Marquette Sustainability 2.0 Conference – Keynote Announcement

We are delighted to announce our keynote speakers for the 2022 Marquette Sustainability 2.0 Conference scheduled for October 26-27. We look forward to a special keynote panel discussion on the energy transition and the potential future of nuclear power with leaders from two outstanding organizations. 

For further details on the conference:

https://www.marquette.edu/business/companies/sustainability.php

Mr. Dan Pickering, Founder and CIO, Pickering Energy Partners

Dan Pickering is the Chief Investment Officer of Pickering Energy Partners (PEP). PEP manages client assets via energy strategies focused primarily on public markets and private equity. Prior to PEP, Mr. Pickering served as the President of Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. and Chief Investment Officer of TPH Investment Management. Dan has spent 26 years as an energy portfolio manager, researcher and analyst, first at Fidelity Investments (where he managed ~$1 billion of energy sector funds), then as Head of Research at Simmons & Company and as the founding partner of Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Dan currently serves as the portfolio manager of the PEP Energy Equity Opportunities Fund and on the Investment Committee of PEP’s energy co-investment and private equity strategies. He also serves on the Advisory Board’s for Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co, the Energy ESG Council, the Houston CFA Society, as well as the Board of Trustees for Texas Children’s Hospital and the Texas Children’s Hospital Foundation. Dan grew up in Missouri, has a BS in Petroleum Engineering from the Missouri School of Science and Technology and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Mr. Brent Ridge, President and CEO, Dairyland Power Cooperative

Brent

Prior to Dairyland, Ridge served as Vice President, Corporate Services, and Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer at Energy Northwest (Richland, Wash.). His responsibilities included finance, treasury, enterprise risk management, asset management, human resources, supply chain, information services and energy services and development. He also served as Vice Chairman of the Corporate Nuclear Safety Review Board for Columbia Generating Station. Earlier in his career at Energy Northwest, Ridge served as Asset Manager, Controller and Chief Risk Officer. He was also the manager of Construction and Maintenance Services, responsible for power plant modifications, outage and online major maintenance, facilities and commercial engineering. Ridge earned a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Idaho and an MBA from Regis University (Denver, Colo.). He also completed the Reactor Technology Course for Utility Executives at MIT, the Utility Executive Course at the University of Idaho and the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University.

We look forward to seeing you in October!

Balancing Energy Needs and Climate Change (WSJ)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/fuel-prices-arent-going-down-soon-fossil-energy-independence-natural-gas-pipelines-oil-11654613986

The problem extends well beyond crude oil and its derivatives. The price of natural gas has soared, futures for coal delivered to Europe have risen 137% this year, and cash prices for Appalachian coal have more than doubled since last June.

Yet the long-term outlook is more hopeful. The policies we adopt in response to the current price surge can create a more stable energy sector a decade from now. We need something we haven’t had for a long time: a comprehensive energy strategy built on realistic premises about supply, technology and politics.

Executive education program prepares business leaders for a career in sustainability management and investing (Marquette)

Environmental Sustainable Corporate Governance

Link to article:

Marquette has partnered with Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and CFA Institute to offer a comprehensive four-module, non-credit program to prepare business leaders for a career in sustainability management and investing. 

To pre-register for the program:

https://www.marquette.edu/business/executive-education/esg-sustainable-finance.php

Arizona’s Dry Future Begins as Colorado River Shrinks (WSJ)

A visit to Arizona last year brought this home…When on a pink Jeep tour of the Cococino National Forest near Sedona, I asked our guide whether the area had seen a reversal of fortune on rainfall, and he said that the green we saw was only from a recent reprieve of some precipitation, otherwise the mostly brown vegetation was from the 20-year mega drought, with average annual rainfall 75% below average.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/arizonas-dry-future-begins-as-colorado-river-shrinks-11650718801

What ESG-Related Disclosures Should the SEC Mandate? (Financial Economist Roundtable)

The Financial Economist Roundtable weighs in on the SEC’s proposed climate-related disclosure rules. Their advice: limit rules to ESG related-cash flows and avoid “proxy legislation” of social and environmental policy.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0015198X.2022.2044718

The Financial Economist Roundtable (FER) is a group of senior financial economists who have made significant contributions to the finance literature and seek to apply their knowledge to current policy debates. FER was founded in 1993 and meets annually. Members attending an FER meeting discuss specific policy issues on which the FER may adopt statements. When the FER issues a statement, it reflects a consensus among at least two-thirds of the attending members, and all the members who sign it support it. The list of signatories for the 2021 statement can be found at http://www.financialeconomistsroundtable.com/.

2021 in Review

For sustainability, 2021 was a year of strong words, a couple of practical steps forward and some contact with harsh realities. Let’s review.

1) Commitments to net zero increased, but so did carbon emissions.

2) Water scarcity came back into focus.

3) Governments continued to demonstrate unbridled haplessness despite all words and enthusiasm at COP26.

4) The world received its first sustainability accounting body, the most important development of the year..

5) We learned that an energy transition takes years and not months.

6) Greenwashing started to not pay as experienced by Deutsche Bank.

7) China made some noises, and then erected a massive array of coal burning utilities.

8) Germany surrendered its energy policy to Russia.

9) The U.S. came up with a massive climate policy and then failed to pass it.

10) Boards upped their diversity efforts (prompted by SROs/regulators).

Looking forward to seeing what 2022 brings.