Climate change

To meet the ambitious goals of the Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, innovative financing models can be adapted from established municipal finance systems.

Passed every two years since 2016, the Water Resources Development Act of 2024 hits on many of President Biden's climate and resiliency goals.

A pair of infrastructure experts are proposing a $25 billion federal appropriation to create state bond banks across the country.

As the public finance landscape evolves with increased philanthropic interest and a focus on climate resilience and community health, it's time for traditional market participants to align their investments with impactful outcomes to drive systemic change and foster equitable growth.

Population growth has spurred economic growth in the South. But the changing climate, and risks climate change poses there, may turn that equation on its head.

The steady demand for municipal bonds in high-risk areas underscores the complex relationship between climate change and financial markets.

Municipal analysts have been tracking the challenges faced by home insurers in California and other states plagued with extreme weather events as a harbinger of credit risk.

Enviva's $353 million in tax-exempt bonds currently are among the liabilities at stake in the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Climate change presents a higher risk for muni bonds, compared to other investments, because the debt often has longer maturities and therefore, higher vulnerability to the long-term effects of climate change, said S&P' Sustainable1's global head of research and methodology.

The extension of the current solar net metering system could lower revenue for the utility.

"The financial and engineering industries need to align to get the owners to do what it is they need to do to make sure it's a durable asset," said Maria Lehman, immediate past president of ASCE.

Major headwinds for the muni market include climate change, growing federal debt, shrinkage of the workforce, the impact of remote work, cybersecurity attacks, and political polarization. And they are poised to be costly for states and municipalities.

The grants come from the IRA's flagship Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund program, which separately provides $7 billion for states and cities that has yet to be announced.

In "my nearly 50 years in finance, I've never seen more demand for energy infrastructure," BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in his latest investor letter.

The loan is part of an Inflation Reduction Act program that finances the restart of renewable energy projects that have ceased operations.

Only one of 14 legacy generation facilities were operating normally at the end of January, suggesting less recovery for bondholders.

The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations gathered in Tennessee on Monday to discuss the implications of the SEC's newly finalized climate rule.

"Insurance rationing by the leading insurers is becoming the mechanism by which climate risk is starting to impact municipal issuers," said Triet Nguyen, vice president of strategic data operations at DPC Data.

The new SEC climate rule does not apply directly to municipal issuers but they may very well be on the hook for violating SEC antifraud provisions if they don't disclose those risks defined in the new rules.

Detroit, which has several climate-friendly projects in the pipeline, is seeking a tax advisor to help navigate snag tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act.