Unspent bailout money, sustainable ETFs, and more

CARES Act money needs to be spent by Dec. 30. But many state agencies still have a lot of funds left over.

More than $221 million, that’s how much CARES Act money is going unspent by 32 state agencies. Now, the Emergency Commission is set to decide on where that money will end up.

Renewable energy exchange traded funds, including the ALPS Clean Energy ETF (ACES), don't lack for catalysts, but more could be on the way as some market observers see clean energy industries playing vital roles in the U.S. economic recovery.

ACES follows the CIBC Atlas Clean Energy Index. That benchmark is comprised of U.S. and Canada-based companies that primarily operate in the clean energy sector. Constituents are companies focused on renewables and other clean technologies that enable the evolution of a more sustainable energy sector.

Mark Schell’s family has farmed in Colorado since 1906 and even though he works as a certified public accountant, he hasn’t left that way of life behind.

About a year ago, Schell bought a 310-acre farm in Mead that he leases to someone else to raise crops. But he was spending more and more time there, trying to get Occidental Petroleum to clean up, or “plug,” old wells the company inherited when it bought Anadarko Petroleum in 2019.

A top official at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Tuesday that modest corporate bond purchases by the Federal Reserve have helped the U.S. financial system spring back to life, benefited the economy and haven't caused any notable signs of excessive risk taking in markets.

Given the risks faced in the spring, the $13 billion in corporate bond purchases by the Federal Reserve so far “have provided enormous benefits to the country,” Daleep Singh, who leads the New York Fed’s powerful markets group, said in a speech.

The pandemic crisis has exacerbated existing inequalities and has been an abject lesson in what happens when nations don’t prepare in advance for catastrophe. It has also led many to draw the comparison between this health crisis and the ongoing climate crisis — and the growing and urgent need to tackle climate change now before it spirals out of control.

The U.S., which continues to lead the world in COVID-19 infections, has taken the opposite approach — rolling back environmental protections, including many during the pandemic, giving tax breaks to polluters and withdrawing from the Paris climate accord. Even the ostensibly politically independent Federal Reserve is over-investing in fossil fuels in one of its economic response programs. By contrast, the European Union (EU) is taking these dual crises seriously, combining its pandemic response with work to also blunt the coming climate crisis.