Forty-three businesses, with tech giants such as Apple and Facebook at the helm, are acquiring clean energy at a much higher level than in previous years, per Bloomberg, despite the Trump administration favoring coal and nuclear power over renewable sources.
The details: In response to the administration's lack of interest in green energy, some companies have become formidable advocates for green energy. In this case, 43 businesses have signed a contract for the use of a record 5.4 gigawatts of clean power — up from 4.3 gigawatts in 2016, Bloomberg says. Bloomberg says that this amount could dislodge more than 10 coal-fired power plants.
Philadelphia Energy Solutions, the East Coast's oldest and largest oil refinery, said that it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as part of a structuring that includes $260 million in new financing from creditors and existing owners like The Carlyle Group. Current operations are not expected to be affected.
Why it matters: The bankruptcy is certain to fuel a political fight over the Renewable Fuel Standard, the national biofuels mandate that independent refiners say is imposing burdensome costs.
Welcome to Government Shutdown 2018, where the Art of the Deal seems to have been painted by Jackson Pollock. A quick rundown of how this affects financial markets:
The 2018 Washington Auto Show begins on Tuesday, and will be displaying a variety of electric vehicles, as well as allowing lawmakers and regulators to discuss "unique challenges and opportunities" surrounding new transportation trends in the MobilityTalks International forum.
Why it matters: This year's show will have the most all-electric vehicles to date, according to the Washington Area New Automobile Dealers Association communications manager Mike Bushnell.
New York City and several California municipalities are suing big oil companies, alleging they concealed what they knew about climate change and are liable for billions of dollars of damage caused by rising global temperatures.
Why that’s flawed: The strategy is based on the 1990s lawsuits against tobacco companies, which found they concealed and misrepresented what they knew about the health effects of cigarettes. But climate change is a global problem we’re all collectively causing by burning products owned by fossil-fuel companies. What’s more, the legal roots of these claims today are untested and unlikely to succeed, lawyers supportive of the effort say.
Saudi Arabia’s oil minister suggested Sunday that OPEC and non-OPEC producers including Russia should extend cooperation beyond the end of 2018, when their production-cutting deal is slated to expire, according to reports from Oman in Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere.
Why it matters: The comments signal that while the deal that took effect in early 2017 has helped to bolster prices that collapsed in 2014 amid a global supply glut, OPEC’s dominant producer believes more collaboration is needed as the cartel and Russia grapple with surging U.S. output, which analysts see surpassing 10 million barrels per day this year.
