Utilities' Big Carbon Crackdown

Plus, why the FDA's doing drugmakers' work for them... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [View this email in your browser]( Power companies start doing more to fight climate change. Plus, why the FDA's doing drugmakers' work for them, and one Fool's opinion about why you should beware the next recession. — Nathan Alderman, Stock Up Editor Utilities Are Kicking Carbon to Power Up Their Profits --------------------------------------------------------------- The overwhelming majority of scientists agree that climate change is real, humans are causing it, and we have about a decade to make serious changes before we do (even more) irreparable harm to the planet and, you know, ourselves. This past week, more than 4 million people worldwide, many of them teenagers and young people, held a "climate strike" to demand action. But at the UN Climate Summit this week, the world's biggest emitters of climate-wrecking carbon dioxide, including the U.S., disappointed activists with limited pledges that critics say won't do nearly enough. But there's some good news on the climate this week. Two more utilities joined a growing contingent in the sector who've pledged to slash their carbon emissions. Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) has already cut its carbon emissions by 31% from 2005, partly by trading coal plants for renewable sources like wind and solar. It previously aimed to cut 40% by 2030; now it's upped that figure to 50%, and targeted net zero emissions by 2050. (That still might not be soon enough for the planet, but hey, it's a start!) NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) also stepped up its decarbonization efforts from its original 2014 goals, now aiming to cut carbon 50% by 2025 and reach net zero by 2050. Both companies acknowledge that existing technologies can't achieve these goals. So they're making big investments in new tech to help get them across the finish line. These utilities aren't just doing so out of the goodness of their hearts. Renewable energy's paying big dividends for utilities right now, boosting returns, earnings, and payouts — which makes this plan at least a partial win for companies, investors, the climate, and all those striking kids. [Read the rest]( to learn more about how investors can benefit when utilities cancel carbon. --------------------------------------------------------------- Already subscribed to a premium service? [Click here]( to view your subscriptions. Not a member yet? [Click here]( to sign up! --------------------------------------------------------------- Watch: Warren Buffett's Investment Strategy, Explained --------------------------------------------------------------- [FAQ: Fools Answer Questions- Warren Buffett's Keys to Building Wealth]( Warren Buffett is arguably the most respected investor of all time — and he's earned amazing returns without applying any extraordinarily complex methods. In fact, Warren Buffett's investment style is surprisingly simple. --------------------------------------------------------------- The FDA Really Wants These Opioid Overdose Drugmakers to Succeed Meet Naloxone. If you're overdosing on opioids, it'll save your life. At all the places in your brain where opioids latch on and lull you into a lethal stupor, naloxone elbows those intruders aside and harmlessly takes their place. In minutes, unconscious victims headed for death become awake, alert, and alive again. It doesn't cure addiction, but it's one of our best weapons against the epidemic of opioid-related deaths. Right now, you need to ask a pharmacist for naloxone (though you often don't need a prescription). But the FDA's so desperate to make it available over the counter that for the first time ever, it's doing drugmakers' work for them. Rather than waiting and advising drugmakers on how to safely label such drugs, the agency has done the research, run the tests, and created a drug facts label manufacturers can use. Why the big FDA nudge? Because drugmakers don't want the big price cut that will accompany OTC naloxone. They're not sure they'll make up the difference by selling more drugs, since naloxone's already pretty easy to get. [Read the rest]( to see which drugmakers stand to lose most from OTC naloxone — and how the FDA's trying to sweeten the deal, change their calculations, and get them on board. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Smart Speaker] Not sure what to ask your smart speaker? Keep up with what's happening in the market by adding our daily flash briefing to your home assistant. Just look for The Motley Fool on your Amazon Alexa or Google Home app, click subscribe, and then you're good to go. --------------------------------------------------------------- Opinion: The Mother of All Recessions May Be Coming Wall Street's bull market boom has lasted longer than anyone expected. But Fool Sean Williams has been watching the economy closely. He's worried that when the next recession arrives — and since recessions are a normal part of the economic cycle, it's definitely going to arrive at some point — big corporations' current easy-money revelry will turn into one gigantic hangover. To keep Wall Street's party going, the Federal Reserve has made it unusually cheap for companies to raise money by issuing debt. And boy, are they ever issuing debt. Bonds sold by large companies now represent 48% of GDP, higher than the 44% of GDP they represented in Q3 2008, right around the time that nothing bad whatsoever happened to Wall Street and the global economy. Ahem. In short, businesses are borrowing like the good times will never end. But when a recession inevitably arrives, those same companies may struggle to pay back what they owe. Now, these risks might be overblown. Recessions are hard to predict; we know they're coming, but we're generally bad at figuring out when. And even when they do hit, the economy ultimately marches higher in the long run. But for now, you might want to keep your eyes open and plan for the next time the market turns turbulent. [Read the rest]( to see which sectors and companies might get hardest hit by bloated borrowing. --------------------------------------------------------------- FEATURED PODCAST --------------------------------------------------------------- [Motley Fool Answers]( September Mailbag Get on the bus, kiddos! We're going to combat the summer slide with our biggest mailbag yet. We're answering your questions about selling grandpa's stocks, stop-loss orders, retiring on $1.5 million, and more. [Subscribe on iTunes]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Easily track your favorite stocks with our new browser extension for Google Chrome. [Add it to Chrome by going here]( then open a new tab and use the "Manage Tickers" button to customize the page with your favorite stocks. --------------------------------------------------------------- Quick Reads - [You scratch my back...]( Apple trades promises to keep making Macs in the U.S. for a tariff exemption from the Trump Administration. - [Help me, Mickey Mouse, you're my only hope:]( Disney launches a PR blitz to lure parkgoers to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Walt Disney World. - [Introducing the Rule of 40:]( A quick-and-dirty way to see which up-and-coming stocks belong in your portfolio before you buy them. --------------------------------------------------------------- Social Media Post of the Week --------------------------------------------------------------- [Have you entered our Smarter, Happier, AND Richer contest yet? If not, head over to our @themotleyfoolofficial Instagram account and look for a photo of Foolish swag. To enter, you have to answer the question correctly and tag a friend in the comments of the post. If you win, your friend wins too! We've got 10 Foolish caps, T-shirts and copies of our Motley Fool Investment Guide (the latter signed by Fool co-founders Tom and David Gardner!) as prizes. Go!]( Have you entered our "Smarter, Happier, AND Richer" contest yet? If not, head over to our [@themotleyfoolofficial]( Instagram account and look for a photo of Foolish swag. To enter, you have to answer the question correctly and tag a friend in the comments of the post. If you win, your friend wins, too! We've got 10 Foolish caps, T-shirts, and copies of our Motley Fool Investment Guide (the latter signed by Fool co-founders Tom & David Gardner!) as prizes. Go! [See all our posts!]( Join the 1,300,000+ people who follow us! [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( [LinkedIn]( We work fervently, feverishly, and Foolishly to make sure all the facts and figures we publish in our emails are 100% accurate and up to date. Returns as of September 25, 2019. Have a question or topic you'd like to see covered in a future edition of Stock Up? Email us at stockup@fool.com. Our mailing address is: The Motley Fool | 2000 Duke St. | Alexandria, VA 22314 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. This is a promotional message from The Motley Fool Copyright © 1995-2019 The Motley Fool. All rights reserved. [Legal Information.](