CLIMATE GROUPS TAKE AIM AT BANK LOANS TO FOSSIL FUEL COMPANIES: The world’s 60 largest banks committed $705 billion globally to fossil fuel companies in 2023, according to a new report from a number of green groups, which say that the funding undercuts the pledges of U.S. banks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reach their own climate targets.
The fossil fuel finance report, dubbed “Banking on Climate Chaos,” was sponsored by several environmental groups, such as the Rainforest Action Network and the Sierra Club. The report outlines that these banks have committed a total of nearly $7 trillion since the 2015 Paris Accords – and the top three are all U.S. banks: JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Bank of America.
The significance: A number of these banks have issued pledges to combat climate change and reduce emissions. It should be noted, however, that many of these climate promises came years after the 2015 Paris agreement, which set a long-term goal of limiting global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The report, however, details the financing commitments from financial institutions to more than 4,200 companies active across the fossil fuel industry between 2016 and 2023.
First on the list is JPMorgan Chase, which has increased its financing of fossil fuel companies from $38.7 billion in 2022 to $40.6 billion last year. The company has pledged $2.5 trillion over the decade to combat climate change and contribute to sustainable development, and promised in 2020 to align itself with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, however, has been unapologetic in his commitment to fossil fuels – quipping at a 2022 congressional hearing that divesting from fossil fuels would be “the road to hell for America.”
Citigroup, which comes in second on the list, has also promised to achieve net-zero emissions relating to its financing by 2050 – and net-zero for their own operations by 2030. Notably, the bank has committed $1 trillion toward sustainable finance projects, such as renewable technologies.
“Citi is supporting our clients as they work to decarbonize their businesses, while also continuing to meet global needs for energy security, affordability and reliability,” a Citi spokesperson told the Washington Examiner in a written statement. “We believe that the clean energy transition is central to meeting those needs.”
In 2021, Bank of America announced a commitment to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions throughout various sectors of their business model before 2050. However, the company has since backtracked on its promises not to finance new coal or Arctic drilling projects, updating its policy to say that such projects will instead be subject to “enhanced due diligence.”
“We are supporting clients across the energy sector, to help drive the innovation taking place in both traditional energy and the clean energy sectors,” a BOA spokesperson said in response to today’s report. “BloombergNEF data shows that Bank of America has the highest clean energy supply financing ratio among US peers. We are engaged with clients across the energy spectrum to help them with their energy transition goals.”
Notable: The big six U.S. banks mentioned in the report – JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley – were the top six financiers of fracked gas.
A spokesperson for Wells Fargo declined to comment, while spokespeople for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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MORE DETAIL ON BIDEN TARIFFS – INCLUDING SOLAR EXCLUSIONS: The new tariffs on Chinese goods that President Joe Biden plans to unveil this week will include some exclusions for items sought by the domestic solar industry, including for machinery used to make solar panel components, Bloomberg reported yesterday.
The treatment of solar imports stands to be an especially sensitive aspect of the tariffs, given the competing demands of domestic manufacturers and developers.
More generally, tariffs on Chinese EVs will rise from 27.5% to 102.5%, Bloomberg reported, and other tariffs will double or triple.
Former President Donald Trump did respond to the reported planned tariffs over the weekend, saying at a campaign event that he would seek to prevent China from manufacturing EVs in Mexico and shipping them into the U.S. by imposing a 200% tariff.
FOR YOUR RADAR ON THE HILL THIS WEEK: EPA administrator Michael Regan will be back on the Hill Wednesday for a budget hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials.
Also on Wednesday, the Senate Budget Committee will have a hearing on the national security costs of climate change.
The House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Federal Lands will have a hearing that day on the Biden administration’s budget request for the Bureau of Land Management. Then, on Thursday, the committee will host a hearing on the Council on Environmental Quality budget with Chairwoman Brenda Mallory.
‘COPYCAT’ LAWSUITS FROM FTC ALLEGATIONS AGAINST PIONEER FOUNDER? The Financial Times reports that class-action lawsuits alleging that shale drillers colluded to raise prices are getting new attention following the Federal Trade Commission’s allegation that Pioneer founder Scott Sheffield tried to coordinate production with OPEC+.
The most recent lawsuit was filed today in federal court in New Mexico, bringing the total of suits underway to at least 10.
The suits predate the FTC accusation against Sheffield, but the facts unearthed by the commission are likely to play into litigation. Eric Grannon of the law firm White & Case told the publication that the findings could inspire copycat lawsuits and would play into discovery in the ongoing suits.
“Private class-action lawyers will no doubt try and follow those FTC breadcrumbs in discovery in their own cases,” he said.
FOR YOUR RADAR: The Carbon Capture Coalition will host their second annual fly-in day this Wednesday, where more than 100 members from the nonpartisan advocacy group will participate in meetings with congressional offices. The group will focus on tax-based measures, including the bipartisan Captured Carbon Utilization Parity Act – a bill intended to create parity between the credit value of projects that seek to reuse the captured carbon and those that seek to store it.
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