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Monday, June 8, 2020

For publicly owned companies, 'green' announcements are often BS

During the Obama years, 
the Securities and Exchange 
Commission issued guidance 
to companies for making 
climate-related disclosures
in their financial documents. 

The guidance focused mainly 
on disclosing risks to business 
operations from extreme weather 
or climate regulation.

Corporate SEC filings now 
routinely make reference 
to future risks from 
climate change. 


But in recent years 
companies have turned 
climate change from 
a disclosed risk into 
a marketing opportunity.

Companies often tout 
what they are doing to 
save the planet” 
           or 
“combat climate change.” 


Apple claims it is 
“significantly reducing 
emissions to address 
climate change.” 

But Apple’s claimed CO2 
emissions amount to a mere 
0.04% of the global total 
of 53.5 billion tons.


Exxon Mobil claims it plays an 
“essential role in addressing 
the risks of climate change” 
by cutting its operational 
emissions by 20 million tons
last year. 

Not mentioned: 
Exxon Mobil sold 
products that released 
close to 600 million tons 
of CO2 emissions 
when burned !


Nuclear utility Exelon 
says on it's website: 
“We need the Earth. 
Today, it needs us.”  
... boasting of closing 
the few coal plants it had. 

Meanwhile, China built 
more coal power capacity 
in 2019 (45 gigawatts) 
than all U.S. utilities plan 
to close through 2025 
(17 gigawatts).


Amazon boasts about its 
“commitment to meet 
the Paris Agreement 
10 years early.”  

But only nations can meet 
the Paris climate accord goals, 
not a single company, especially
one providing no specific details 
on exactly how much THEY
plan to achieve.


Companies that brag
about their climate change
efforts should do so honestly.

They often do not.

Touting emissions cuts 
out of context is almost 
meaningless for the 
shareholders.

The company 
should mention that 
man-made emissions 
of greenhouse gases are 
55.3 billion tons a year 
and are going up, 
according to the U.N. 


A utility closing 
a few coal plants
should  describe 
the hundreds
of new coal plants 
being built around 
the world. 

With a global context, 
corporate actions on climate 
are closer to zero than they 
would ever admit -- mainly
'green' virtue signaling .


The Security and Exchange 
Commission has not 
demanded honesty about 
corporate 'green' claims.

This corporate 
"greenwashing" 
misleads investors 
and the general public.

Misleading anyone 
is inconsistent with 
current securities laws.