Juggling Dynamite

As the Trump admin opens up the Arctic and Atlanta for further high risk, antiquated and environmentally destructive oil drilling, other parts of the world are showing what intelligent, sustainable, cost-effective, energy production looks like.  See: Record amount of renewable energy capacity added in 2016:

The world added a record amount of renewable energy in 2016 despite a sharp drop in investment, the UN said Thursday, largely due to falling costs of clean energy.

New renewable energy, excluding large hydro projects, added 138.5 gigawatts of power in 2016, up eight percent from the previous year.  The new capacity came despite investment falling to $241.6 billion (227 billion euro), 23 percent lower than the previous year and the lowest since 2013.

“Ever-cheaper clean tech provides a real opportunity for investors to get more for less,” said Erik Solheim, Executive Director of UN Environment. “This is exactly the kind of situation, where the needs of profit and people meet, that will drive the shift to a better world for all.”

Here is a direct link to a video report.  Also watch: German energy transition to renewables.

Nouriel Roubini, chief economist at Roubini Global Economics, comes to us from the Ambrosetti Workshop in Cernobbio, Italy and discusses geopolitical ramifications of U.S. military strikes on Syria. Here is a direct video link.

White House economic adviser Gary Cohn is said to have signaled his support for reshaping how Wall Street’s biggest banks do business, by separating consumer-lending from investment banks. Bloomberg’s Michael Moore is joined by Jon Moulton, founder at Better Capital. Here is a direct video link.

While support for a return to Glass Steagall divisions in finance is long overdue, necessary and welcome, Better Markets points out that there is much cause for skepticism about the goals that ex-Goldman head Cohn and his finance-centric colleagues, have in mind here.  See: A Huge Warning on Gary Cohn’s Surprising Statement on Glass-Steagall and the Unique Benefits For Goldman Sachs