Electric bus company Proterra on Tuesday became the latest EV player to announce it's going public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company.

Driving the news: The deal with ArcLight Clean Transition Corp. values Proterra at $1.6 billion. Proterra builds buses and also provides battery systems and other products for heavy electric vehicles.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an estimated — and unprecedented — 10.3% drop in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions last year, per a preliminary analysis from the Rhodium Group.

Why it matters: It's by far the single largest annual drop in the post-World War II era and puts U.S. emissions 21.5% below 2005 levels.

General Motors is launching a new business unit devoted to electrifying the goods delivery market and says package giant FedEx will be the first customer.

Why it matters: Big automakers and startups alike see a huge opportunity.

One of the most important trends in climate change isn’t anything you heard on the campaign trail, but instead something as basic as data — and the technological exploitation of it.

Driving the news: Companies have been disclosing more data on greenhouse gas emissions since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, and a new trend cropping up uses that to foster competition for greener energy. Expect far more of this under President-elect Joe Biden.