Monday Memo #80: Stanford Grads Revolutionize 'Climate Finance' with New Solar Software Company
By Noah Howard and Jackson Vachal
Start your week off right, with a round-up of Stanford-related news from Stanford Politics.
Stanford Alumni-Founded Solar Company Highlights Growth of “Climate Finance”
As the U.S. pivots toward climate-friendly policy reform under the Biden administration, capital investment in renewable energy is rapidly expanding. A recent Washington Post article investigating the growth of “climate finance” in the private sector highlights Aurora Solar, a solar software company founded by two Stanford business school alumni, as a paradigmatic example of the trend. While living on campus in 2012, GSB students Christopher Hopper and Samuel Adeyemo started a project to provide solar panels to a school in Nairobi, Kenya. The project’s success prompted the pair to found Aurora a year later to provide software “to speed up design, permitting, and installation of rooftop solar arrays.” Since then, the company has provided services for over 4 million solar projects. Over the past several years Aurora has received $70 million dollars in funding from Energize Ventures, one of a growing number of venture capital firms looking to expand investment in sustainable technologies. While certain firms have invested in climate-friendly tech for years, the Post article illustrates the broadening appeal of “climate financing” for mainstream investors. Energize Ventures is itself funded by General Electric, Caterpillar, and a Canadian pension fund. According to Larry Fink, CEO of investment firm BlackRock, from 2019 to 2020 there was a 96% increase in investment in sustainable assets by mutual and exchange-traded funds. Consulting firm Refinitiv also reported a 96% increase in “green and sustainable bonds” (bonds whose sale revenue is earmarked for sustainable ventures) from 2019 to 2020. The International Energy Agency reports that, in order to meet Paris Agreement emissions targets, climate finance capital will have to increase 250% by 2030. In pursuit of this goal, President Biden has promised to invest $2 trillion over four years in sustainability projects.
Hoover Fellows React to Navalny Verdict
On Feb. 2, a Moscow court found Alexei Navalny, Russia’s leading opposition figure, guilty of violating the terms of his probation and sentenced him to 2 years and 8 months in prison. Hoover fellow and Russia expert Paul Gregory described the ruling as “telephone justice” dictated by the Kremlin and proof that, due to Navalny’s heightened global status, Vladimir Putin considers him too great a danger to remain free. Gregory points to four key events that have made Navalny the biggest threat to Putin’s regime. First is Navalny’s widely publicized poisoning and later, his telephone call to a government agent exposing that it was indeed the Russian state that had attempted to assassinate him. Next is Navalny’s return to Russia and release of a video showing a billion-dollar estate, larger than the country of Monaco, purportedly owned by Putin. But perhaps most important, Gregory argues, is the release of Navalny’s plan to convert to Russia into a fully functioning parliamentary democracy, uniting disparate opposition groups into a single anti-Putin alliance. This plan, while staying within the bounds of the current Russian constitution, would enable provincial leaders to better represent their constituents and take some power away from the central government. Hoover Senior Fellow Michael McFaul even theorizes that Navalny’s wife will become the new de-facto leader of the opposition while her husband is in jail and mentions a multitude of other young leaders that could step forward if need be.
Stanford Scholars Debate Legality of Trump’s Second Impeachment
With the upcoming impeachment trial in the Senate, Hoover Fellow John Yoo declares the trial of a former president constitutionally dubious and potentially damaging to American democracy. Yoo points to the precedent this could set in allowing a future “hostile Congress” to try former presidents long after they leave office. In addition, while condemning Trump’s actions as un-presidential, he cites the exceptionally high burden of proof required for the charge of inciting a riot that he believes has not been met. Furthermore, Yoo expounds upon the unfair conditions for Trump’s legal team in which this trial is being undertaken describing it as a “show trial” and even raising the question about whether this is simply a move to disqualify a potential rival for Biden in the 2024 Presidential election. On the other side of this argument stands Michael McConnell, Director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School, a former judge on the 10th circuit Court of Appeals and a Hoover Fellow as well. McConnell contends that the proceedings are completely lawful since Trump was impeached during his time in office. Moreover, he states that if the Senate ruled that this was not the case then it would set a dangerous precedent, enabling Presidents to commit unconstitutional acts in their final days of office with little threat of reprisal. McConnell also stresses that a key facet of this trial is the disqualification to hold future office making this trial much more than purely symbolic in nature. To further cement his stance, McConnell cites three precedents that show that a former official can be brought to trial in the senate after they leave office.
And in case you missed it…
Could deliberative democracy depolarize America? Stanford scholars think so (de Witte | Stanford University News)
George P. Schultz, Influential Cabinet Official Under Nixon and Reagan, Dies at 100
(Weiner | The New York Times)
Despite Benefits, Experts Say All-Women Police Stations in India Might not be a Perfect Solution. (Mettler | Stanford Daily)
Noah Howard ’22 is pursuing majors in Economics and International Relations with a minor in Iranian Studies. Living in Washington D.C., he is currently writing a thesis about the role of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in Iranian Politics.
Jackson Vachal ’22 is pursuing majors in Political Science and Philosophy, with a focus on democratic theory. A San Francisco native, he is interested in social entrepreneurship and nonprofit advocacy work.
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