"By forcing electric vehicles into the market, the U.S. will trade reliance on domestically produced gasoline and diesel fuel for reliance on Chinese neodymium, terbium and dysprosium. What a lousy trade."
Despite talking heads jibber jabbering in Glasgow about ending coal, the rest of the world likes to keep the lights on.
Yahoo Finance (12/22/21) reports: "Coal production is set to hit an all-time high according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) despite the curbing of production across several countries and aims for decarbonization following COP26. Coal demand has continued to increase through 2021 mainly due to the needs of large Asian countries that still rely on the fossil fuel, as well as gas shortages forcing European states to shift back to coal. Coal has experienced a dramatic rebound this year, with production levels set to hit an all-time high in 2021 and demand levels to peak in 2022. Even after worldwide power generation from coal started falling in 2019 and 2020, as many countries shifted away from the energy source, it is expected to rise by around 9 percent this year to reach 10,350 terawatt-hours. The surge in demand is largely due to the faster-than-expected global economic recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic. Throughout 2020, demand for coal, oil, and gas dropped significantly as countries around the world imposed restrictions on movement. Many organizations saw this as the moment to push for a transition away from fossil fuels to renewable alternatives. However, as the energy demand has risen in 2021, some countries have found it hard to produce enough oil and gas, leading to shortages. Surging fossil fuel prices have also pushed consumers back to coal, which is more competitively priced. "
Great job ESG investors, your lack of investment in energy that keeps the lights on has led to nat gas up more than 5x in Europe, German electricity up 6x, and Kosovo has rolling blackouts.
Reuters (12/23/21) reports: "Investors concerned about climate change and social justice had a bumper year in 2021, successfully pushing companies and regulators to make changes amid record inflows to funds focused on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues. Extreme weather becoming more frequent and events highlighting social justice issues, such as the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, contributed to ESG rising to the top of the agenda of investors, companies and policy makers. A record $649 billion poured into ESG-focused funds worldwide through Nov. 30, up from the $542 billion and $285 billion that flowed into these funds in 2020 and 2019, respectively, the latest Refinitiv Lipper data shows. ESG funds now account for 10% of worldwide fund assets."
