Most discussion of the impact of proposed clean energy legislation has focused on consumer-facing energy firms, such as major oil companies and electric utilities. The American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), which has already passed the House, will affect wholesale energy companies, as well. As oil and gas remain integral to the US economy, how this sector’s firms respond to these provisions will have broad implications for consumers and investors.

Quite simply, carbon legislation will make carbon risk material. Effective carbon management will become a quantifiable competitive advantage. “Proactive measures may actually outweigh, at least initially, the potential direct costs of the proposed climate change regulation,” write Sebastian Brinkmann and Julie Hilt Hannink, authors of a new RiskMetrics study of ACES’ impact on the US independent oil & gas sector. (On Feb. 24, RiskMetrics will present a free webcast on environmental compliance costs for this sector – click here to register.)

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A generally favorable Reuters story on Mary Schapiro’s progress as SEC chair ends on what is, to me, a very sad note:

[Redoubtable Columbia Law Professor John] Coffee said changing the SEC’s culture was a little like changing the culture of the Roman Catholic Church. “A new pope can come in, but the curia is still there and the cardinals still have their set traditions.”

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Most comments on the January 21 US Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (1) have focused on the effects of direct contributions by corporations to candidates. Are such contributions invitations to corruption, or exercises of protected speech by persons associated in corporations?

But for those concerned about corporate governance or corporate accountability in any of its forms, Citizens United has a context and implications that go well beyond elections and freedom of speech. These challenge fundamentally the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and socially responsible investing (SRI).

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Last weekend, Haitian microlender Fonkoze served its customers in a manner worthy of a James Bond movie. While Haiti’s commercial banks remained closed after the January 12 earthquake, Fonkoze reopened 34 of its 42 branches, disbursing both deposited funds and remittances from abroad. Last week, to ensure a steady supply of currency in Haiti, Fonkoze transferred $2 million in cash from its US account to a Florida Air Force Base.

On Saturday morning, after a C-17 cargo plane brought the money to Port-au-Prince, helicopters delivered it – hidden in office supply boxes – to ten drop points, from which Fonkoze employees restocked their branch locations.

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In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, many investors have grown concerned about standards of corporate governance. In fall of 2009, the European Commission released a study of corporate governance monitoring and enforcement practices in its member states. The study was undertaken by RiskMetrics Group in collaboration with BusinessEurope, ecoDA and their affiliates, and Landwell & Associates and their affiliates.

In most EU states, national governance codes set rules with which corporations must comply, or else explain why they have not complied. The RiskMetrics study found support for “comply-or-explain” regimes, but also found “some deficiencies,” including “unsatisfactory level and quantity of information on deviations by companies and a low level of shareholder monitoring.”

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On January 14, investors responsible for $13 trillion in assets jointly called for a strong policy response to global climate change. Coming on the heels of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) summit in Copenhagen, the Investors’ Summit on Climate Risk showed broad private-sector support for public policy initiatives to combat climate change.

What will be the practical impact of carbon pricing for investors? A survey of RiskMetrics research shows that gaps in the existing regulatory patchwork could create perverse advantages for companies, investors and governments who avoid strong carbon regulations.

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Last week, I asked the Social Investment Forum listserv to recommend organizations who are working to help the people of Haiti. I was heartened by the response. Links to donate to these groups are listed below.

I also spoke with RiskMetrics analyst Yasmine Lonon, who helped research a study of developing-nation disaster risk for the World Bank’s Disaster Management Facility. In response to a question from our colleague Jane Meacham, who noted that there’s almost no private insurance in Haiti, Yasmine explained how a lack of insurance hinders disaster preparedness:

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Reports on the retail sector, including apparel sellers, are a staple of January’s post-holiday business news. However the last quarter looks to retailers, it has told a grim story about the retail supply chain. In November 2009, the BBC reported that Uzbekistan’s fall cotton harvest was gathered, in large part, by children. Boys and girls as young as 11 were forced out of school and into the fields by the Uzbek government, which depends on cotton sales for most of its revenue.

Child labor is sadly common in much of the world, but Uzbekistan – the third largest producer of cotton in the world – presents an especially egregious case of a national industrial policy founded on the conscription of children.

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An interesting coalition of groups joined together for a side event at the Copenhagen climate change summit on Dec. 12. Gathered were the Worldwatch Institute, a respected think tank represented by its leader, Christopher Flavin; the United Nations Foundation, established by Ted Turner, and represented by its head, Tim Wirth, a former Senator and the main US negotiator for the Kyoto Climate Conference during the Clinton administration; and the American Clean Skies Foundation, which promotes natural gas as a clean alternative to coal, represented by its CEO, Gregory Staple.

Their three-hour conference was about a low-carbon energy source that could reduce US dependency on both imported oil and domestic coal: shale gas.

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[Ed. Note: RiskMetrics analyst Mario Lopez-Alcala is attending the Copenhagen summit as an official observer.]

As the Copenhagen climate summit draws to a close, many are disappointed by the lack of progress being made here. The biggest announcement is likely to be a plan to compensate countries that preserve forests and other natural landscapes that store carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas tied to global warming.

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