE COMPANIES: CUT COAL TIES:  (Politico’s Morning Energy)

Energy Secretary Takes a Swipe at Big Banks That Won’t Invest In Arctic Drilling (Our Daily Planet)

Excerpt from Politico’s Morning Energy: HOW GREEN IS ESG? Some lawmakers and climate activists fear fund managers are greenwashing their environmental-social-governance funds, Pro’s Zack Colman reports . “This whole conversation about, ‘Oh, there’s global warming and we need to worry about bees that are dying off’ — that’s marketing. That’s irrelevant to them. They’re doing it to make money,” said Philippe Burke, chief investment officer with Apache Capital, an investment management company. “[Investors] think by giving money to an ESG fund that they’re doing something good for the environment. It has nothing to do with that.”

The pressure on those funds, known as ESGs, comes as major firms like BlackRock, banks such as JP Morgan Chase and even oil and gas producers like BP have announced steps to curb or even eliminate their climate footprints in response to growing concerns from policymakers and the public.

Much of the scrutiny has centered on BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, whose CEO Larry Fink in January pledged to put climate change at the center of its investing strategy. Its iShares ESG MSCI USA Leaders ETF generated the third-highest flows of all sustainable funds last year, gaining $1.6 billion and receiving an “AA” score from MSCI, a financial firm that is one of several ESG rating companies. The fund’s top 10 holdings are largely in tech giants such as Microsoft, Alphabet and Verizon, and it’s devoid of firearms and tobacco companies, Zack reports.

But its also invested in companies synonymous with fossil fuels and water pollution: chemicals giant 3M, refiners Marathon Petroleum, HollyFrontier and Valero Energy, as well as pipeline operators Kinder Morgan, Oneok and Williams. And it owns shares in oil and gas producers Pioneer Natural Resources, Hess Corp., Apache Corp. and Devon Energy, coal-heavy utilities Dominion Energy and Alliant Energy, and oil services companies Schlumberger and Baker Hughes. BlackRock defended the funds, saying that individual companies have “a unique ESG profile.” Spokesman Matt Kobussen said in an email: “Overall, our research suggests each of the three ESG pillars are of roughly equal importance for both credit and equities markets.”

But Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) told POLITICO companies too often earn laudable ESG ratings based on other social factors at the expense of environmental goals. “We do not want these financial institutions to finance fossil fuels and then have a side project that finances wind energy and then they say they are for climate action,” he said.  READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico’s Morning Energy: MORGAN STANLEY JUST SAYS NO TO ARCTIC DRILLING: Morgan Stanley will no longer finance drilling in the Arctic, new coal plants, or new thermal coal mines, according to a policy update the bank issued Thursday. The bank will also phase out financing for existing coal mining companies. The banking giant joins Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup in refusing to fund Arctic drilling, leaving Bank of America as the only remaining lender willing to support Arctic projects, the Sierra Club said.  READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico’s Morning Energy:  NYC COMPTROLLER TO INSURANCE COMPANIES: CUT COAL TIES: New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer wrote to AIG, Liberty Mutual and Berkshire Hathaway Friday to press the insurance providers to cut business ties with the coal industry, including no longer underwriting any coal projects and divesting any holdings in companies that extract or distribute thermal coal. The companies’ coal investments are “simply incompatible” with their obligations to protect their clients from harm, including from climate change, and to their responsibility to protect and create long-term shareholder value for investors, Stringer wrote in the letters.

The letter to Liberty Mutual noted the company’s existing coal policy to limit new investments but called for a full severance of ties. Berkshire Hathaway, AIG, and Liberty Mutual held more than $6.7 billion combined in coal investments as of 2017, according to the comptroller.  READ MORE