It’s leaving home: The only remaining coal plant in the UK shut down yesterday, marking the first time a G7 member has completely ended its reliance on the original fossil fuel.

After 142 years of burning bricks, the Brits have made good on a deadline set in 2015 to phase out coal by 2025. The move is expected to help lower UK demand for the resource to preindustrial levels, according to the climate publication Carbon Brief.

It’s a full-circle moment for the country where coal-fired electricity originated:

• After Thomas Edison’s first coal plant lit London’s streets in 1882, coal went on to provide almost all of the UK’s power. It still made up 80% of the grid by the 1980s and 40% in 2012, according to the Guardian.
• Solar and other renewables went from providing 7% of the UK’s power in 2010 to 50% in the first half of this year, following the introduction of cleaner energy sources and carbon taxes.
• But production of another fossil fuel, natural gas, has also filled the vacuum left by ditching coal to account for about one-third of the British grid.

Cracking down on the dirtiest fuel

Burning coal belches more greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere than any other fossil fuel, so the UK isn’t the only major economy that’s worked to quit it. The US and the rest of the G7 nations aim to close any coal plants that don’t capture their carbon emissions by 2035.

• The American grid dropped from 56% coal-powered in 1985 to about 16% in 2023, per an MIT Technology Review analysis of information from Our World in Data.
• The US is the largest country to cut down on coal so quickly, but more effort is needed to zero out by the target date, according to Global Energy Monitor.

Big picture: Coal-burning among the 38 countries in the OECD—a forum for market-based democracies—has halved since peaking in 2007. Several smaller member-states, including Belgium, Austria, Sweden, and Portugal, already went coal-free in the past decade.—ML

Dockworkers strike shuts down ports. At 12:01am ET, despite last-minute talks, ~45,000 dockworkers at 36 ports on the East and Gulf Coasts went on strike after their contract expired without their union, the International Longshoremen’s Association, and the US Maritime Alliance, which reps the port operators and container carriers, coming to terms on a new one. The impact of shutting down ports along one side of the US (West Coast ports will remain open) might be massive: Analysts estimate it could cost the economy $5 billion per day, and a protracted strike could lead to shortages of items like bananas and cars and create holiday shopping sticker shock. But many retailers have been preparing and brought items into the country earlier this year.

Israel’s ground forces crossed into Lebanon. In a significant escalation of Israel’s offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has been shelling northern Israel since the war in Gaza began, Israel sent ground troops into Lebanon for what it described as “limited, localized and targeted ground raids”—though it would not specify a timeline for the operation. The move comes after weeks of Israeli attacks on Hezbollah and its leadership, including airstrikes that Lebanon’s prime minister said had forced 1 million people from their homes.

Powell hints that more rate cuts are coming…but maybe not fast. Fed Chair Jerome Powell made it clear when speaking at a conference yesterday that the central bank is willing to keep bringing interest rates down, but that how much and how fast will depend on what the economic data shows. JPow said the economy is “solid” and “we intend to use our tools to keep it there.” But he also noted that the committee that makes the decision will take it meeting by meeting, stating, “This is not a committee that feels like it’s in a hurry to cut rates quickly.”—AR

In the satellite TV equivalent of Godzilla and Kong teaming up against Skar King, DirecTV announced it’s buying longtime rival Dish for $1 in a deal that unites the two providers as they fight to maintain relevance in the age of streaming.

The complex deal entails DirecTV buying Dish (and Sling) from its parent company, EchoStar, for $1 and the assumption of nearly $10 billion in debt. At the same time, private equity firm TPG will buy AT&T’s 70% stake in DirecTV for $7.6 billion, giving TPG full ownership of the combined company (it bought the other 30% of DirecTV from AT&T in 2021).

It’s a bid to save the satellites. The two companies have lost a combined 63% of their customers since 2016. The merger will make DirecTV the largest US TV distributor, with 18 million subscribers—a number that CEO Bill Morrow hopes will help it negotiate better deals and offer smaller packages, so customers aren’t forced into paying for the Bob Ross Channel and Disney Junior.

Looking ahead…the deal is subject to regulatory approval—though Morrow said he’s confident that regulators won’t block the merger (which they did the last time the companies tried to merge in 2002)—before DirecTV upholds its promise to investors to cut $1 billion in costs annually. That’s typically corporate speak for layoffs.—CC

FOMO resulted in China’s stock market having its best day since 2008 yesterday. Investors, motivated by the same feeling as a high schooler trying to skip a family ski trip for a New Year’s Eve party, piled into Chinese stocks after the government unveiled aggressive measures to reanimate the nation’s sluggish economy.

Pros and amateurs eager to ride the upswing traded a record $372 billion worth of stock on Chinese markets yesterday. China’s benchmark CSI 300 index rose over 8% with a record-shattering five-day gain of over 25%, while the Nasdaq Golden Dragon stock index of US-traded companies that do most of their business in China popped almost 23% over the past week.

China rescues itself

The buy bonanza is driven by a barrage of surprise moves the Chinese government announced last week to help restore the country’s economic mojo, particularly in its problem-child sector: housing.

• People’s Bank of China, the central bank, said that it would pump $114 billion into the stock market.
• Three megacities eased restrictions on buying homes.
• The central bank also slashed a key lending rate and ordered existing mortgage rates to be lowered.

But…skeptics aren’t convinced the market rally will stick as the stimulus measures might not be enough to fix China’s long-term woes. It’s still facing anemic consumer demand, slowing manufacturing, and a property market in shambles.—SK

The Matterhorn Bobsled ride may be situated in The Happiest Place on Earth, but the actual Matterhorn—one of Europe’s tallest mountains, which rests between Switzerland and Italy—is in an area that’s a bit of a bummer right now. That’s because nearby glaciers have melted so much that they’re forcing the two countries to adjust their borders. In 2023, Swiss glaciers lost 4% of their volume from melting. It was the second biggest shrinkage ever, after 6% the year before. Those big melts came after the glacier under the famous mountain lost almost 25% of its mass between 1973 and 2010. Because parts of the border were drawn along glacier ridgelines and areas of perpetual snow, both countries acknowledged they needed to be updated—particularly a ~100-meter stretch near the mountain and popular ski resorts. Switzerland signed off on the new border last week and said Italy is also working toward approval.—AR