This Week in ESG and Impact Investing

Last week I had the pleasure of attending POLITICO’s “The Fifty - America’s Governors,” an event hosting a handful of governors who discussed their views of each state’s environmental economy, and their goals as governor. Here are some of my impressions, specifically on Governors Chris Sununu, Roy Cooper, and Doug Burgum: ● Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH): ○ “The government is not here to solve your problems – it’s here to create as many opportunities as we can for you and your families.” ○ Democrats are playing the game of big government, and the modern Republican party is trying to outplay them at the same game; ○ Both Democrats and Republicans have extremes; not everyone in either party is wrong. To that end… ○ 80% of people are in the middle of said extremes and want to get something done; ○ Considering running for president. ● Roy Cooper (D-NC) ○ Prioritizes stopping “culture war legislation” between parties while making economic progress in-state; ○ Acted as Chairman of the Democratic...

             General elections in  Quebec, Canada, held every 4 years, occurred on Monday, October 3, 2022. 125 seats are available for candidates. The political party winning the election is the one that gets more than 63 seats. With this many seats, a party can govern more easily, since its party has more seats than all the opposition parties combined. In the 2018 election, the Coalition Avenir Québec (on the right side of the political spectrum) won the election handily, taking 74 of the 125 seats. During the 4 years CAQ was in power, the pandemic occurred. There was no action on environmental issues. As a young person, I am concerned about the ecological future of our planet and I believe that the environment should be the number one priority in Quebec. Unfortunately, my views do not seem to be shared by the government. For many people, the October 3rd election was important because not only is the environment in bad shape, but so are the hous...

Yesterday, I testified on the Sustainable DC Omnibus Act of 2013 (Bill number: B20-573). According to the Mayor, the Bill will: "1. Require electric and gas utilities to provide aggregated whole building (energy consumption and environmental performance) data to building owners and managers electronically to facilitate their ease of reporting required benchmarking data..on a monthly basis 2. Require sellers to transfer all benchmarking data at time of building sale. This will eliminate a 10% fluctuation in buildings reporting data. 3. Create a broad public engagement venue that will allow District residents and engaged stakeholders to participate in an open process each quarter that allows for information sharing and program examination… 4. Prohibit..polystyrene containers for food services. 5. Provide support for an Environmental Literacy Program. 6. Establish a Radon Contractor database. 7. Require the Mayor create a responsive Apiculture regulatory environment. 8. Re...