US Central Bank Sets Plan of Action on Climate Change

 

Robert Kaplan is the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. It is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that make up the U.S. Federal Reserve System, America’s central bank.

Kaplan met recently with a group of business owners and community leaders on Texas’s Gulf¹ Coast. He faced more questions on one subject than any other. It was not interest rates or economic conditions in the United States.

The business leaders and local leaders wanted information about climate change.

Texas has suffered disastrous² flooding and billions of dollars in related losses in recent years. Now, “it’s hard to meet with a business person or a city or a community leader in this state” who doesn’t have questions on climate change, Kaplan said. He is a former investment banker and one of 17 Federal Reserve policymakers.

In other states, people also are asking questions about climate change. There have been large fires in Northern California and bad storms along the coasts of Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina. So, the Fed’s regional banks are thinking about how the changing conditions will affect U.S. businesses, and the country’s $17 trillion banking³ system.

That is in conflict with the position of much of the U.S. government. President Donald Trump⁴ and his administration have rejected the science on climate change.

But the Federal Reserve is not like other government agencies. It has more independence from the White House.

The Fed’s Washington-based Board of Governors is part of the federal government. Its governors serve 14-year terms, longer than any U.S. president. The system’s 12 regional Fed banks are privately⁵ owned by local financial organizations.

That independence gives the Fed a loud voice in local communities.

“There is a lot of information and statements being thrown around” about climate change, said Elizabeth Chu Richter, a businesswoman. But “the Fed is objective,” she added. “They work off the data they collect.”

Chu Richter attended the Texas gathering⁶ with Kaplan last month.

New interest

Until recently, climate change research has not been a major issue at the Fed.

Catherine Wolfram is with the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Environment and Energy Economics Program. She recalls giving a talk at the Fed’s headquarters in Washington in 2017.

“There weren’t more than six other people who were even vaguely⁷ interested in the topic,” she said.

Two years later, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is holding a conference on the economics of climate change. There are no more seats available for the November 8 meeting.

In the past, the San Francisco Fed has explored how to give banks more motivation to deal with climate change. Last year, researchers at the Richmond Fed found that hotter temperatures could slow economic growth.

In January, the four living former Federal Reserve chiefs signed a letter pushing for a carbon tax. Such a tax would increase the cost of releasing pollutants⁸. They said climate change was “a serious problem calling for immediate⁹ national action.”

Far behind other banks

The U.S. central bank is taking climate change seriously, but it remains¹⁰ far behind other countries, like the Bank of England and the Dutch central bank. They have called for action to stop the possibly disastrous effects of climate change on economic growth and financial security.

Most G20 central banks have signed up to an information-sharing group called the Network for Greening the Financial System. The International Monetary¹¹ Fund also joined recently. Its majority shareholder¹² is the United States.

The Fed has yet to join. Some say it is because of the Trump administration’s belief that climate change is not real.

Adam Tooze teaches economic history at Columbia University in New York. He says the Fed does not want to get into an argument with the Trump administration.

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

vaguely – adj. not clearly seen or understood

topic – n. an issue or subject

carbon – n. a chemical element that forms diamonds and coal and that is found in petroleum¹³ and in all living plants and animals

stability – n. the quality or state of something that is not easily changed or likely to change

G20 – adj. short for the Group of 20, an international grouping of the world’s largest industrial countries and developing economies

shareholder – n. someone who owns shares in a company or business

regional – adj. involving or affecting an area

data – n. factual information

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

3 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

6 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

7 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

8 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

12 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

13 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。