Credit Rating Agencies Evolve on Climate Change, Fossil Fuel Risk 2

The erosion of the coal, oil and gas sectors’ energy and financial leadership roles maps the declining significance of fossil fuels to the economic growth calculus that has served the world for decades. [...] The credit raters are not the only financial mechanism to look to during the energy transition, but they do contain one of the most transparent and objective tools for all to keep track of the storyline. [...] The evolving standards of the credit raters are being extended to every sector of the economy reflecting the singular importance of fossil fuels to the world economy. [...] We define community and climate voices as the amalgam of organizations and individuals devoting time and resources to the process of elevating the issue of and solutions for climate change. [...] RUS had been the economic development arm of the nation’s electric cooperatives since the New Deal.41 The cooperatives helped people understand the benefits of electricity to the nation’s rural areas.