U.K. COP26 President Alok Sharma told reporters Tuesday that the upcoming talks in Glasgow, widely viewed as the last chance to avoid some of the worst consequences of global warming, will be extremely difficult.
Driving the news: Sharma sought to temper expectations and note that the agenda features some of the toughest items that negotiators have punted on at previous summits.
Al Gore and other finance veterans are launching a new investment vehicle with backers including Microsoft, Goldman Sachs and Harvard — and hope to help shift global investment patterns more broadly.
Driving the news: The newly unveiled Just Climate seeks to "catalyze and channel" capital into companies and projects that can help deeply decarbonize the economy, "but which are not yet fully served by traditional investment mandates." The aim is to limit global warming to 1.5ºC, which is the more ambitious target under the Paris Agreement.
Half of the 100,000 Teslas that Hertz is adding to its rental fleet will be reserved for Uber drivers, many of whom can't afford to buy an electric car of their own.
Why it matters: Uber in 2020 pledged to convert its entire ride-hailing fleet in the U.S., Canada and Europe to electric by 2030. But doing so means convincing gig drivers to invest in a new — and likely more expensive — vehicle.
The deal with Hertz is a more affordable option for drivers, Uber says.
Top executives from ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron and Shell will face a reckoning on Capitol Hill Thursday, as they're grilled on evidence that their companies knew for years that their products were driving climate change but chose to downplay or deny it.
Why it matters: The hearing before the House Oversight Committee will be the first time these executives have been brought together to provide sworn testimony regarding what they knew about the ties between their company's products and climate change, and when they knew it.
A monster storm was slamming the Northeast with record rainfall and powerful winds over Tuesday night — causing flash flooding that resulted in people having to be rescued in New Jersey and New York roads to close.
Threat level: All of southern New England and westward to New York City and northern New Jersey was under the threat of flash flooding and coastal flooding from the nor'easter through Tuesday night into early Wednesday, per the National Weather Service.
General Motors will work with its dealers to fill gaps in America's electric vehicle charging infrastructure, including installing new charging stations in underserved urban and rural areas.
Why it matters: People aren't likely to buy electric vehicles unless it is convenient to charge them at home, at work or on road trips. That's why the Biden administration wants Congress to allocate funding for as many as 500,000 new EV chargers across the U.S., for example.
The Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service announced Tuesday they will rescind two Trump administration regulations that changed the definition of a habitat and limited protections of certain plants and animals.
Why it matters: It's part of the Biden administration's broad rollback of many Trump-era rule changes to the Endangered Species Act and conservation efforts in general.
The sprint to secure more stringent emissions reduction commitments ahead of the COP26 summit has petered out well short of the finish line, a new United Nations report out this morning concludes.
Driving the news: The "Emissions Gap" report offers a clear comparison between where emissions need to be to reach the Paris Agreement's goals, and where they actually are. It takes new and preexisting emissions pledges, called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), into consideration.
Analysis in the journal Nature finds electric vehicles' high weight relative to gas-powered models creates safety risks that can be addressed through design and policy changes.
The big picture: EVs are heavy due to battery weights and heavier equipment to provide "necessary structural support." That's a problem because heavier vehicles mean more deaths in accidents.
Eco-conscious salad chain Sweetgreen's new filing with regulators to go public offers a window onto how companies must grapple with climate risks to the food system.
Driving the news: Sweetgreen's paperwork, like other pre-IPO filings, lists potential headwinds. Climate change is among them.
People who are on the fence about buying an electric vehicle — or who can't afford one — can now rent one from Hertz.
Driving the news: The giant rental car company said Monday it is adding 100,000 Teslas to its fleet as the first step in a major shift toward electrification.
The order represents $4.2 billion in revenue for Tesla and is the carmaker's biggest-ever order, Bloomberg reported. Tesla's market cap reached $1 trillion following the deal.
The vehicles will account for more than 20% of Hertz's global fleet. And Hertz is also adding thousands of charging stations to its rental locations and hiring seven-time Super Bowl champ Tom Brady to pitch EVs to consumers.
Why it matters: Broader availability of electric cars on rental lots could give the EV movement a needed boost by allowing cautious consumers a no-risk way to try before they buy.
The big picture: President Biden wants half of all new cars sold to be electric by 2030, and many carmakers are making the pledge to switch away from gasoline-powered vehicles by the middle of the next decade.
But consumer demand remains low, with battery-electric vehicles accounting for less than 5% of auto sales.
Yes, but: Consumers are getting more curious about plug-in models.
"Consumer confidence and acceptance of EVs is growing gradually," says Michelle Krebs, executive analyst for Cox Automotive, adding that the opportunity to try one for a few days could snag more interest.
Surveys show that when people gain experience with new technologies, they become more accepting, she said.
For example, luxury car owners with driver-assist systems like adaptive cruise control are much more accepting of autonomous vehicles than those who've never experienced the technology.
What they're saying: "Electric vehicles are now mainstream, and we've only just begun to see rising global demand and interest," Hertz interim CEO Mark Fields said in a statement.
What's next: Consumers will be able to rent a Tesla Model 3 at Hertz airport and neighborhood locations in U.S. major markets and select cities in Europe starting in early November, with availability growing through 2022.
They'll have access to 3,000 Tesla Supercharger stations, besides the Hertz-installed chargers.
But EVs take some getting used to and features like regenerative braking could be confusing to drivers getting acclimated to their rental car late at night in an airport garage.
Hertz said it will offer help to educate customers about their EV through the Hertz mobile app.
Of note: Teslas are already popular on the peer-to-peer car rental site, Turo, CEO Andre Haddad tells Axios.
Some are booked by travelers and others by potential buyers looking for an extended test drive.
Many Turo hosts maintain small fleets of Teslas and EVs to keep up with demand.
