Monday, May 18, 2020

Microsoft, Visa and others worth combined $11.5 trillion want Congress to include climate in COVID-19 recovery plan


Solar cells are joined together as solar panels are manufactured at SunSpark Technology Inc. in Riverside, Calif. A business effort known as LEAD on Climate wants Congress to put Americans into clean-energy jobs as part of the COVID-19 recovery.

 Bloomberg News/Landov
Chief executives and other representatives from more than 330 businesses, including Capital One COF, -1.91% , General Mills GIS, +0.45% , Microsoft MSFT, +1.45% , Nike NKE, +0.50% , Salesforce CRM, +2.59% , Visa V, +1.43% and more are calling on bipartisan federal lawmakers to build back a better economy from COVID-19 by infusing resilient climate solutions.
The businesses, in lobbying Congress Wednesday through an effort they call LEAD on Climate 2020, represent combined annual revenues of more than $1 trillion and a shared market valuation of nearly $11.5 trillion. They employee more than 3 million people. The group, supported by sustainable investing advocates Ceres, claims they are the largest ever to advance a call to action from the business community to Congress on climate change.
House Democrats unveiled their opening bid Tuesday in the next debate on Capitol Hill over how to fight the coronavirus and revive the economy. The sweeping bill, projected to cost a little over $3 trillion, was set to be voted on at the end of the week. The proposal includes bolstering the direct payments program put in place in the $1.8 trillion coronavirus bill passed in late March, additional monies for state and local governments, and extending the expiration date for some unemployment benefits related to the pandemic.
The businesses behind the pledge want Congress to work toward putting Americans into clean-energy jobs, as well as foster an accelerated transition to a net-zero emissions economy by 2050 or sooner and provide more investment in sustainable infrastructure. The business leaders also urge Congress to consider a goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 and setting a carbon price. Setting a market-based carbon price remains a policy sticking point in a divided quest for a solution to man-made accelerating climate change, although has been increasingly, if slowly, adopted.
Some economists believe that raising the cost of burning coal, oil and gas can be a cost-effective way to curb emissions. But countries using the practice have found it politically difficult to set prices that are high enough to spur truly deep reductions in emissions. Many carbon pricing programs today are fairly modest.
Several participants LEAD on Climate call for plans that put the U.S. on a 1.5° Celsius warming target, the more aggressive end of a range of temperatures deemed a manageable level of average warming in coming decades by the Paris Climate accord and other initiatives. The Paris pact, for instance, has called for slowing to at least 2°C by 2050.
The LEAD on Climate businesses include more than a dozen Fortune 500 firms as well as trade associations, including the skiing-tourism sector, medium and small businesses from all 50 states. The companies and investors calling for climate action as part of economic recovery efforts span across the American economy, including retailers, manufacturers, health-care services, food and beverage companies, outdoors industries, technology companies and energy providers.
The high level of participation is notable given the disruption most of the companies and investors are experiencing due to the economic collapse, as well as the current social distancing constraints on in-person advocacy.
This increased corporate and investor policy engagement comes at a time when the consequences of the climate crisis have never been clearer or more dire. Last year, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were at their highest levels in at least the last 800,000 years, and the World Meteorological Organization recently found that the last decade was the hottest on record.
As U.S. and global emissions have steadily grown over the years, so has corporate and investor ambition to reduce emissions even amidst the current pandemic. In April, General Mills committed to source 100% renewable electricity by 2030 after joining the RE100 global corporate initiative, while both the clothing brand Eileen Fisher and the commercial real estate company JLL had their ambitious science-based targets approved by the Science Based Target initiative to limit their greenhouse gas emissions in line with the 1.5 degrees Celsius ambition of the Paris Agreement. All three belong to LEAD on Climate.
Also announced Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Democrat, will co-head the climate policy group that presidential contender Joe Biden has set up in collaboration with his one-time rival Bernie Sanders, his campaign confirmed on Wednesday. The panel’s other co-chair will be former Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, a Biden ally who helped craft the Paris climate accord when he was President Barack Obama’s Secretary of State. Ocasio-Cortez and co-writers of a proposed New Green Deal share some of the objectives of the LEAD on Climate effort, including green-job promotion.
Below, select quotes from the participants:
“Today we have a health crisis, an economic crisis and a climate crisis all happening at once. The best solutions will tackle all three together. We have a distinct opportunity at this unique moment in history to define what we want our future to look like,” said Patrick Flynn, vice president for sustainability at Salesforce.
“At Nestlé, our ambition to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 is at the heart of our strategy to build a resilient business,” said Meg Villarreal, government affairs manager at the food giant.
“We urge Congress to enact policies that leverage private sector investment and innovation, such as a carbon dividend,” said Hannon Armstrong HASI, +3.62% Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Eckel. “This is how we turn the tide on the climate crisis and propel our country toward a thriving economy that is good for people and the planet.” Hannon Armstrong is the first U.S. public company that provides capital to companies in energy efficiency, renewable energy and other sustainable infrastructure markets.
“Policymakers must ensure that the decisions that are being taken today to rebuild our economy also factor in the dire climate consequences that are not too far behind,” said Mindy Lubber, CEO and president at Ceres. “They have the potential to reshape a new resilient economy in fundamental ways that prevent the next climate-fueled crisis.”
“Through smart investments in infrastructure and clean energy, we can create and build on industries and pave the way for family-sustaining careers, all while keeping our families healthy and making our communities more resilient for decades to come,” said Rep. Kathy Castor, a Democrat of Florida, and chair of the U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.
“Cement and ultimately, concrete, is a fundamental part of society, literally creating the foundation and structure of every city and community in the United States,” said Jamie Gentoso, CEO, U.S. Cement at LafargeHolcim. “As the leader in cement manufacturing in the U.S., LafargeHolcim actively seeks ways to decrease our carbon footprint. In participating with such a diverse, accomplished group of companies, I believe our combined experience, expertise and advocacy efforts will prompt Congress to take action on the climate crisis.”
“In the face of a global pandemic, America’s farmers have displayed tremendous resolve to ensure we remain fed and fueled—but grower profitability is at even greater risk due to the economic impact of the virus,” said David Perry, CEO of Indigo Ag. “By paying farmers for storing carbon in their soil we can create a new income stream for farmers during this challenging time, while leveraging one of the most scalable, affordable and immediate opportunities to address climate change: agriculture. Indigo is proud to stand by industry-leading companies to encourage Congress to build back better with climate positive stimulus funding, including incentives for agricultural carbon sequestration.”
“Tiffany & Co. TIF, -0.21% has long been committed to operating in a manner that respects both people and the planet,” said Anisa Kamadoli Costa, chief sustainability officer at Tiffany & Co. “Businesses must continue to lead in this way but cannot tackle climate change alone. We need smart public policies to advance our economy while protecting society’s most vulnerable citizens and facilitating a net-zero emissions future.”
“The ski industry has been increasingly vocal about the need for climate action at the federal level. Now, the opportunity exists to rebuild our economy and future focused on renewable, clean energy,” said Kelly Pawlak, president and CEO, National Ski Areas Association. “Ski areas have paved the way for other small and rural businesses by installing and investing in wind and solar energy, and making broad-scale change to their operations to reduce their carbon emissions. This pandemic has given us a preview of the havoc climate change can wreak on our industry, and our way of life. It’s time to raise our collective voice and advocate for the policies that ensure a sustainable future.” 
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This is how fast Americans are spending their stimulus checks — and here’s a breakdown of what they’re buying 
Published: May 16, 2020 By Andrew Keshner

Economists looked at the spending and saving habits of more than 1,600 people who received their stimulus check by April 21
When Americans received stimulus checks during the Great Recession, studies indicated many spent at least of portion of their money on cars.
During the 2008 stimulus program, up to 90% of the rise in durable good spending had to do with auto spending, according to previous research by the American Economic Association. (At that time, the government paid an individual between $300 and $600 and couples received between $600 and $1,200. The government paid $300 per child as well.)
When Americans received their $1,200 stimulus check, as many have used it to keep a roof over their head and food on the table, according to new research by a team of economists. In late March, lawmakers passed the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, which included $290 billion in direct payments. The program allowed $1,200 for people making less than $75,000 and couples making less than $150,000. It also paid $500 per child.
‘Given the size of the 2020 stimulus checks, we might have expected large impacts on categories like automobile spending, electronics, appliances, and home furnishings.’
“Given the size of the 2020 stimulus checks, we might have expected large impacts on categories like automobile spending, electronics, appliances, and home furnishings,” according to economists at Columbia University, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago and the University of Southern Denmark.
“Instead, it seems that individuals are catching up with rent and bill payments as well as engaging in spending on food, personal care, and nondurables.”
Looking at the spending and saving habits of more than 1,600 people who received their stimulus check by April 21 in an approximate 6,000-person sample, the researchers found:
• In the first three days after the stimulus-check receipt, spending increased between $50 to $75 apiece on expenditures like food and non-durable goods, a category that includes supplies like laundry detergent, pens, paper and other items with a shorter life span.
• During that same time, the purchase of durable goods increased by $20 in those first three days. This category includes cars, appliances, furniture and others things meant for longer use.
• On the whole, households spent around one quarter to one third of their stimulus check money within 10 days of receipt.
• If people had less than $500 in their account, they went through almost half of their money within 10 days. People with over $3,000 in their accounts had essentially no extra spending after getting their check.
• A person who made less than $1,000 a month was twice as likely to spend money after getting their check, compared to someone making at least $5,000, researchers noted. That fits a historical pattern from past stimulus programs, the study said.
In the wake of stimulus bills during 2008 and 2001, “households with either larger declines in net worth or households with lower levels of assets also tend to respond more strongly to stimulus checks.”
It’s too soon to see what the stimulus checks accomplish for families and the economy as a whole, Columbia Business School Professor R. A. Farrokhnia, the study’s co-author, told MarketWatch. “What we can tell for fact is consumer behavior is different,” compared to their 2008 stimulus spending habits.
‘Household spending on food delivery was one category in particular that increased following the receipt of a stimulus check.’
Researchers looked at anonymous data from users at SaverLife, a financial-technology company that incentivizes savings through things like cash rewards.
Farrokhnia noted many have been hit hard in the past two months, but didn’t necessarily find it alarming that more money was going to food, rent, bill and nondurables compared to durable goods. After all, he noted, a family might not want a stranger coming in to install a new washing machine or they might not have a reason to buy a new car with fewer places to visit.
Farrokhnia and his fellow authors wrote that many outlets for consumer spending were shuttered by government orders, but restaurants stayed open for pickups and deliveries. “Household spending on food delivery was one category in particular that increased following the receipt of a stimulus check,” the study said.
Time will tell how people use all their stimulus money, Farrokhnia said, noting the spending trailed off 10 days from receipt; many people might be holding onto the rest to see what the future holds, he added. However, he does wonder whether these $1,200 checks will be enough “to spur consumer spending to fuel economic recovery.”
The study, distributed this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research, is another look at how the coronavirus outbreak and its economic consequences suddenly left many American families cash strapped — especially those making lower incomes.
On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said 40% of people in households making less than $40,000 per year in February lost their jobs in March. When April’s rent came due, nearly one-third of renters struggled to pay it, data said.
The Internal Revenue Service has distributed more than 128 million checks and paid over $218 billion as of early May.
The new study comes as lawmakers debate another bill addressing the outbreak’s economic repercussions. The Democrat-backed $3 trillion HEROES act would, among other things, authorize another round of $1,200 direct payments per eligible individual. Payouts would be capped at $6,000 per household.
It’s scheduled for a Friday vote in the Democratic-majority House of Representatives.
Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican majority leader, is already brushing off the bill, calling it “the aspirations of the Democratic majority in the House.”
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CONSUMERS KEEP CAPITALISM FUNCTIONING
 NOT BILLIONAIRES AND NOT WALL ST.

35% of Americans say they’re making impulse buys to cope with coronavirus stress — ‘It is part of self-care in a weird way’

By   

‘When this pandemic ends and you’re $10,000 in debt, it’s going to be a real wake up call’

‘It is a really cute and creative cat bed, but I also can’t think of a practical reason for a cat to need a functional tent,’ said Carrie Harris, who impulsively bought a cat tent, pictured.

Carrie Harris, 31, never thought she would buy a $60 cat tent.
“I was zooming ZM, +4.12% with my friends from college and I admired one of their cat beds in the background that sort of resembled a tent,” Harris, a Fairfield, Conn.-based polar scientist, said. “A different friend then told us about this Australian company that made tiny realistic tents for cats that her co-worker had bought.”
“We all looked at the website and jokingly picked out a tent for my cat. They all know I’m very into camping and very into my cat, but I’m not sure they believed that I actually purchased it until it showed up a few weeks later.”
The site she bought it from, catcamp.co, has seen “an uptake in sales over the past couple of weeks, which has been great for our small business,” Cat Camp co-founder Jaclyn Benstead told MarketWatch.
“With everything that is going on in the world right now, people are wanting to spend money on the little things that can bring some joy or happiness during quarantine, even if it’s a present for their cats,” Benstead said.
Over the past two weeks, the company has seen a 110% increase in sales compared to early April, Benstead said, adding that “April sales were up 50% higher than March, so we are pretty happy.”

Carrie Harris, pictured, said made an impulse of $60 for a cat tent.

 Carrie Harris
Although Harris’ cat, Milo, seems to enjoy napping in her new tent alongside Harris while she is working, she says she wouldn’t have bought the feline-oriented outdoor gear if she wasn’t “on lockdown” because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is a really cute and creative cat bed, but I also can’t think of a practical reason for a cat to need a functional tent,” she said.
Harris is hardly alone.
Some 35% of Americans say they have made impulse purchases to cope with the stress of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a recent survey conducted by Credit Karma, a personal-finance website where consumers can check their credit score.
Despite the fact that consumer sentiment has taken a huge dive and more than 33 million Americans have filed for unemployment over the past month and a half, nearly one in five people say they are spending more money now than before the coronavirus outbreak hit, Credit Karma found. Among the people who said they’re spending more, 1 in 10 said they have gone more than $1,000 over their budgets since sheltering in place.
Impulse purchases and a hoarding mentality make “complete sense” to Kelly Goldsmith, an expert on consumer behavior in the face of scarcity, and a former contestant on the TV show “Survivor”.
‘When people started seeing pictures of empty shelves at stores, many for better or worse stocked up on necessities because they feared they wouldn’t have access to them in the near future’
When shelter-at-home orders began in several states in early March, consumers flocked to supermarkets and stores like Walmart WMT, +2.04%, Costco COST, -0.17%, BJ’s BJ, -0.42% and placed orders on sites like Amazon AMZN, +0.87% and eBay EBAY, +0.17%.
Goldsmith, who teaches marketing at Vanderbilt University, refers to this as the “secure the basics phase”.
When people started seeing pictures of empty shelves at stores, many for better or worse stocked up on necessities because they feared they wouldn’t have access to them in the near future, she said.
After panic buying and hoarding mentality began to wane, and foot traffic slowed at brick-and-mortar stores, phase two began: comfort buying.
Making impulses purchases is one way consumers feel they regain their sense of control in the face of unprecedented uncertainty stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. “Since most of us aren’t leaving our homes, it’s not even about looking good at this point, it’s about feeling good,” Goldsmith said.
This was certainly the case for Heidi Hudson, 42, a scheduling coordinator and adjunct American history professor at Hawkeye College, a community college based in Waterloo, Iowa.
On Saturday she went to Menards, a chain home improvement store, intending to purchase a hammock and wooden base. Instead, she came home with two garden gnomes which cost $99 each.
“I could not decide between the two so I bought them both,” Hudson said. “Three years ago when I bought my house [Menards] had a giant gnome and I wanted it, but just couldn’t do it at the time. So when I saw these I literally jumped at them.”

Heidi Hudson of Waterloo, Iowa, purchased these two garden gnomes for $99 each.

 Heidi Hudson
‘It is part of self-care in a weird way. It makes me smile to see [the gnomes] in my yard...This will be over someday, but until then I am doing what I can to make myself feel happy.’
The next day she went back to buy the hammock and stand for another $99. Hudson has been working from home since early March and said she wanted the hammock so she would have an excuse to go outside more, especially during the summer.
Like Harris, she said if she wasn’t social distancing, she wouldn’t have purchased the hammock and the gnomes, but she doesn’t regret her decision.
“It is part of self-care in a weird way,” Harris said. “It makes me smile to see [the gnomes] in my yard and the sun warms my soul in my hammock. This will be over someday, but until then I am doing what I can to make myself feel happy.”

Heidi Hudson intended to buy a hammock, but instead spent $200 on garden gnomes.

 Heidi Hudson
‘It’s like gaining a pound here or there and saying ‘when life gets back to normal I’ll look fine.’ But if you have to lose 20 pounds that’s going to be really hard.’
— Kelly Goldsmith, marketing professor at Vanderbilt University
Spending a couple of hundred dollars here and there “feels inconsequential at a time and place when so many scary things are looming in future,” Goldsmith added. But if people continue to spend impulsively it could become problematic.
“It’s like gaining a pound here or there and saying ‘When life gets back to normal I’ll look fine.’ But if you have to lose 20 pounds that’s going to be really hard.”
The same goes for debt.
Already millions of Americans are skipping their credit-card and mortgage payments as the coronavirus pandemic puts them out of work.
“When this pandemic ends and you’re $10,000 in debt, it’s going to be a real wake up call,” Goldsmith said. But people won’t likely realize the damage they’ve done until their application for a credit card or a loan is declined because of a lower credit score.
How you can stop yourself from making impulse purchases
One way to stop yourself from purchasing something impulsively is to wait 24 hours to see if you still want to make the purchase, said Credit Karma CEO and founder, Ken Lin.
Another good rule of thumb is to consider whether you have enough cash on hand to make the purchase in the first place. “If you have to borrow or are thinking about a buy now, pay later option to make it work, you should probably sit on the purchase and save up for it instead,” Lin said.
Finally, don’t be tempted to buy things based on what your friends are posting on Instagram or Facebook FB, +1.96% FB, +1.96% or other forms of social media.
“Don’t buy something just to keep up with friends or influencers on social media, it isn’t worth it,” Lin said. “Ask yourself if you’d want to make the purchase if you hadn’t seen it on social media.”

 
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CPPIB, PSP participating in financing round for cancer testing business
Staff | May 8, 2020

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board are participating in a $390-million series-D round of financing for Grail Inc., a U.S. health-care company focused on cancer testing.

The financing is aimed at boosting the company’s balance sheet to support its continued development, as well as the commercialization of its cancer testing method.

Read: CPPIB invests in cancer drug royalties, food manufacturing

“GRAIL is making significant progress with our blood-based, multi-cancer early detection test,” said Hans Bishop, chief executive officer at Grail, in a press release. “Nearly 80 per cent of cancer deaths result from cancers for which there is no screening test today and Grail’s mission is to change that through the early detection and localization of more than 50 cancers.”

Copyright © 2020 Transcontinental Media G.P. Originally published on benefitsc
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