SDA regular William McNally has written an excellent piece on the worldwide campaign to force us away from fossil fuels, without much, if any, consideration for what will immediately replace it:
An ethical problem with university divestment campaigns is that proponents attempt to use the university’s resources to advance their personal political causes. I have no quarrel with individuals who manage their own investment portfolios as they see fit, including in ways that reflect their political or philosophical beliefs rather than strictly their financial goals. But attempting to manipulate pension investments to advance personal politics is outrageously selfish, because it can only undermine the purpose of the investment – which is to provide for the financial security of thousands of other people, many or most of whom don’t have the same beliefs.
Its not worldwide, its only places where the leadership are in the pockets of Schwab, Soros and/or Gates (and their respective organizations), ie the west.
Exactly. Fossil fuels are increasingly monopolized by governments who have no time for globalist pieties.
Naturally, this is used as another excuse to pretend that Russia is on the brink of collapse. However will Vladimir Putin feed his people when he runs out of oil money? the know-it-alls ask rhetorically. Won’t he be sorry if he doesn’t diversify into unicorn farts?
A question much better posed to Mohammed bin Salman than Putin. Russia is self-sufficient in food as well as energy, and only knew real hunger under communism. Arabia is a howling desert unable to sustain more than a sparse population, and the House of Saud have maybe 15 years left before they run out of the stuff and the Saudi population starves to death or scatters to the four winds.
Meanwhile, divestments make fossil fuel firms a bargain for shadowy “investors” serving as catspaws for the Chinese Communist Party, and the People’s Liberation Army in particular. Not so much a bug as a feature.
Excellent reply “The Awful Truth”. I finished reading “The Power of Geography” by Tim Marshall ( a leftie journalist from Australia) but generally the writing and research was very good (he still bows down to the global warming nonsense). I learned so much about Saudi Arabia (the only country in the world named after one family), Iran and the Sahel region of Africa. The book does note that the only countries believing the BS about fossil fuels are the whipped Western democracies (I am looking at most of Europe, Canada and Australia). All other countries are carrying on as per usual.
I think what is currently happening is this economic growth has outgrown the antiquated stock marketplace and Wallstreet Investments and the whole system is ripe from malicious investors and investing practices over the decades and need a ‘GREAT PURGE’ of the computer systems and internet shutdown so that the bankers are back in business again.
Hence all this unnecessary Chaos our politicians seem to be creating.
Everything wiped clean and starting over as when it is shut down, we don’t have the proper infrastructure and expertise to turn it back on and each country are on their own.
Companies should also just do what companies do, and spare us all of the social justice bullshit.
My friend: this is what companies do.
Or at any rate, this is what they do when they’re limited liability corporations and their management aren’t the ones who pay the price of their incompetence and criminality.
The “social justice” claptrap is PR and nothing more.
This is what good, surviving businesses do.
There are those who decide to impose the political leanings of the company leadership, or what they perceive as public interest, into their busienss. For those companies the term Get Woke, Go Broke was developed.
that might require them to get rid of HR, and possibly marketing
An excellent read. I like this paragraph.
“Divestment won’t stop fossil fuel production because it does nothing to reduce energy demand. Demand is expected to remain high until at least 2050, and more likely beyond 2100. Strong demand sustains high prices, which create profitable investment opportunities that attract capital – domestic or foreign. For the individual investor, all that divestment will accomplish is to lower their investment returns.”
But our politicians have made sure that any investments come with THEY’RE economic consequences.
You fuck with the government, your gonna get burned.
They control the system and this bullshit game.
Company’s getting fined out of extinction while other are ignored doing the same job.
Many areas are illegal by laws in place but technically ignored by our courts as corruption runs deep.
I can’t disagree with that. But think of it this way. Those virtue signaling morons who work at the universities are directing THEIR pensions 100% toward money losing investments. In 10 years when they want to retire? No money! I’m smiling already 🙂
I’d like BADR’s take on that from the point of views at Armpit college. The main question I’d like to ask is “are the professors that are close to retirement age worried about continual investment in unicorn farts, or do they start to notice that they personally are being made poorer by these decisions and therefore try to change the direction”?
My former employer started deducting contributions to the retirement fund soon a year after I started. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a choice in that, even though I had my own RRSP.
Armpit College’s retirement fund was managed by the provincial government and it was a black box into which my money disappeared. We may have received some periodic statements from it but I don’t recall any specific details of what that money was invested in (such as which stocks and how many shares may have been bought or sold), not that it would have made any difference. We had no say in where the money went, let alone deciding on whatever transactions may have been necessary as part of the plan’s portfolio.
I strongly suspect that many the retirement plans of many post-secondary institutions are managed in a similar manner.
When I quit AC nearly 20 years ago, I had the option of continuing the plan under the same management as before. I promptly refused, contacted my stockbroker at the time, and transferred the money as a lump sum over to his firm. Even while those arrangements were made, I had no idea of what my contributions had previously been invested in.
Although my money was locked in, which was how the original plan had been set up as, I was able to self-direct my investments after things had been set up with my broker. I strongly suspect that I made more money with that plan after I transferred it than before.
Part of the reason for my question for BADR is that a mine I worked at a couple of decades ago had as its primary investor the Ontario teachers union pension fund. They demanded higher returns than market average, and were willing to use a rapacious slash-and-burn approach to high-grading the orebody to get there. Who cares if the minelife is cut in half (or more), they want their money and they want it now.
I have never seen, before or since, a worse example of corporate citizenry. The ego, long term planning ability, and respect for others of a 4 year old.
That is the opposite side of the coin. Profits at any cost. Here, the author talks about idealism at any cost – eventually to be at the expense of profits.
They’ve really broken away from reality as our politicians have bought their brain dead obedience.
And as such they have NO REAL EXPERT CONSULTANTS, just bought yes men saying thanks for the money and keep on what your doing. Everybody loves you as even the poll being bought are bogus.
The Ontario Teachers Union pension fund is the largest pension fund in Canada if not North America. They have an immense amount of power and have investments everywhere. It must be well managed believe it or not because they continue to do very well.
Re: “Divestment won’t stop fossil fuel production because it does nothing to reduce energy demand.”
Whenever I run into someone who is anti-oil sands I ask this simple question: how successful has the war on drugs been? The answer of course it has been a total failure as the drug issue is a demand problem, not a supply problem. If the demand is there, someone will fulfill it a whatever risk adjusted price. The same for oil, it’s a demand problem.
Given the divestment is for the University Pension Plan, I don’t give a damn. Let the profs take a lower return, serves them right. I remember very many years ago in the Globe’s Report on Business, a columnist who I respected wrote that the Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (the Quebec pension plan) had for years promoted Quebec business over maximizing returns (as directed by the government) and had suffered subpar returns. The government later realized their mistake and took a hands off approach.
All the eco friendly have an opportunity to give Mark Carney all their OWN money to invest in green energy corporations. Oil is dead as Elizabeth May said, then why don’t you short WTI futures. Nah, they won’t, they want government to do it. The markets rule, and why, because the markets never lie.
The only way they can kill fossil fuels is with demand, you would need a mass extinction. I wonder if that thought has been shared!
Current Wuhan flu jabs?
I applaud efforts to divest pension funds away from the most profitable sector to the least profitable sector, particularly for the highest concentration of fat-cat Marxists on the planet (the professoriate). They should be invested in wind and solar one hundred percent. The greens behind the ESG hysteria know that the best way to eliminate liberty and free markets (their true goals for the last 30 years) is to gin-up envy and resentment against the Oil and Gas sector who could, while maintaining existing production, utilize free cash flow to privatize themselves within 3 to 5 years. They (greens) know that they can’t accomplish their goals unless they go full-on fascist or socialist and regulate to death (and or utilize the nihilism of woke) or nationalize and go full-on Venezuela. IOW, ESG is making the O&G sector more profitable by design. It’s just that 99.9% of the advocates of ESG, not unlike Liberal voters, are oblivious to the consequences of their herd-like activities.
But attempting to manipulate pension investments to advance personal politics is outrageously selfish, because it can only undermine the purpose of the investment – which is to provide for the financial security of thousands of other people, many or most of whom don’t have the same beliefs
Rubbish. College and State Pension funds are operated by people who don’t believe in profits. They hate profits. Profits are how “the old economy” operated. And so their self selected basket of feel good “ethical” stocks will have to make money the new-fashioned way … by shaming other investors into joining them. Say things about “progress” and “innovation” … with a multitude of “science” tossed in. Make outlandish claims like Elizabeth Holmes did! And tell them your investments are “saving the planet” … or “making poor people healthier” … and then simply claim those LIES were “forward-looking” statements.
These ignoramuses have cost CALPERS and CALSTRS literally $Billions in lost opportunity and outright losses.
Kenji. Some reading comprehension is required today. It’s Friday.
“attempting to manipulate pension investments to advance personal politics is outrageously selfish [because] many or most of [the people whose money it is] don’t have the same beliefs”. That isn’t rubbish.
But I agree that the people investing the money are ignoramuses.
I.e. a Ponzi scheme.
Clarification: the statement isn’t rubbish … but the statement is considered rubbish by those woke pension mangers who don’t believe in profits. Don’t believe businesses need to be profitable. No, as Mike T. correctly cites … they believe in stock market Ponzi schemes.
Your view on the current economics and state of technology and scale for EV’s and solar is out of date by a good 15 years.
I also don’t think you understand ESG at all and how the current state of the art informs providers if capital be it equity or debt.
I would suggest that you take some time to learn about all this so as to be able to update your assumptions which at this point are horribly wrong.
The energy and transportation infrastructure is undergoing trillions of dollars of new investment and change.
Fossil fuels are done. It’s over. They are now being viewed merely as bridging technology as we move to a clean and cheap electrical economy.
Most of you will just outright dismiss this comment which is fine. Most people here are dumb as shit. But I would strongly suggest that you independent research what is going on. You will be surprised.
Ha…ha…ha…your funny!
Good try buttercup.
You failed!
Never at all considered what your car or computer is made from.
Just shazam, they’re magically in your hands.
Clearly, Covid lockdowns have truly been detrimental to mental health.
Your condescension and arrogance is duly noted. The problem with your far-left thinking is that it takes no consideration into what will replace petroleum.
Fossil fuels have been in use for a lot longer than you think. The ancients were using pitch. Iron and steel would not have been possible without coking, which uses coal.
Obtaining materials for your useless solar panels would be impossible without fossil fuels. Manufacturing many of the materials would be impossible. Many of the materials themselves are petroleum based. The device you typed your screed upon contains many petroleum based ingredients.
Before you yell “plant based”, are you going to cut more trees? Cultivate and plow up more wildlife habitat?
Oil and gas gas has to be replaced by something. So before arrogantly calling us “dumb as shit” clean up your own back yard. Come back when you have something of value to offer.
I’m sure you have wet dreams of all those evil capitalists dying on the I-95 in EVs when stranded there by a snowstorm.
You are one sick fucker.
Your reaction shows your lack of knowledge countering the article, but may I ask how are we going to replace energy in agriculture without sacrificing supply? This is a valid question, I’m eager to hear of your solutions to natural gas for the creation of nitrodgen fertilizer and that every single piece of equipment that produces food is currently running on diesel.
You don’t need nitrogen fertilizer to grow an organic thistle crop. Anybody got any good recipes for thistles?
I loaded up on Tesla when it was $45 presplit. Now it’s $1060.
And it’s just getting started.
Remind me who the fool is here?
Do your own research rather than looking like ignorant morons yelling at the sun.
Tulips.
Lotsa Teslas running the supply chain, agriculture, electricity generation, etc.
If all the cars on the i-95 event were EVs, it would have been a disaster, but hey, you care more about the spotted eels than people anyway.
Congratulations, well done! But remember I’m dumb as shit, you have the answers obviously of how fossil fuels will become replaced. Take the momentum of Tesla shares and short WTI futures. Or short a publicly traded oil and gas while demand is increasing substantially in developing countries. Make it happen
Yep, Tesla sure is putting out a lot of farm equipment lately………
Those back fourty charging stations are the cat’s meow too……..
Stocks don’t feed people. Even Elon says you need a viable service or product to sell, not just count the number of meetings and power points done in a day.
A large portion of your Tesla is made from petroleum.
“I loaded up on Tesla when it was $45 presplit. Now it’s $1060. “
So, what’s the thrust here? You’re a financial genius because you invested money in a company that subsidy farmed $5 billion from the US gov’t and gets taxpayers to subsidize every single sale to the tune of 4 or 5 figures?
Pretty thin gruel…
While you are doing exactly this and investing in copper, check out the greenest of the coppers, Amerigo (ARG) and Ivanhoe (IVN).
Here is a link to Robert Friedland’s presentation today in Saudi Arabia
https://youtu.be/uwT6CK4APrk?t=2h52m30s
This is the English version
Thank you for that video! Physics seems to be lost on many. Government just wants the outcome rather than the reality.
I’ll be honest, if that’s what their members are demanding, more power to them, the only think I care about is that taxpayers are not forced to bail them out when their pension fund runs out of money