A few posts a week ago at this site on the subject of the huge storage requirements of an all-wind/solar power generation system attracted a number of commenters, who confidently asserted. that an all-wind/solar power generation system will soon prove to be cheaper than fossil fuels. because it’s given a real chance. I invited those commenters to come up with their own detailed calculations for the amount of storage capacity to get a full solar/wind power generation system for a whole year without redundancy. fossil fuels with real-world weather conditions, but so far no system has used them all. my invitation. Pending responses from those, the most serious attempt I’ve seen to estimate the storage requirements and cost of a purely wind/solar/battery system for the US, with everything electrified, is Ken Gregory’s work at Friends of Science. Gregory’s estimated cost (rounded) is about $400 trillion.
But in the meantime, really smart people – or maybe I should say, Actually smart people – take a different approach. These people – as mentioned, really, Actually smart – found a much easier and faster way to phase out fossil fuel use and get right to the holy grail of “non-pure” emissions. That method is to force large corporations, through capital allocation and shareholder vote, to commit to achieving the goal of “net zero”.
Led by a guy named Larry Fink. Have you heard of him? He is the Chairman and CEO of BlackRock, a mutual fund company with approximately $10 trillion under management. That $10 trillion looks set to put BlackRock at number one among US money managers. If you have any retirement savings, it’s likely not some or all of them are managed by BlackRock. Oh, and they can determine how to vote for shares that represent your money when it’s time to elect a director or pass various proposals before the shareholders. Here’s a picture of Mr. Fink from BlackRock’s website:
In January 2020, Fink made something of a splash when he simultaneously sent letters to all public company executives and all BlackRock investors announced its commitment to “sustainable” investment. That commitment includes massive investments in things like “Trading in renewable electricity infrastructure, investing in the private market in the field of wind power and solar power; green bond fund; LEAF, the industry’s first environmental sustainability-focused cash management strategy,” so on, on and on and on and on; and also uses the power of shareholder votes to force management to deliver on its “sustainability” commitments:
This year, we will map our engagement priorities to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, such as Gender Equality, Clean Energy and Affordability.
Fink’s 2022 letter to executives, points out, doubles down, making it clear that BlackRock wants every company it invests in to get the “net zero” train:
Every company and every industry will be transformed by the transition to the nether world. The question is will you lead, or will you be led? . . . Engineers and scientists are working around the clock on ways to decarbonize cement, steel and plastics; sea transport, road transport and air transport; agriculture, energy and construction. I believe the decarbonization of the global economy will create the greatest investment opportunity of our lifetime. It will also leave behind companies that do not adapt, no matter what industry they are in.
Let me briefly go over the concept of “decarbonized” plastics. (What the hell does Fink think plastic is made of?). But we do know that Fink is really, Actually smart, and therefore he need to knew that by “decarbonizing” these industries, he meant converting them all into electrical energy, with electricity generated only by wind and sun. Does he have any ideas on how much excess power generation and battery storage might be needed for that to happen, or how much that might cost? Or how much could that increase the cost of all of this? Or could such large incremental costs affect the viability of any of these “sustainable” investments? You will not find anything on that subject in this letter. Hey, we’re dealing here with a planetary existential crisis that makes it completely off-limits to apply critical thinking to any of these issues.
And I don’t mean that Mr. Fink is alone in his delusions. Look at the websites of any of the other major money managers like Vanguard, Fidelity, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, etc., and you’ll see they all make similar noises (although mine do). think BlackRock is the furthest of the bunch).
Which brings us to how this all plays out at the top of the public companies that actually produce and deliver the things we’re trying to consume. The Wall Street Journal January 26 reported on a resolution recently passed by Costco shareholders.
Costco Wholesale Corp shareholders voted Thursday on a proposal that calls for the retailer to set out a plan to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or earlier, in line with recommendations. science aimed at limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The resolution includes emissions that are hard to track in Costco’s supply chain, known as Scope 3 emissions, the company said. is “the majority” of its emissions.
You can be pretty sure that BlackRock – and probably all the other big money managers that control votes based on everyone’s retirement savings – voted for this. Now, Costco is a merchant that essentially buys things made by other people, ships them into stores or warehouses, and sells them back to customers. What exactly do they have to do to change the “carbon footprint” of frozen chicken or chairs or blenders or whatever you’re buying from them? Well, their shareholders, through these genius middlemen, have now decided that they should start getting to know it better.
And don’t think it’s just Costco. Further from the same section in the Journal:
US companies are facing 57 votes on this year’s greenhouse gas emissions,. . . Mrs Welsh said. Last year, there were 10 such votes.
But surely shareholders are smart enough to figure this out and vote down this madness? No, of course not, since their votes are in fact controlled by BlackRocks, Vanguards, Fidelities, etc., etc.:
According to Heidi Welsh, director of the nonprofit Sustainable Investment Institute, support for shareholder proposals on greenhouse gas emissions rose to an average of about 59 percent last year, compared with 25 % in 2017.
In the end we will fight Stein’s Law, was put forward in 1986 by the economist Herbert Stein: “If something can’t go on forever, it stops”.
Related
