Volume 4, Issue 8
November 12, 2017 – November 18, 2017
Jason Mulderrig '18 | Will Atkinson '18 | Anushka Dasgupta '19 | Joe Abbate '18 | Amy Amatya '21
Trump Team to Promote Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power at Bonn Climate Talks
November 2, 2017 | New York Times | Lisa Friedman
Last and this week, officials from countries within the Paris Climate Agreement (including the US, since our commitment lasts until 2020) are meeting in Bonn, Germany to work out rules and guidelines to try to turn vague promises into reality. The US, for its part, is promoting natural gas, cleaner and more efficient coal, and nuclear energy (in line with the administration’s support of a domestic coal-nuclear market intervention) as the solution to developing countries’ energy needs. The Obama administration had focused solely on promoting renewables abroad, but the current administration argues this is simply unrealistic. Do you agree? -JAA
U.S. Cities and States Try to Keep Washington’s Climate Promises
November 9, 2017 | Scientific American | Nick Stockton
Although the US government plans to leave the Paris Agreement by 2020, over 2,500 representatives from states, cities, and businesses at the Bonn talks are telling their international peers that “#We Are Still In.” Although these “subnationals” cannot officially participate, they have formed pro-sustainability coalitions such as Local Governments for Sustainability and the We Mean Business Coalition. To meet Paris’s goal of 2oC of warming, we need to triple the emission reductions that countries have pledged (according to a recent UN report), so these coalitions could help fill in the gap. -WA
Shell, BP Among Energy Giants to Back Blockchain Trading Platform
November 7, 2017 | CoinDesk | Brady Dale
Several major global energy firms, trading houses, and banks are backing a new blockchain-based energy trading platform. The energy firms include BP, Shell, and Statoil, the trading houses include Gunvor, Koch Supply & Trading, and Mercuria, and the banks include ABN Amro, ING, and Societe Generale. This platform is intended to be opened to all market participants by 2018. The allure with blockchain energy trading is its potential to improve the efficiency of domestic and cross-border energy-based transactions. -JPM
Shell, BP Among Energy Giants to Back Blockchain Trading Platform
November 7, 2017 | CoinDesk | Brady Dale
Several major global energy firms, trading houses, and banks are backing a new blockchain-based energy trading platform. The energy firms include BP, Shell, and Statoil, the trading houses include Gunvor, Koch Supply & Trading, and Mercuria, and the banks include ABN Amro, ING, and Societe Generale. This platform is intended to be opened to all market participants by 2018. The allure with blockchain energy trading is its potential to improve the efficiency of domestic and cross-border energy-based transactions. -JPM