[GWSG] 52% want EVs; heat effects; Canada, critters suffer; cheap solar in China; G7 agreements; US-German agreements; money ripples

[Tilley, Al]

1. 52% of car buyers globally intend to buy an electric one next. That is a record, perhaps a tipping point, and is 22% higher than two years ago. 88% are willing to pay more than they would for an ICE vehicle. At 29%, US consumers are the least committed to buying an EV among nations polled. The highest are Italy, China, and South Korea. (With their own news network and their own political party in the US, the fossil fuel industry may be more in control of US opinion than they are in the other surveyed countries. I assume that Russia was not surveyed and, with its fossil fuel industry embedded in an autocratic government, is even more successfully propagandized, though the question is worth a study.)  https://electrek.co/2022/05/27/52-percent-global-car-buyers-want-to-purchase-ev/

2. In a five-minute interview Jeff Masters looks at the impact of the growing heat and drought on the food supply and human survival.  https://climatecrocks.com/2022/05/27/more-dr-jeff-masters-on-drought-heat-and-human-survival/

3. Canadians have suffered deaths from heat waves and are expecting more. Among others stressed by heat are baby hawks. mussels, and sea stars. (I expect none of us need to be reminded of what people are going through in India, Pakistan, Iraq, Phoenix, East Africa, and elsewhere, but now I am becoming more mindful of the creatures. And Canadians.) https://climatecrocks.com/2022/05/29/canadian-study-coming-heat-waves-will-be-deadly/

4. A joint study by Harvard and three Chinese universities concludes that solar plus storage could provide 43% of China’s power by 2060 for less than 2.5 cents/kilowatt-hour, about half the cost of coal. The findings apply to other countries as well. “It’s a huge breakthrough, and not just for China, if storage can make solar power grid-compatible at a competitive cost.“ Thanks to Alphise Brock for the story. https://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2021/10/chinas-solar-powered-future

5. Representatives from the G7—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the US, and the EU—(the G7 counts its membership creatively)—made several climate commitments at its recent meeting. They agreed that they would have their electricity sectors “predominantly decarbonized” by 2035, would ensure that new road vehicles were “predominantly” zero-emissions by 2030, and would end public finance for fossil fuels, shifting the funds to renewable energy, They also agreed “to end government financing for international coal-fired power generation and to accelerate the phasing out of unabated coal plants by the year 2035.”
 https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/05/27/g7-coal-phaseout-fossil-fuel/?utm_campaign=Daily%20Briefing&utm_content=20220530&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20newsletter

6. The US and Germany have signed an agreement to cooperate in their own transition to renewable energy, and to “collaborate on promoting ambitious climate policies and energy security worldwide.”  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/27/time-running-out-us-germany-intensify-climate-change-fight?utm_campaign=Daily%20Briefing&utm_content=20220530&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20newsletter

7. The financial ruin of the fossil fuel industry will have ripples throughout the chains of its investors, including pension funds, banks, and insurance companies. We may expect that investors will pressure government to provide bailout funds. We need to develop plans to avoid financial instability.   https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01356-y?utm_campaign=Daily%20Briefing&utm_content=20220530&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20newsletter

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