This actually makes me laugh.
Deutsche Bank lied to make green and capitalism co-exist.
ESG is a made-up phrase by investment banks so that they can create consulting groups to extort money from companies to become âcertifiedâ.
I was at a CPE conference where they were discussing the SEC proposed requirements for disclosure. It is a complete scam. Not only would it cost millions to implement, it would be so full of holes, errors, and estimates, it would be a garbage document. IMO, the push for the ESG disclosures in the SEC filings is going to be used for countless frivolous lawsuits and some will succeed. There is no way that accountants can accurately account for all the phase 2 & 3 emissions proposed and even the phase one is going to be really problematic. This allows anyone and everyone to force open the companies internal controls and disclosures and poke holes in them all day long.
I recall a lawsuit many years ago where a guy sued 30+ oil, gas, and coal companies claiming that their fossil fuels made hurricane Katrina worse and therefore these companies are responsible for the damages from the hurricane. Some of the defendants gave them some money to go away. Others spend some coin defending this nut job. ESG disclosures will be used in court for various things but one of them is to justify more lawsuits like this. We can debate all day long about climate change but if you didnât want cheap and reliable electricity, we would not have a need for fossil fuels. This particular case, the nut job sued the wrong people. He should have sued the consumers of these fossil fuels as they are the ones ultimately responsible for the use of fossil fuels. If there was no demand for the goods, producers would not produce it.
Reminds me of Volkswagen rigging their cars to pass emissions tests.
Pretending to care matters more than results.
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Or the âsmog pumpâ used on millions of cars in the 70-80âs. The smog pump effectively pumped fresh air into the exhaust system that diluted the parts per million (PPM) of the exhaust. It didnât change the actual pollution, it only diluted the pollution so it would pass the measurement probe. The solution to pollution is dilution. This same process was used in the waterways. Companies would get rights to pull fresh water out of the river, they would then dilute the output from the plant with this fresh water source. The result would be the PPM would be diluted enough to pass the test. It did nothing to actually reduce the pollution. There are countless examples like this and VW sandal was nothing really new. They just got caught.
âGreenwashing.â Love it. Spot on.
When thereâs a narrative & perverse incentives, the data will be tortured until it says what the aristocrats want it to.
I did this long enough ago that I donât think the âSwatâ team is going to show up at my door.
My parents bought a brand new VW Van (microbus) in 1974. I learned to drive in it. Fast forward a few years and my Dad thought it was losing âpowerâ. (It didnât have much to begin with). I somehow (car magazines?) heard that the smog pump is a lot of drag on the engine. So I dove in the back and removed the smog pump belt. Yes, it had a belt that only drove the pump!
I drove it around the block a couple times and to my amazement it had more get-up! My dad was happy and to this day I love working on my own stuff!
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I think I have told this story before.
I bought an old S-10 pick up from my dad in the 90âs.
It was losing power on the highway, wouldnât get over about 50-60 mph.
I talked to a buddy and he said that it sounded like the Cat Converter was clogged.
I told him that was impossible, he knew i am not the most mechanically inclined so asked how I knew.
I told him my dad cut that off immediately after buying it.
The look on his face when he crawled under it was hilarious.
Would love to know where you live! In states with an inspection your car wouldnât pass with a âbypassâ pipe installed!
In my state (NC) we have a statewide safety inspection. In metropolitan areas there is also an emission inspection. Where I live (Outer Banks, N.E. part of the state) we do not have the emission, but you still have to have all the exhaust system that the car came from new.
Nebraska doesnât have vehicle inspections, at least they didnât in the 90âs
We donât have them today in Oklahoma. They did away with them about 2000.
Except for Bernalillo county (mostly Albuquerque), we donât have vehicle inspections in NM. We had them in Michigan, but there were so many exclusions they were useless. The state did away with them.
Two problems with them in Missouri, not widespread, but problmeatic enough, are these;
- You can slip a local garage some money to pass you, not a major garage, but a if you know someone well enough you can get a sticker.
- On the other side of the spectrum a garage can tell you that you need something done that you donât before they can pass you. This actually happened to me, my regular shop ran out of stickers for the month, so I went to another shop. They gave me a laundry list of problems, I went to my shop for a second opinion and they asked who the hell told me I need all this, I really only need like a $75 part.
The two major exclusions in Michigan were vehicles older than 9 years old and vehicles owned by someone enrolled in one of a variety of welfare programs. I suspect that probably covered the lionsâ share of polluting vehicles. I think the program ended about the time I left the state and has not been replaced.
Boy, 9 years is not long at all! In my state (NC) if you have a vehicle older than 35 YO you are exempt from the inspection. I happen to have a vintage 1975 Suzuki GT750 that I donât need to get inspected. Kinda nice, plus I do most of my own maintenance and wouldnât want any one else touching it.
A comment on someone poor being exempt from a vehicle inspection, wouldnât they be the very ones that would scrimp on repair costs?
Two sides to that coin.
They are also the ones that will have to drive around with no tags because they couldnât afford a repair pointed out on inspection. Then couldnât afford the ticket, then have their license suspended, then have a warrant, and eventually end up arrested basically for driving a hooptie.
I am not necessarily in favor of giving them an exemption, but it can snowball very quickly.
That makes sense Parrot. We all probably know people who live paycheck to paycheck. Any tiny hiccup in their life is a problem.