Friday, July 12, 2013

Climate Change: How Has the Market Responded?

John Vechey of PopCap Games recently joined The Motley Fool for a climate change summit. His first panel guests were Dr. Rachel Cleetus and Dr. Joe Casola. Dr. Cleetus is a climate economist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, where she advocates for effective global warming policies at the state, regional, federal, and international levels. Dr. Casola is program director for science and impacts at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, which works to assess the current state of knowledge regarding climate change and its impacts, and to promote actions that strengthen climate resilience.

In this video, Dr. Cleetus shares some of the ways that the market has responded to the challenges of climate change. The government is also taking some helpful measures, although not with the urgency that may be required. She also discusses how the auto industry is responding. Her comments are timely, considering last week's announcement from General Motors (NYSE: GM  ) and Honda (NYSE: HMC  ) that the two companies would begin collaborating on fuel-cell technology development for vehicles. The whole industry seems to be getting in on the game. This past January, Daimler, Ford (NYSE: F  ) , and Nissan announced their own plans to work together to build fuel-cell vehicles within five years. Meanwhile, Toyota (NYSE: TM  ) expects to sell a million hybrids per year through 2015, and is currently testing the market for its Rav4 EV Crossover, for which Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA  ) supplies the battery and motor.

Climate change isn't the only thing driving automotive innovation. China is already the world's largest auto market, and it's set to grow even bigger in coming years. A recent Motley Fool report, "2 Automakers to Buy for a Surging Chinese Market", names two global giants poised to reap big gains that could drive big rewards for investors. You can read this report right now for free – just click here for instant access.

No comments:

Post a Comment