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Green Bond Goes On Sale

The first federally sanctioned Green Bond is going on sale! Insured by XL Capital and rated AAA, it’s the first of $2 billion allocated by the US Treasury to four large projects around the country. This first issue for $238 million is from the Syracuse Industrial Development Authority for the Destiny USA project in upstate New York. Citi and Lehman Brothers are co-underwriting the ground-breaking bond issue to finance The Destiny USA project, which will be the world’s largest green building and the first phase of a retail, hospitality and entertainment destination – a “retail city” – powered entirely by renewable energy. When complete, the Destiny USA project will total $20 billion. Said Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), who championed the Green Bonds proposal as an amendment to the American Jobs Creation Act 2004, “This marks the beginning of an era when sustainable design, energy conservation, and renewable energy sources get extra credit on Wall Street. Our country can continue to grow through climate positive initiatives like this one. The pilot Green Bond program provides tax-exempt financing capacity for revolutionary energy conserving and environmentally beneficial development projects. Projects from around the country competed for the designation. Those selected, including Destiny USA, […]

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JPMorgan and Innovest Launch Green' Bond Index

JPMorgan and Innovest Strategic Value Advisors have launched the JPMorgan Environmental Index-Carbon Beta (JENI-Carbon Beta), the first bond index designed to address the risks of global warming. The JENI-Carbon Beta, a US high-grade corporate bond index, enables credit investors to make return-driven investment decisions that systematically take into account risks and opportunities issuers face as they address climate change. “Until today, bond prices did not reflect an increasingly important financial risk: climate change,” said Edward Marrinan, managing director and head of investment grade credit strategy. “With climate exposures factored in, companies’ risk profiles – and their bonds – will more accurately reflect the trade-off between risk and return.” The JENI-Carbon Beta is based on the JPMorgan US Liquid Index (JULI), an established benchmark for the U.S. investment-grade corporate bond market. A relative carbon beta score is calculated monthly for each issuer, relative to its sector, by Innovest, the world leader in providing environmental analysis to institutional investors. The JULI is then “tilted” according to the carbon beta scores of issuers to create the JENI-Carbon Beta. For example, within the automotive sector, an automaker that has curbed emissions from its plants and produces a fleet of vehicles with relatively high fuel […]

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DOE, Broin to Jointly Fund Commercial Cellulosic Bio-Refinery

Broin Companies, the nation’s largest dry mill ethanol producer, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have agreed to jointly fund “Project LIBERTY” – the development of a cellulosic ethanol plant. The DOE announced a grant that will fund a portion of Broin Companies’ $200 million conversion of a conventional corn dry mill facility in Iowa into a bio-refinery that will include production of cellulosic ethanol from corn cobs. The plant will use advanced corn fractionation and lignocellulosic conversion technologies to produce ethanol from corn fiber and corn cobs. “We are humbled and excited to be working with the Department of Energy on a project of such national significance,” Jeff Broin, CEO of Broin Companies said. “Our goal is to bring cellulosic ethanol to commercial viability by the end of the decade in order to reduce global warming, revitalize the rural economy and lessen our country’s dependency on foreign oil. But we can’t get there alone. This partnership with the Department of Energy, along with the collaboration of companies like DuPont and Novozymes and the farmers around Emmetsburg, Iowa, will allow us to achieve significant progress toward these goals.” The expansion will take approximately 30 months and is slated to […]

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No New Coal Plants!

NASA scientist James Hansen, one of the earliest top researchers to warn the world about global warming, is calling for a moratorium on building new coal-fired power plants and bulldozing older generators that don’t capture and bury greenhouse gases by 2050. He says increased efficiency can make up for cutbacks in coal, which now provide about 50% of the energy used in the U.S. 159 coal-fired power plants are scheduled to be built over the next decade. While NGO Enviroment Texas applauded the cancellation of eight TXU coal plants, even three plants should not remain on the drawing board, along with 140 other plants across the country. “That’s eight down, 11 more to go,” said Luke Metzger, Director of Environment Texas. “TXU’s announcement is great news, but there are still 11 other coal plants in the works in Texas, including the 3 dirtiest plants proposed by TXU. The fight has just begun.” Sen. Rodney Ellis has filed SB 860 to require a two-year moratorium on new coal plants, to allow for time for the state “to adopt an integrated energy plan for this state that provides for this state’s electricity generation needs, protects the health and safety of the residents […]

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