From Bolsonaro to Bitcoin, everybody loves Earth now

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a carbon-emissions target of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Earth Day has made converts of [Bolsonaro](, [Republicans]( and (sort of) [Bitcoin](. - [Used cars are the new SPACs](. - Organizers should [learn lessons from Amazon](. - Don’t [fear the digital yuan](. Planet Remembers to Care About Itself Again When Earth Day began in the U.S. 51 years ago, it had an immediate [impact](, spawning the EPA, clean water and air laws, and more. Then we all kind of agreed to stop caring about Earth for a while. But the planet started burning, flooding and otherwise reminding us of its existence, and now it’s important again. President Joe Biden had an Earth Day [summit]( today. One striking thing was how many global leaders either raised their ambitions for cutting carbon emissions or stuck to already fairly aggressive targets for doing so. Even Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro — whose government has denied climate change is a thing and treats the Amazon rainforest like a lumber yard — bent the knee to Earth. He set a reasonably ambitious emissions goal and vowed to at least stop illegal deforestation. [Bolsonaro may see this as his last chance]( to get on the planet’s good side after a term marked by deadly incompetence, notes Mac Margolis. But his pledges are still helpful. Biden’s ramping-up of U.S. emissions goals set an example, and other polluting nations echoed him to varying degrees. But Liam Denning writes [the real audience for this summit was domestic](. During the long climate-wilderness years of the Trump administration, local governments and corporations carried the torch for Earth. Now Biden is re-enlisting them in what he promises will be a more vigorous fight. It’s enough to pressure recalcitrant Republicans to finally admit they too appreciate Earth. Even fans of Bitcoin, the mining of which uses more electricity than Norway, are trying to make it seem somehow Earth-friendly. Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management released an Earth Day report saying [Bitcoin mining will inspire more demand for solar energy, reducing costs](. You’re welcome, solar energy, says Bitcoin. Liam Denning points out, though, that solar costs are already scraping the, uh, earth. It’s Bitcoin’s ghastly carbon footprint that needs green assistance to make it Earth-friendlier. Governments and investors eventually care about that stuff after a while. Further Earth Day Reading: Boris [Johnson’s ambitious climate targets need Rishi Sunak]( to become reality. — Therese Raphael Paid Post The power of PayPal online, now in person. PayPal gives your business a way to accept touch-free, in-person payments. Generate your QR code from the app, then display it on your device or print it out. No new equipment required. [Download the app.]( Customer must have PayPal account and app to pay. PayPal There’s No Business Like the Used-Car Business Anyway, back to pollution. The hot new business everybody is into these days is used cars. Used cars have gotten very expensive, for one thing. And you can disrupt this widely hated industry simply by selling cars online the way you do books, food and [Nicolas Cage]( pillows. Carvana has boomed during the pandemic. A British take on the idea called Cazoo is about to go public via SPAC. Several other upstarts are crowding the lot. But Chris Bryant wonders if [these companies really deserve their multibillion-dollar valuations](, given they still don’t, you know, make any money. But maybe it’s still better than dealing with these guys: Further Auto-Related Reading: [Once left for dead, Hertz’s bonds have roared back]( as it plans to cash in on a travel rebound. — Brian Chappatta What Did We Learn From Amazon’s Union Vote? Working for Amazon can be pretty rough on some people, from drivers [relieving]( themselves in bottles to [retirees]( working grueling days in massive warehouses. So it was kind of a shock when Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama, overwhelmingly rejected unionization recently. It shouldn’t have been, suggests Mike Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP. Amazon pays employees in Alabama twice the minimum wage and gives them good benefits. The [union couldn’t explain how it would get those workers a better deal](. Labor organizers are trying to revive unions, and for good reason. But this cautionary tale suggests they must hone their message about the value they offer.  Bonus Editorial: The Derek Chauvin verdict is an occasion to [think about how to reform policing](. Telltale Charts An internationally available [digital yuan would actually be good for America]( and China’s citizens, writes Noah Smith, which is why Beijing will probably never let it happen. [AT&T shunting its DirecTV mess to the margins]( is helping investors finally appreciate its growth in HBO Max and wireless, writes Tara Lachapelle. Further Reading Republican presidential hopefuls are [re-using Donald Trump’s 2016 playbook](, which won’t work when the economy is strong. — Michael R. Strain [Credit Suisse’s problems run too deep]( to be fixed quickly. — Elisa Martinuzzi [New York’s new lenient approach to prostitution]( is less about changing morals than it is about real estate. — Noah Feldman Proxies reveal many [companies pay executives’ relatives high salaries](. It’s a warning sign. — Michelle Leder We’re [putting so many satellites into orbit]( that it’s making astronomy difficult. — Adam Minter Returning [California beach property to a Black family]( could be one template for future reparations. — Frank Wilkinson It’s our own fault if we let work dominate our lives. [We can choose not to be workaholics](. — Sarah Green Carmichael ICYMI Biden is eyeing a [much higher capital-gains tax](. “[Long-haul” Covid can kill]( months later, a study shows. NASA’s rover [made oxygen out of Martian air](. Kickers Florida couple tries to [sneak a wedding into somebody else’s mansion](. (h/t Ellen Kominers) Consumer Reports says [Teslas can drive themselves](, not in a good way. American [honey is still radioactive]( from nuclear-bomb tests. A stranded sailor [finally ends a four-year ordeal]( on an abandoned ship. Notes: Please send wedding invitations and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Twitter]( and [Facebook](.  Like Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more](. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. 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