Story of the Week: November 2021

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November 27, 2021 — BlackRock's Larry Fink: Don't divest fossil fuels, stay in the game
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November 27, 2021 — BlackRock's Larry Fink: Don't divest fossil fuels, stay in the game

BlackRock's Larry Fink: Don't divest fossil fuels, stay in the game by Betsy Vereckey Appeared in the MIT Sloan School of Management Ideas Made to Matter on November 2, 2021 Gina's Thoughts BlackRock's CEO and Chairman Larry Fink comes out against divestment at the MIT Golub Center for Finance and Policy's eighth annual conference, "Financial Policy and the Environment." Fink believes that divestment of holdings in fossil fuels is a "bad answer", that "if a foundation or an insurance company or a pension fund says, 'I'm not going to own any hydrocarbons,' well, somebody else is, so you're not changing the world." Fink believes that pension funds, foundations, and endowments "should have a loud voice with companies to move forward." Finally, Fink posits that as more governments divest, "they're not changing the demand curve" for fossil fuels and that "nothing is more greenwashing than divestiture. Because it doesn't change the [carbon] footprint of the world." InvestNow agrees with everything here except the last statement. All barrels of oil are not created equal and if the 100 million barrels of oil per day demand is not met by Canadian companies - the best environmental performers - it will be met by companies in other places in the world where standards are much lower. The carbon footprint of the world is worsened by divestment. The result? Canada loses and so does the world.
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November 20, 2021 — There's a massive chasm between government policy and our energy reality
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November 20, 2021 — There's a massive chasm between government policy and our energy reality

There's a massive chasm between government policy and our energy reality by Eric Nuttall Appeared in the Financial Post on November 10, 2021 Gina's Thoughts It is epically frustrating that in Canada, a country blessed with some of the most abundant energy resources in the world, the majority of the population suffers from profound energy ignorance: the lack of knowledge of how hydrocarbons are used, how critical they are to our daily lives, and the realistic timeline to replace them with a “renewable” alternative." Eric Nuttall shines a light on the fact that many Canadians do not know how indispensable hydrocarbons are to our lives. If we do as he suggests and look around, we will see that virtually everything is dependent on hydrocarbons in some capacity. If everything is dependent on hydrocarbons and will be for the foreseeable future, and demand is increasing, the only thing that will shift is where the oil and gas supply comes from. If not Canada, then it will come from state-owned suppliers from such countries as Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Russia and Iran. "Every single day, the world consumes about 100 million barrels of oil." Canada should be a major supplier to meet the world's growing demand for indispensable oil and gas.
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November 13, 2021 — Who Elected the Bankers?
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November 13, 2021 — Who Elected the Bankers?

Who Elected the Bankers? by William Watson Appeared in the Financial Post on November 9, 2021 Gina's Thoughts William Watson asks the question, "But who elected the bankers and financiers? By whose authority do they take it upon themselves to collude — albeit in a nice, open, idealistic way — to achieve the slow strangulation of selected industries and activities?"  The same question can be asked about the small groups of people making big divestment decisions at universities, pension funds and institutions.  Who elected them?  By whose authority do they take it upon themselves to eliminate an entire industry from their investment pool?  To eliminate an entire sector from your investment or lending portfolio is folly and does not align with the interests of shareholders and beneficiaries.  To use ESG criteria as the justification is misleading.  Canadian hydrocarbon companies have high environmental standards and are the largest investors in innovation in Canada — contributing to ever improving environmental performance.  They provide some of the highest paying jobs in the sector and contribute a host of other social benefits.  On governance, they adhere to the highest measures of transparency and reporting.   "Thanks in part to the networking of Mark Carney, past governor of two central banks, much of the world's financial sector is pledging to act in common to try to deny money, insurance and other financial services to businesses that are insufficiently compliant with whatever carbon requirements the group decides to impose."  This is what the divestment movement is all about. It is the antithesis of ESG investing and must be rejected.
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November 6, 2021 — COPOUT 26 - Face, farce and fiction, from Greta to Trudeau to Modi
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November 6, 2021 — COPOUT 26 - Face, farce and fiction, from Greta to Trudeau to Modi

COPOUT 26 - Face, farce and fiction, from Greta to Trudeau to Modi by Terence Corcoran Appeared in the Financial Post on November 3, 2021 Gina's Thoughts Terence Corcoran successfully separates fact from fiction, debunking Justin Trudeau's green plans which will, as Corcoran says, "cap carbon emissions, cripple Canada's fossil fuel industry and continue to ratchet up carbon taxes". The PM claims that extreme heat and wildfires in BC are proof of the need for his radical plans, reinforcing his absurd arguments with the much repeated and misleading statement that "Canada is warming, on average, twice as quickly as the rest of the world." These are examples of the fevered tone behind the agenda to eliminate the fossil fuel industry in Canada. Corcoran concludes, "The facts behind the net-zero fiction is why COP26 will become COPOUT26. There is no way to remove fossil-fuel emissions from the world without causing economic chaos. India and other developing nations will not allow their economies to be crippled, nor can developed nations devastate their own economies while developing nations expand." Repeat: "There is no way to remove fossil-fuel emissions from the world without causing economic chaos."
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