QUICK NEWS, September 6: Major U.S. Investor Says Watch Out For Climate Change; Florida Voters Say Yes To Tax Money For Solar 73-27; Feds To Streamline Wind Project Approvals

Major U.S. Investor Says Watch Out For Climate Change lackRock Says Investors Need to Assess Climate Change When Investing; Because of likely physical effects, technological changes, and regulatory and social responses.

September 6, 2016 (Reuters via Fortune)

“BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, said all investors should factor climate change into their decision-making and doing so would not mean having to accept lower returns…[The China-United States ratification of a 2015 plan to curb climate-warming emissions raises] chances it will enter into law this year…BlackRock BLK 0.45% said it is strengthening its data and analytical processes to reflect changes to the environment — and political responses to them…In a 16-page report released after the G20 meeting in China, BlackRock, which manages more than $4.9 trillion in assets, said risks and opportunities would come through the physical effects of climate change, technological change, as well as the regulatory and social response…In the report, BlackRock suggested higher carbon prices could limit the cost of reducing emissions and push companies to create solutions to the problem…In the meantime, BlackRock said it was enhancing its data mining efforts to reduce the risk to its investments…” click here for more

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Florida Voters Say Yes To Tax Money For Solar 73-27 Florida Voters Pass Amendment 4; Tax Breaks For Solar Energy

August 30, 2016 (AP via CBS Miamia)

"Voters in Florida have approved a constitutional amendment that’ll provide property tax breaks for people who install solar panels on their homes [by a huge 73 percent to 27 percent margin]…The increased value to a home from the installation of solar panels or other renewable energy devices can’t be considered when assessing homes to determine property taxes…The amendment also removes Florida’s ‘tangible personal property tax,’ which taxes solar equipment installed on properties. Without it, leasing solar systems will be a more profitable business in Florida [which lags other states] nationally in solar power production…Environmentalists and business interests supported the measure…[Amendment 1, which will be on the Nov. 8 general election ballot, would] grant homeowners the right to install solar panels...[but would] allow local and state governments to continue regulating the use of solar power, including making sure that customers without solar are not required to ‘subsidize’ [solar owners]…Amendment 1 is not supported by the same coalition of groups that support Amendment 4, but is backed by utilities…” click here for more

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Feds To Streamline Wind Project Approvals Why large-scale wind power is so hard to build

Michael McDonald, September 3, 2016 (OilPrice via USA Today)

“…[The federal Bureau of Land Management] wants to shake up the rules around wind farm approvals…Since 2009, the Obama Administration has approved 46 wind farm projects that would cover a proposed 216,356 acres of public land. Yet only 15 of these 46 projects have made it into operation. The rest are [cancelled or] stuck in limbo with years of mandatory environmental analysis ahead…[The BLM’s solution] is to change the way it deals with land allocation…[This is expected to] speed up the process of building windfarms because it can pre-select areas most likely to get a quick environmental project approval and then auction off those properties in a competitive process...[but] it also means that the lease tracts will cost significantly more, which in turn will likely lead to fewer project proposals…The proposed new rules virtually guarantee more revenue for the government…Environmentalists are generally supportive of the new rules…[but it is possible] the BLM is building a system and no one will [use]…” click here for more

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