Photo: Politico Energy
Historically, as in the last 50 years, the Republican party has been associated with fossil fuels. The party, time and time again, has boosted the drilling for oil in remote areas (some of which are protected and not protected) for profits to individual companies with high lobbying power. Recently, however, the pressure of the upcoming election coupled with the change in tide toward divesting in fossil fuels has led the party to shift positions. Not all members agree. But there is an emerging pressure building to take into account (with investments) climate change.
Reporting from Politico Energy shows a growing presence among Republican leaders to push banks to shy away from fossil fuels and aim investments at addressing climate change:
REPUBLICANS' COUNTER ATTACK: Two GOP senators tell POLITICO a group of congressional Republicans are planning to launch their own pressure campaign against large U.S. banks for refusing financial support for Arctic oil drilling projects, Pro's Anthony Adragna reports this morning.Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said the Republicans will send a letter to the banks, warning them that ruling out specific fossil fuel projects, such as oil drilling in the newly opened Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, comes with risks. The letter follows pledges in recent months by Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup that they would not invest in Arctic drilling projects, amid pressure to address climate change and protect sensitive lands. Bank of America is the sole major holdout.
This is a good sign from the Republican party. Hopefully, the younger generation has started to get through to the remainder of the world that renewable energy is of a growing interest among youth. Of course, the youth are not the only interested population. The baby boomer generation has a large percentage of activists who would like to see the government take a harder stance (i.e., stricter regulations) on environmental management.
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