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Fossil fuel divestment has ‘zero’ climate impact, says Bill Gates

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Re: Fossil fuel divestment has ‘zero’ climate impact, says Bill Gates

#181
post #62

I think he underestimates the wrath of a market that has judged a market sector unpopular

One markets unpopularity is anothers arbitrage. The underlying value is what drives the asset in the long run. Oil companies play the long game.

> Oil companies play the long game.

Except in the long run these companies are dead unless they pivot.

Re: Fossil fuel divestment has ‘zero’ climate impact, says Bill Gates

#182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Much of the developed world already has deregulating populists - that's half the damn problem. Except populism never lasts, and populist regimes are always incredibly divisive and usually end discredited. It's what comes next that matters.

Definition of populist? Someone I disagree with.

[deleted]

Re: Fossil fuel divestment has ‘zero’ climate impact, says Bill Gates

#183
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If anything, shouldn't the green contingent buy more stock in oil companies to try and effect a hostile takeover?

That seems very unlikely to be the most cost-effective use of capital. Exon Mobile has a market capitalization of $309 billion. So figure $200 billion for a hostile takeover --- that's approaching the yearly cost of a Green New Deal plans, and you've only taken out one fossil fuel company.

To do some really grotesque napkin math, there are about 7 major oil companies. On paper then the vast bulk of the liquid + gas fossil fuel market could be taken over and their combined resources diverted entirely towards green in perpetuity for less than a decade of the GND. Will never happen, but an interesting thought experiment maybe.

Re: Fossil fuel divestment has ‘zero’ climate impact, says Bill Gates

#184
> Those who want to change the world would do better to put their money and energy behind the disruptive technologies that slow carbon emissions and help people adapt to a warming world, Mr Gates told the Financial Times.

You cannot put your money behind the disruptive technologies if your money is tied in fossil assets. You'll have to divest first before you can relocate it elsewhere. You can spend a dollar only once.

Re: Fossil fuel divestment has ‘zero’ climate impact, says Bill Gates

#185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't this avoid the core point of decarbonising the economy? Rather than getting Chevron to limit emissions, we need them to cease emissions. Which for an oil company means find an entirely new line of business - hopefully something like renewables - or cease to exist. Allow a tiny few to continue for the purposes of creating plastics we can't easily substitute by something else. Yes, that expects and requires far…

Agreed. At this point I'm more inclined to follow the "seize their assets and jail their leaders" doctrine rather than a "let them continue to profit" one.

Bet your jail runs on oil.

Re: Fossil fuel divestment has ‘zero’ climate impact, says Bill Gates

#186
post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But some other investor bought the stock, didn't they?

Perhaps, though most people don't buy stock. If you can get institutional investors to divest, that limits most people's direct exposure. Do I expect it to necessarily make a big difference (especially in the short term, without becoming a broader movement)? No. I do believe, however, that it's not nothing , and that we need to pursue everything . There's also a personal aspect - I want nothing to do fossil fuel stoc…

We need to pursue _everything_? Your time is surely scarce. Wouldn’t you want to pursue only the most effective things?

Every minute you spend arguing for divestment is a minute you don’t spend arguing for nuclear.

Re: Fossil fuel divestment has ‘zero’ climate impact, says Bill Gates

#188
post #18

Fossil fuel divestment is basically subsidy for those who don't care. Divestment causes stock price drop and it increases ROI for those who invest into the company.

It's really "threat that more people will want to divest or remain divested when they would have otherwise invested" that can cause change. The board answers to the shareholders, and shareholders generally want to be able to sell their shares at a profit. If shareholders start to believe that the market for the shares is going to continuously decline because of some activity the company engages in, that creates an in…

That's good attempt at reasoning, but it's incorrect.

Oil and gas industry is stable and established industry where the earnings and dividend yield makes the return for the investment. The stock prices are in long term decline. They are not growth stocks. If P/E drops because divestment and earnings stay the same, it will generate extra ROI for investors.

To get you into the same page, consider BP and Royal Dutch Shell

    Company: BP
    dividend yield: 6% (2018),  
    P/E : 14.67, 
    10y stock price : -46%

    Company: Royal Dutch Shell (RDS)
    dividend yield: 6% (2018),  
    P/E : 11.70, 
    10y stock price : -30%
SP500 price index is up 114% during the same period.

Re: Fossil fuel divestment has ‘zero’ climate impact, says Bill Gates

#189
"put their money and energy behind the disruptive technologies that slow carbon emissions and help people adapt to a warming world?"

Example here is Beyond Meat.

I hear the recommendation a lot to put a high price on CO2, i.e., what creates a lot of CO2 during production gets more expensive. The idea is demanded by the Friday for future movement, or better said by the experts they asked how to solve our climate change problem. I think it would be the right direction.

Re: Fossil fuel divestment has ‘zero’ climate impact, says Bill Gates

#190

Why is nobody concerned about the next 100.000 years lasting ice age which is already overdue by roughly 4000 years?

Maybe because we see 0 evidence of an ice age happening any time soon, while we see the opposite catastrophe happening in a timespan from yesterday to within a few decades, depending on where you live?
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