QUICK NEWS, June 18: Climate Crisis Could Threaten Global Financial Stability; Solar Sets Growth Record

Climate Crisis Could Threaten Global Financial Stability Adding to Planetary Alarm Bells, Top US Finance Official Warns Climate Crisis a Recipe for Global Economic Collapse; "It's abundantly clear that climate change poses financial risk to the stability of the financial system."

Jessica Corbett, June 12, 2019 (Common Dreams)

“…[The human-caused climate emergency poses a threat to the economy which rivals the subprime mortgage meltdown that led to the 2008 financial crisis…[according to Rostin Behnam] of the five-member Commodities Futures Trading Commission, an independent federal agency…As the sponsor of CFTC's Market Risk Advisory Committee, he convened a public meeting…to discuss climate-related financial threats…[and call for a panel to review and report on threats and solutions…[Appointed as a required Democratic member to the CFTC, he said] most of the world's markets and market regulators are taking steps towards assessing and mitigating the current and potential threats of climate change…[but, he added,] impacts of climate change affect every aspect of the American economy—from production agriculture to commercial manufacturing and the financing of every step in each process…

click to enlarge

Failing to address financial market risks associated with climate change will impede economic growth, and most likely hit rural communities the hardest…[He said it is time to examine the relationship of [extreme weather event risks to financial] market stability…[The report] would be a product of the federal government… put Mr. Behnam in direct conflict with the policies of the [current] administration…[And, because it would come in 2020 and likely focus] on potential harm to the nation's agriculture sector, [it] is likely to emerge at a moment when [the president] will be making the case to farm states…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Solar Sets Growth Record U.S. Solar Market Sees Best Q1 in History; Crossing the 2 million solar installations threshold was just one of many highlights on the quarter

June 18, 2019 (Solar Energy Industries Association/Wood Mackenzie)

In the first three months of the year, the U.S. installed 2.7 gigawatts of solar photovoltaics (PV), making it the most solar ever installed in the first quarter of a year…Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables forecasts 25% growth in 2019 compared to 2018, and it expects more than 13 GWdc of installations this year…[T]he U.S. saw 603 megawatts of residential solar installations during the first quarter, up 6 percent annually…[and] 29 percent of residential capacity in Q1 2019 came from markets outside the top 10 solar states by capacity, the highest share for emerging markets in industry history…The non-residential segment, which represents commercial, industrial and public sector distributed solar, saw 438 megawatts of PV installed on the quarter, which was down on both a quarterly and annual basis…

click to enlarge

...[T]his is largely a result of state-level policy reforms in historically strong markets for the segment including California, Massachusetts and Minnesota…[New community solar mandates] in New York, Maryland, Illinois and New Jersey are expected to] help reinvigorate the segment beginning in 2020…Total installed U.S. PV capacity will more than double over the next five years, with annual installations reaching 16.4 GWdc in 2021 prior to the expiration of the residential federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and a drop in the commercial tax credit to 10% for projects not yet under construction…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet