Australia’s Big 4 Banks To Stop Lending To Thermal Coal Mining & Coal Fired Power Plants
Murdoch is upset — the major Australian banks will no longer lend money to the big carbon emitters. His flagship “Australian” newspaper carries this headline front and centre in its weekend finance edition: “Foreign Funding for Fossil Fuels.” The Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Westpac, and National Australia Bank (NAB) are closing their books on fossil fuel financing. In response to shareholder pressure, they are increasing their commitments to sustainable lending and reducing their exposure to climate risk. They have set various timelines to exit direct financing of thermal coal mining.
Apparently, though, there is no hurry. Commonwealth Bank and ANZ have their exits timed for 2030, NAB for 2035. Achieving net zero by 2070. Westpac’s stance is even more nuanced. It will stop lending money to companies that receive more than 25% of their income from coal by 2030.
The federal government is “outraged” and considering rule changes that will allow access to overseas funds to finance projects in Australia. It is quite possible that if the banks won’t finance a project, the government will do so itself — as has been threatened over several projects in the recent past (including the white elephant Kurri Kurri Gas Powered Generator).
Commonwealth Bank has reduced its exposure to oil and gas by 20% over the past 12 months. It appears to have very low exposure to coal mining.
In recent years the Big Four have increased their lending to the fossil fuel sector, which makes me dubious that they will stick to their public commitment to the Paris agreement. They can talk the talk, but so far they haven’t walked the walk, and if they do, it looks like a very slow one.
The Trump administration is shutting down EV chargers at all federal government buildings and is also expected to sell off the General Services Administration‘s (GSA) newly bought EVs.
GSA, which manages all federal government-owned buildings, also operates the federal buildings’ EV chargers. Federally owned EVs and federal employee-owned personal EVs are charged on those 8,000 charging ports.
The Verge reports it’s been told by a source that plans will be officially announced internally next week, and it’s seen an email that GSA has already sent to regional offices about the plans:
“As GSA has worked to align with the current administration, we have received direction that all GSA-owned charging stations are not mission-critical.”
The GSA is working on the timing of canceling current network contracts that keep the EV chargers operational. Once those contracts are canceled, the stations will be taken out of service and “turned off at the breaker,” the email reads. Other chargers will be turned off starting next week.
“Neither Government Owned Vehicles nor Privately Owned Vehicles will be able to charge at these charging stations once they’re out of service.”
Colorado Public Radio first reported yesterday that it had seen the email that was sent to the Denver Federal Center, which has 22 EV charging stations at 11 locations.
The Trump/Elon Musk administration has taken the GSA’s fleet electrification webpage offline entirely. (An archived version is available here.)
The Verge‘s source also said that the GSA will offload the EVs it bought during the Biden administration, although it’s unknown whether they’ll be sold or stored.
Read more: Trump just canceled the federal NEVI EV charger program
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Ben Zhou, chief executive officer of ByBit, during the Token2049 conference in Singapore, on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023.
Joseph Nair | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Bybit, a major cryptocurrency exchange, has been hacked to the tune of $1.5 billion in digital assets, in what’s estimated to be the largest crypto heist in history.
The attack compromised Bybit’s cold wallet, an offline storage system designed for security. The stolen funds, primarily in ether, were quickly transferred across multiple wallets and liquidated through various platforms.
“Please rest assured that all other cold wallets are secure,” Ben Zhou, CEO of Bybit, posted on X. “All withdrawals are NORMAL.”
Blockchain analysis firms, including Elliptic and Arkham Intelligence, traced the stolen crypto as it was moved to various accounts and swiftly offloaded. The hack far surpasses previous thefts in the sector, according to Elliptic. That includes the $611 million stolen from Poly Network in 2021 and the $570 million drained from Binance in 2022.
Analysts at Elliptic later linked the attack to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, a state-sponsored hacking collective notorious for siphoning billions of dollars from the cryptocurrency industry. The group is known for exploiting security vulnerabilities to finance North Korea’s regime, often using sophisticated laundering methods to obscure the flow of funds.
“We’ve labelled the thief’s addresses in our software, to help to prevent these funds from being cashed-out through any other exchanges,” said Tom Robinson, chief scientist at Elliptic, in an email.
The breach immediately triggered a rush of withdrawals from Bybit as users feared potential insolvency. Zhou said outflows had stabilized. To reassure customers, he announced that Bybit had secured a bridge loan from undisclosed partners to cover any unrecoverable losses and maintain operations.
The Lazarus Group’s history of targeting crypto platforms dates back to 2017, when the group infiltrated four South Korean exchanges and stole $200 million worth of bitcoin. As law enforcement agencies and crypto tracking firms work to trace the stolen assets, industry experts warn that large-scale thefts remain a fundamental risk.
“The more difficult we make it to benefit from crimes such as this, the less frequently they will take place,” Elliptic’s Robinson wrote in a post.
WATCH: Crypto stocks plunge
Environment
Ford Mustang Mach-E is heavily discounted, you can even lease it for less than a Toyota Camry
Ford is offering big savings opportunities right now on its electric vehicles. The Ford Mustang Mach-E can be leased for less than a Toyota Camry in some places despite costing over $10,000 more. Here’s how you can snag some savings.
Ford’s Mach-E is cheaper to lease than a Camry right now
With over 51,700 models sold in 2024, Ford’s Mustang Mach-E was the third best-selling EV in the US behind the Tesla Model Y and Model 3.
The electric Mach-E even outsold the gas-powered Mustang for the first time last year. To keep up with new models like the Honda Prologue and the 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5, Ford introduced big discounts at the start of the year.
Ford extended its “Power Promise” program in January, offering all EV buyers a free Level 2 home charger. The company will even cover the cost of standard installation. If you already have a home charger, Ford will give you a $1,000 charging credit.
According to online car research firm CarsDirect, the savings don’t stop there. Through March 31, the 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E can be leased for as little as $229 for 24 months in Southern California.
With $4,329 due at signing, the effective cost is just $409 per month. The deal is for the base 2024 Mach-E Select with an MSRP of $39,995 and includes a $7,750 lease cash bonus.
In comparison, the 2025 Toyota Camry Hybrid LE (MSRP $28,400) is listed at $299 for 39 months and $3,598 due upfront, for an effective rate of $391 per month.
Although that’s slightly less than the Mach-E, if you factor in Ford’s other incentives, it’s actually much cheaper. In addition to the $1,000 charging credit, Ford is offering current Tesla owners $1,000 in conquest bonus cash, which can be applied to the purchase or lease of a new vehicle.
The $2,000 in savings brings the effective monthly lease rate to just $326 per month. That’s even $10 cheaper than a 2025 Toyota Corolla LE with an MSRP of just $22,325, or over $17,500 less than the Mustang Mach-E.
Alternatively, Ford is offering the 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E for 0% APR for 72 months plus $2,500 in bonus cash.
Ford also introduced new incentives on the F-150 Lightning last week. The 2024 F-150 Lightning now features a nationwide 0% financing for 72 months offer with additional savings of up to $5,000 off MSRP.
The new Flash trim now features an up to $3,000 retail cash bonus, XLT and Lariat trims get up to $4,000, and the Platinum model gets a $5,000 bonus.
Ford’s electric pickup is eligible for the $1,000 Tesla Conquest bonus and public charging credit offer. Ram owners can snag an extra $2,000 from a serperate conquest program.
If you’re ready to test drive Ford’s electric vehicles for yourself, we can help you get started. You can use our links below to find Ford F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E models at a dealer near you.
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