More than ever its clear that an oil based economy is not sustainable from a variety of perspectives, both ecologically and economically. Perhaps counterintuitively, these domains are not obverse to each another, but are interlocked facets of the how the earth sustains lifecycles. They are also twin indicators of humanity’s …
Economist Paul Krugman, while referencing an upcoming carbon pricing piece by David Roberts (@drvox) writes that: Econ 101 tells us that if you want to reduce emissions of a pollutant, the most efficient way to do that is to put a price on emissions, so that all possible routes to …
From the article titled “Climate-Related Death of Coral Around World Alarms Scientists” that appeared in the April 9th Edition of the New York Times: This is a huge, looming planetary crisis, and we are sticking our heads in the sand about it,” said Justin Marshall, the director of CoralWatch at …
Fund Balance has covered the damage done to the world’s ocean’s by discarded plastic at great length. Based on World Economic Forum projections more pieces of plastic will contaminate the world’s ocean than there are fish within it by 2050. Only about 5% of plastic is recycled. There is no …
By Walter Borden Astrophysicist Adam Frank recently commented on NPR that climate change really is not really humanity’s fault. The crux of his argument is that while the science is settled that human activity has caused climate change, we really could not have known better. Clearly there is some real …
By Walter Borden Evidence continues to mount. The time for a rapid transformation away from Industrial Agriculture methods towards Sustainable ones is now. The size of an hypoxic ‘dead zone’ that disrupts and destroys marine life and fishing lifeways in the Gulf far exceeds this year’s forecast, NOAA scientists report. …
Without healthy oceans the food supply for future generations and their very existence are at risk. And we know that even if all carbon being released today from fossil fuels were to halt, the climate would continue to warm for some time. Kind of like how just because you see …
Yesterday Reuters reported: Bank of America announced Wednesday it will reduce its financial exposure to coal companies, acknowledging the risk that future regulation and competition from natural gas pose on the industry. The bank announced its new coal policy at its annual meeting, saying it would cut back its lending …
By Walter Borden The Executive Branch took the lead for the US Public in addressing Climate Change amelioration in 2014 with both EPA actions as well as international diplomacy. By any standard the US China Agreement on Climate Change is, as The Guardian wrote: A historic milestone in the global …
Robert F. Kennedy presents a strong case that King Coal is by and large criminal given the massive amounts of regulatory violations and thus damage to local water, air, and geologic resources it wrecks. To this all one must add coal mining concerns’ repeated and ongoing attempts to mislead and …
By Walter Borden Two recent reports challenge the conventional wisdom that decarbonization via carbon taxes or other methods in concert with divestment from fossil fuel marketers means diminished prosperity. Both reports were widely covered and come from authoritative international groups. Both the New Climate Economy Project and a working paper …
By Walter Borden There are many reasons to celebrate Labor in the U.S. as well as to consider what its role in the 21st Century can be. The American Society of Civil Engineers, when they graded our nation’s infrastructure, assigned a startling D+. Firstly, our nation’s infrastructure has in most …
By Walter Borden Its been well documented that solar network power generators held-up during hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey. This was true for PSG&E systems as well as those supplied by start-ups. As Walter Meyer of Power Rockaway Resilience pointed out: “While gas generators sat idle without …
By Walter Borden Here at the midpoint of 2014, solar power technology continues its advance while its marketplace momentum builds. Economic policy and commercial efforts designed to induce commercial innovation must keep apace. And there are pockets of progress in the political economics of deploying solar. Take for example this …
We honor the sacrifice and dedication of the women and men of the United States Military. The Fund Balance team takes great reassurance from their collective recognition of the realities and risks for our shared peace, security, and prosperity posed by climate change. The US Military’s determination indicates the urgency for …
By Walter Borden There is a canon among many policy makers and their financial backers holding that essentially all regulations diminish prosperity. Yet, evidentiary support for it is sparse. For example, a recent study Aggregate Demand and State Level Employment published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco finds: What …
By Walter Borden Light Emitting Diode (LED) demand continued in the first Quarter of 2014. LED fab utilisation rates have improved to high levels and LED adoption is happening faster than many had expected. LED customers are also reporting increased market demand for LED backlighting products. Many leading customers are …
Note: This is the final excerpt from our 2013 Review/2014 Outlook Section V: LED Market Overview The LED lighting market is hot and very competitive. From relative newcomers like Cree, Acuity Brands, and OSRAM, to well-known brands Koninklijke Philips and GE Lighting, the fight for market share is intense. Growth potential is …
Note: This is an Excerpt from the Fund Balance 2013 Review/2014 Outlook — Section III: Solar Stocks 2014. By Walter Borden Fund Balance Here Comes The Sun ETF Performance for 2013: One of the most widely held ETFs, the Guggenheim Solar ETF (TAN in the chart above), returned 131.3% YTD and …
Section II: 2013 Asset Market Overview — US Markets Finish Strong, Asian and EU Weaknesses Persisted In 2014, higher economic growth rates with inequality effects via persistent constrained spending power of the US consumer will exact a noticeable fiscal drag in the US, while positive developments from 2013 in US …