Juggling Dynamite

I reviewed Planet of Humans here on the blog last week and noted that while the film was outdated, lacking and misleading in many ways, it was best when pointing out that biomass is not a solution.  This audio interview with Stanford engineer Mark Jacobson offers an expert response from someone who has actually done the blueprints for transitioning every country and major city in the world to sustainable energy and jobs.  He notes that biomass–a major focus of the film–is not a fuel used in any of the plans.

In response to the Michael Moore film Planet of Humans, Stanford Professor Mark Z Jacobson, a civil and environmental engineer who is one of the architects of the energy transition plan foundational to the Green New Deal discusses the current state of solar, wind, hydro-electric and more to move us rapidly from fossil fuel-dependent energy to 100% Renewable Energy (with 2030 as the target for an 80% transition)— in conversation with Alison Rose Levy.

Here is a direct audio link.

Danielle was a guest with Jim Goddard on Talk Digital Network talking about recent developments in the world economy and markets.  You can listen to an audio clip of the segment here.

JP Morgan Global Fixed Income head Bob Michele makes some sober statements in this 7-minute Bloomberg interview.  Worth a listen.   Here is a direct audio link.

His team’s base case scenario sees the economic shutdown lasting nine months and U.S. unemployment peaking at 20%, only moving down to 9% by the end of 2021 (compared to unemployment that peaked at 10% in the 2008 recession).  He also notes that the Fed is buying just 10% of high yield debt and this won’t prevent a rise in default rates for “a prolonged period of time.” 

A couple of his quotes particularly resonate:

“The market’s got to start to realize that just because there is access to lending and borrowing doesn’t mean companies will take on another turn of leverage. At some point, they’ll realize they can’t service it.

…This feels to me like the second quarter of 2008, where the first quarter was horrible.  There were policy responses and the market immediately became optimistic, and then the horror of what actually happened starts to hit in the data.”

Roger that.