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In 2008, as big banks began failing across Wall Street and the housing and stock markets crashed, the nation saw how crucial financial regulation is for economic stability – and how quickly the consequences can cascade through the economy when regulators are asleep at the wheel.
Today, there’s another looming economic risk: climate change. Once again, how much it harms economies will depend a lot on how financial regulators and central banks react.
Climate change’s impact on economies isn’t always obvious. Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, identified a series of climate change-related risks in 2015 that could shake the financial system. The rising costs of extreme weather, lawsuits against companies that have contributed to climate change and the falling value of fossil fuel assets could all have an impact.
Nobel Prize-winning U.S. economist Joseph Stiglitz agrees. In a recent interview, he argued that the impact of a sharp rise in carbon prices – which governments charge companies for emitting climate-warming greenhouse gases – could trigger another financial crisis, this time starting with the fossil fuel industry, its suppliers and the banks that finance them, which could spill over into the broader economy.
Our research as environmental economists and macroeconomists confirms that both the effects of climate change and some of the policies necessary to stop it could have important implications for financial stability, if preemptive measures are not undertaken. Public policies addressing, after years of delay, the fossil fuel emissions that are driving climate change could devalue energy companies and cause investments held by banks and pension funds to tank, as would abrupt changes in consumer habits.
The good news is that regulators have the ability to address these risks and clear the way to safely implement ambitious climate policy.
Climate-stress-testing banks
First, regulators can require banks to publicly disclose their risks from climate change and stress-test their ability to manage change.
The Biden administration recently introduced an executive order on climate-related financial risk, with the goal of encouraging U.S. companies to evaluate and publicly disclose their exposure to climate change and to future climate policies.
In the United Kingdom, large companies already have to disclose their carbon footprints, and the U.K. is pushing to have all major economies follow its lead.
The European Commission also proposed new rules for companies to report on climate and sustainability in their investment decisions across a broad swath of industries in its new Sustainable Finance Strategy released on July 6, 2021. This strategy builds on a previous plan for sustainable growth from 2018.
Carbon disclosure represents a crucial ingredient for “climate stress tests,” evaluations that gauge how well-prepared banks are for potential shocks from climate change or from climate policy. For example, a recent study by the Bank of England determined that banks were unprepared for a carbon price of US$150 per ton, which it determined would be necessary by the end of the decade to meet the international Paris climate agreement’s goals.
The European Central Bank is conducting stress tests to assess the resilience of its economy to climate risks. In the United States, the Federal Reserve recently established the Financial Stability Climate Committee with similar objectives in mind.
Monetary and financial policy solutions
Central banks and academics have also proposed several ways to address climate change through monetary policy and financial regulation.
One of these methods is “green quantitative easing,” which, like quantitative easing used during the recovery from the 2008 recession, involves the central bank buying financial assets to inject money into the economy. In this case, it would buy only assets that are “green,” or environmentally responsible. Green quantitative easing could potentially encourage investment in climate-friendly projects and technologies such as renewable energy, though researchers have suggested that the effects might be short-lived.
A second policy proposal is to modify existing regulations to recognize the risks that climate change poses to banks. Banks are usually subject to minimum capital requirements to ensure banking sector stability and mitigate the risk of financial crises. This means that banks must hold some minimum amount of liquid capital in order to lend.
Incorporating environmental factors in these requirements could improve banks’ resilience to climate-related financial risks. For instance, a “brown-penalizing factor” would require higher capital requirements on loans extended to carbon-intensive industries, discouraging banks from lending to such industries.
Broadly, these existing proposals have in common the goal of reducing economy-wide carbon emissions and simultaneously reducing the financial system’s exposure to carbon-intensive sectors.
The Bank of Japan announced a new climate strategy on July 16, 2021, that includes offering no-interest loans to banks lending to environmentally friendly projects, supporting green bonds and encouraging banks to disclosure their climate risk.
The Federal Reserve has begun to study these policies, and it has created a panel focused on developing a climate stress test.
Lessons from economists
Often, policymaking trails scientific and economic debates and advancements. With financial regulation of climate risks, however, it is arguably the other way around. Central banks and governments are proposing new policy tools that have not been studied for very long.
A few research papers released within the last year provide a number of important insights that can help guide central banks and regulators.
They do not all reach the same conclusions, but a general consensus seems to be that financial regulation can help address large-scale economic risks that abruptly introducing a climate policy might create. One paper found that if the climate policy is implemented gradually, the economic risks can be small and financial regulation can manage them.
Financial regulation can also help accelerate the transition to a cleaner economy, research shows. One example is subsidizing lending to climate-friendly industries while taxing lending to polluting industries. But financial regulation alone will not be enough to effectively address climate change.
Central banks will have roles to play as countries try to manage climate change going forward. In particular, prudent financial regulation can help prevent barriers to the kind of aggressive policies that will be necessary to slow climate change and protect the environments our economies were built for.
Garth Heutel, Associate Professor of Economics, Georgia State University; Givi Melkadze, Assistant Professor of Economics, Georgia State University, and Stefano Carattini, Assistant Professor in Economics, Georgia State University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 20, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
The agenda can be found here.
The council chambers will be open to the public for the meeting. In accordance with updated guidelines from the state of California and revised Cal OSHA Emergency Temporary Standards, persons who are not fully vaccinated for COVID-19 are required to wear a face covering at this meeting.
If you cannot attend in person, and would like to speak on an agenda item, you can access the Zoom meeting remotely at this link or join by phone by calling toll-free 669-900-9128 or 346-248-7799.
The webinar ID is 973 6820 1787, access code is 477973; the audio pin will be shown after joining the webinar. Those phoning in without using the web link will be in “listen mode” only and will not be able to participate or comment.
Comments can be submitted by email to
Indicate in the email subject line "for public comment" and list the item number of the agenda item that is the topic of the comment. Comments that read to the council will be subject to the three minute time limitation (approximately 350 words). Written comments that are only to be provided to the council and not read at the meeting will be distributed to the council before the meeting.
On Tuesday, Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen will introduce to the council his department’s new team of Police K-9 Olin and his handler, Officer Kaylene Strugnell.
Olin, a young German shepherd, completed his training on June 25 and he and Strugnell started working together on June 29.
He’s trained in narcotic detection and patrol certification including suspect tracking and apprehension.
This is the first police K-9 the Lakeport Police Department has had since 2009, when K-9 Max, a Belgian Malinois, was retired.
The council on Tuesday also will hold a public hearing to approve the close out of grant contract 14-CDBG-9883, and direct staff to submit the final close out documents to the state.
Finance Director Nick Walker’s report to the council said that outcomes and accomplishments under this contract for Community Development Block Grant, or CDBG, funds include completing the Lakefront Revitalization Study, issuing five loans totaling $397,563 and contributing $153,593 toward the nearly $300,000 Carnegie Library Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility projects.
Walker said all projects are now complete, and the contract will be closed out with the state.
Also on the agenda is the council’s receipt and filing of the 2021 Use of Force Analysis Report from the Lakeport Police Department.
Rasmussen’s report, on page 83 of the agenda, said his department, like all departments in the state, is required to report to the state Department of Justice all incidents where the use of force by an officer resulted in serious bodily injury to a subject.
“In our May 2021 audit for these use of force incidents for 2020, we found that it showed a 50% reduction in DOJ reportable Use of Force incidents, which continued a trend of declination since 2018, with 2019 showing a 50% decline, as well,” Rasmussen wrote.
He said these use of force incidents numbered 4 in 2018, 2 in 2019 and 1 in 2020.
“In considering Use of Force incidents that occurred in other jurisdictions throughout the State and Country, which gained national scrutiny and criticism, relative to the Lakeport Police Department, the police administration has identified some training recommendations for future internal training,” said Rasmussen, explaining that they also looked at equipment and don’t believe that the department has any critical equipment needs.
In other business on Tuesday, the council will consider adopting the proposed resolution to approve an amendment to the safety element of the general plan and nominate voting delegates for the League of California Cities Annual Conference to be held Sept. 22 to 24.
On the consent agenda — items usually accepted as a slate on one vote — are ordinances, minutes of the regular council meeting on June 15 and the special meeting of June 29; introduction of a proposed ordinance to the Lakeport Municipal Code and schedule a public hearing for Aug. 17, 2021; review and filing of the third quarter 2020-21 financial statements; adoption of the resolution to cause a written report to be prepared and filed with the city clerk regarding delinquent water and sewer user charges, fees and penalties for the period of June 1, 2020, through May 31, 2021, and setting a public hearing on the written report before collection on the tax roll; and authorization for the mayor to sign the first amendment to the 2019 agreement for the public, education and government cable access TV station extending the term of the agreement through 2023.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
072021 Lakeport City Council agenda packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd
Parts of Northern California, including the North Bay, area under a red flag warning through Monday evening due to the potential for lightning.
Lake County is not under a red flag warning. However, the National Weather Service said an isolated dry thunderstorm will be possible over Lake County into Monday morning.
The forecast called for monsoonal moisture to spread north across the region overnight, with that moisture expected to aid in a slight chance of a dry thunderstorm over Lake County.
Winds of up to 10 miles per hour also are forecast for Monday.
Besides that storm potential, the National Weather Service said Lake County can look forward to a week of warm, sunny and dry conditions “typical of mid-summer.”
Temperatures across Lake County throughout the week are forecast to hover in the low to high 90s, with higher temperatures expected this weekend. Nighttime temperatures will range from the high 50s to low 60s.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 20, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The meeting can be watched live on Channel 8, online at https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx and on the county’s Facebook page. Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.
To participate in real-time, join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link.
The meeting ID is 951 9209 8576, pass code 163326. The meeting also can be accessed via one tap mobile at +16699006833,,95192098576#,,,,*163326#.
All interested members of the public that do not have internet access or a Mediacom cable subscription are encouraged to call 669-900-6833, and enter the Zoom meeting ID and pass code information above.
To submit a written comment on any agenda item visit https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx and click on the eComment feature linked to the meeting date. If a comment is submitted after the meeting begins, it may not be read during the meeting but will become a part of the record.
At 9:06 a.m., the board will present a proclamation designating the week of July 18 to 24 as Probation Officers Week in Lake County.
At 9:30 a.m., a public hearing, continued from July 13, will take place with the supervisors sitting as Lake County Sanitation District Board of Directors. They will consider a resolution of delinquent sewer fees for the Lake County Sanitation District.
At 11 a.m., the board will hold a public hearing to consider an ordinance amending Article X of Chapter Two of the Lake County Code to include further requirements for exemptions from competitive bidding and requirements for bid protests.
Those changes will include purchases during a state of emergency, requirements for bidding every five years and situations where competitive bidding would produce no economic benefit for the county.
The full agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
5.1: (a) Approve the purchase of an animal control box in the amount of $30,776.15 and (b) authorize the Animal Care and Control director or his designee to issue a purchase order.
5.2: Approve the continuation of a local health emergency related to the 2019 Coronavirus (COVID-19) as proclaimed by the Lake County Public Health officer.
5.3: Approve the continuation of a local health emergency and order prohibiting the endangerment of the community through the unsafe removal, transport, and disposal of fire debris for the LNU Complex wildfire.
5.4: Approve the continuation of a local emergency due to the Mendocino Complex fire incident (River and Ranch fires).
5.5: Approve the continuation of a local emergency due to COVID-19.
5.6: Approve the continuation of a local emergency due to the Pawnee fire incident.
5.7: Approve the continuation of an emergency declaration for drought conditions.
5.8: Approve the continuation of a local emergency in Lake County in response to the LNU lightning complex wildfire event.
5.9: Adopt Resolution amending Resolution No, 2021-68 Establishing Position Allocations for Fiscal Year 2021-2022, Budget Unit No. 4012, Health Services Administration.
5.10: Approve amendment five to the agreement between the county of Lake and Evan Bloom, MD, MPH, to assist the Lake County Public Health officer during the COVID-19 crisis response and authorize the board chair to sign.
5.11: Adopt proclamation designating the week of July 18-24 as Probation Officers Week in Lake County.
5.12: a) Adopt resolution revising the fiscal year 2021-2022 adopted budget of the county of Lake by canceling reserves in Fund 254 Lake County Sanitation District Southeast Capital Improvement Reserve Designation, in the amount of $82,000 to make appropriations in the Budget Unit 8354, Object Code 783.62-74 to purchase a mobile generator to provide backup power to Lift Stations #1, 2, 3, and 4. (b) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 2-38.2, not in the public interest. (c) approve purchase of a used, low hours (2,000 hours) Multiquip 300kVa portable generator and authorize the Special Districts administrator/assistant purchasing agent to issue and sign a purchase order not to exceed $82,000 to Generator World of Sacramento.
TIMED ITEMS
6.2, 9:06 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating the week of July 18-24 as Probation Officers Week in Lake County.
6.3, 9:30 a.m.: Public hearing, continued from July 13, sitting as Lake County Sanitation District Board of Directors, consideration of resolution of delinquent sewer fees for Lake County Sanitation District.
6.4, 10 a.m.: Public hearing, consideration of rezone for Brand Family Parcel Map Project; General Plan Amendment (GPAP 17-01); Rezone (RZ 17-01); Parcel Map (PM 17-01); and Initial Study (IS 17-31).
6.5, 10:15 a.m.: Public hearing, consideration of Rezone for Richard and Beverly Siri; General Plan Amendment (GPAP 19-02) and Rezone (RZ 19-02) and Initial Study (IS 19-41).
6.6, 11 a.m.: Public hearing, consideration of an ordinance amending Article X of Chapter Two of the Lake County Code to include further requirements for exemptions from competitive bidding and requirements for bid protests.
UNTIMED ITEMS
7.2: (a) Consideration of county investment policy; and (b) consideration of agreement for investment advisory and management services.
7.3: a) Consideration of certification resolution for an exception to the 180-day wait period to hire a CalPERS retiree as an extra help county employee; and b) consideration of advanced step hiring of Jeff Rein as an extra-help employee.
7.4: Consideration of agreement between county of Lake and Behavioral Health Services as lead agency of the Lake County Continuum of Care and Elijah House for services funded under the Emergency Solutions Grant — Coronavirus Program for fiscal year 2021-22 in an amount not to exceed $450,000 and authorize the chair to sign.
7.5: Consideration of agreement between county of Lake and Behavioral Health Services as lead agency of the Lake County Continuum of Care and Elijah House for transitional housing services for fiscal years 2021-25 in an amount not to exceed $207,585 and authorize the chair to sign.
7.6: Consideration of a presentation from the Cyanobacteria Communication Work Group Multi Agency members.
CLOSED SESSION
8.1: Public employee evaluation: County Librarian Christopher Veach.
8.2: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9 (d)(1): Nichols v. County of Lake, et al.
8.3: Conference with labor negotiator: (a) Chief negotiator: M. Long; County Negotiators: C. Huchingson and P. Samac; and (b) employee organizations: LCDDAA, LCDSA, LCCOA, LCEA, LCSEA and LCSMA.
8.4: Conference with legal counsel: Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9 (d)2)(e)1) — one potential case.
8.5: Conference with legal counsel: Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9 (d)(2) (e) (3) — Claim of McQueen.
8.6: Public Employee Appointment Pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54957(b)(1): Appointment of Public Health officer.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused price spikes for corn, milk, beans and other commodities, but even before the pandemic about 3 billion people could not afford even the cheapest options for a healthy diet.
Recent analysis of global food price data reveals that as of 2017, the latest available year, around 40% of the world’s population was already forced to consume poor-quality diets by a combination of high food prices and low incomes. When healthy items are unaffordable, it is impossible for people to avoid malnutrition and diet-related diseases like anemia or diabetes.
The remaining 60% of the world’s 7.9 billion people could afford the ingredients for healthy meals. That, of course, does not mean they always eat a healthy diet. Cooking time and difficulty, as well as the advertising and marketing of other foods, can lead many people to choose items that are surprisingly unhealthy.
Distinguishing between affordability and other causes of unhealthy diets is a key step toward better outcomes, made possible by a research project we are leading at Tufts University called Food Prices for Nutrition. The project provides a new view of how agriculture and food distribution relate to human health needs, connecting economics to nutrition in collaboration with the World Bank development data group and the International Food Policy Research Institute.
To measure diet costs globally, our project linked World Bank price data for about 800 popular foods across 174 countries to the nutritional composition of those items. Using the prices and nutritional values of each item, we computed the least expensive way of meeting national dietary guidelines and essential nutrient requirements.
For affordability, we compared diet costs to World Bank estimates of what people typically spend on food and income distribution within each country. It turns out that almost everyone in the United States could afford enough ingredients for healthy meals, such as rice and beans, frozen spinach and canned tuna, bread and peanut butter and milk. But most people in Africa and South Asia could not acquire enough of these foods for a healthy diet even if they were willing to spend their entire available income.
Food prices go up and down, but many healthy foods like fruits and vegetables, nuts, dairy products and fish are consistently more expensive than starchy staples, oil and sugar. The high cost of the healthier food groups often forces people in poverty to eat less expensive items, or go hungry.
What can be done?
Countries can make it possible for everyone to afford a healthy diet by creating more higher-wage jobs and by expanding social protections for low-income people. For example, the U.S. has the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which helps low-income Americans buy some of the food they need. Safety net programs of this type reduce food insecurity, protect jobs during downturns and are especially important for child development.
Beyond higher incomes and safety nets for the poorest, food prices can be lowered for everyone through public investment in new technology and infrastructure to improve food production and distribution. Agricultural innovation and investment in food markets can save lives and drive economic development – when the new technologies and other changes are well adapted to local conditions.
[Like what you’ve read? Want more? Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter.]
We believe that our diet cost data, produced to inform global agricultural policies, gives people sharp new insight into the world food situation. Previous efforts to monitor global food prices focused on tracking a few internationally traded farm commodities, monitoring conditions in places at risk of famine or keeping an eye on consumer price indices. Measuring the cost of healthy diets using locally available items focuses attention on consumer prices for the healthy foods that low-income people might buy, if those items were affordable.
With better data, governments and development agencies can steer their countries to where they want to go, which one day could make it possible for everyone around the world to eat a healthy diet.
World Bank economist Yan Bai contributed to this research.
William A. Masters, Professor of Food Economics and Policy, Tufts University and Anna Herforth, Co-Director of the Food Prices for Nutrition project, Tufts University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control is swamped with kittens and a few adult cats this week.
The following cats at the shelter have been cleared for adoption.
Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm for information on visiting or adopting.
It’s kitten season, so many of this week’s additions are little felines needing forever families.
Here is a sampling of the nearly 30 cats and kittens available this week, more of which can be seen at the shelter website.
Male domestic shorthair kitten
This male yellow tabby kitten has a short coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 70b, ID No. LCAC-A-987.
Male domestic shorthair kitten
This male yellow tabby kitten has a short coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 70d, ID No. LCAC-A-989.
‘Furball’
“Furball” is a 6-year-old female domestic longhair cat with a brown tabby coat.
She is in cat room kennel No. 84, ID No. LCAC-A-969.
Domestic medium hair kitten
This male domestic medium hair kitten has a yellow tabby coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 103a, ID No. LCAC-A-965.
Domestic medium hair kitten
This male domestic medium hair kitten has a short gray tabby coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 103c, ID No. LCAC-A-967.
Female domestic shorthair kitten
This female domestic shorthair kitten has a gray tabby coat.
She is in cat room kennel No. 103d, ID No. 968.
Domestic shorthair kitten
This male domestic shorthair kitten has a yellow tabby coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 103e, ID No. LCAC-A-959.
Male domestic shorthair
This male domestic shorthair has a gray and white coat.
He is 1-year-old and weighs nearly 6 pounds.
He is in cat room kennel No. 120, ID No. LCAC-A-874.
Email Elizabeth Larson at