ENERGY

Exxon Gets a Trim

Between the pandemic, a crash in oil prices, and growing calls to address its role in climate change, Exxon Mobil’s had plenty to reflect on this year. Yesterday, it got a headstart on New Year’s resolutions. By 2025, it's aiming to...

• Reduce overall emissions intensity by 15%–20%
• Halve methane emission intensity

Emission “intensity”? Exxon’s commitments focus on emissions per unit of output, not absolute emissions. While these efforts should reduce total emissions, it’s not clear by how much, Axios writes. Additionally, Exxon is focusing on emissions linked to its own operations, not what’s known as “scope 3 emissions” released when its products are used (Exxon will begin reporting those next year). 

Playing catchup

Once the most valuable company in the world, Exxon’s market cap has fallen around 60% in the last decade, and it was booted from the Dow this summer. For years, investors have pressured the company to take action on the environment; last week, an activist investor campaign called for new directors.

• They might like the example set by Unilever, which this week became the first major company to voluntarily give shareholders advisory voting power on carbon reduction efforts.

Big picture: Oil companies, especially in the U.S., have been criticized for lagging behind the clean energy transition. While some are making efforts, including net-zero emissions targets and diversifying into renewables, “there doesn't seem to be an oil major that's got it all figured out between the pandemic, cloudy demand and price outlooks, and the unknown path through a world getting a bit more serious about climate,” Axios writes. 

One more bump in their path

President-elect Joe Biden. He’s pledged to rejoin the Paris Accord on Day 1, invest $2 trillion in clean energy, and get the U.S. on a path to net-zero carbon emissions “no later than 2050.” 

• One way to get there: requiring businesses to report climate change risks and opportunities, which Mike Bloomberg pressed Biden to support in an op-ed yesterday. 

Looking ahead…while fossil fuel companies struggle, a new guard of clean energy giants is beating them to investor dollars and ushering in energy’s “NextEra.”  

HEALTHCARE

Bittersweet Day

Yesterday, NYC-area nurse Sandra Lindsay (above) became the first American vaccinated against Covid-19 outside of clinical trials. Three million more doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine will be delivered across the country this week.

But just as that light at the end of the Lincoln Tunnel gets brighter, the short-term trajectory of the U.S.’ outbreak has never looked so grim. 

• More than 300,000 Americans have died from Covid-19. 
• The U.S. is averaging around 200,000 new cases/day and 3,000+ deaths. 

Yesterday, NYC’s mayor told the city to prepare for a potential “full shutdown.” The city halted indoor dining as of yesterday, but will keep schools open.  

Across the pond…

Things are also getting worse before they get better. London, the Netherlands, and Italy are following Germany and reimposing stricter lockdowns on nonessential businesses, travel, and social life through early January.

And while the UK began administering Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine last week, EU countries are still waiting on the bloc’s regulatory body for approval. The longer process has drawn criticism from some European leaders. 

CYBERSECURITY

The Hackers Are in the Computer

Fortune 500 companies and government agencies in the U.S. and UK are doing some holiday deep cleaning on their software networks following a major cybersecurity attack. 

The backstory: Hackers infiltrated the IT systems of several federal agencies and top corporations via a product made by software company SolarWinds. The hack was first identified last week by FireEye, a cybersecurity company that itself was hacked. 

It ain’t good 

Over 300,000 customers use SolarWinds, 18,000 of which have been directly impacted, according to the company. It’s a small slice, but what the hackers sacrificed in quantity, they made up for in quality. 

• Known targets in the U.S. include the Treasury, Commerce, and Homeland Security Departments, according to the Washington Post. 

As for the identity of the hackers, multiple outlets say all signs point to a specific group of Russian state-backed hackers called “APT29” or “Cozy Bear.”

Bottom line: This attack has cybersecurity professionals rattled. FireEye believes the operation dates back to March, potentially giving the hackers access to sensitive data from U.S. elections and a vaccine development process that shattered records. 

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ADULT

Pornhub Bows to Pressure, Deletes Unverified Videos

Late Sunday night, Pornhub said it would remove all videos on its site not created by its content partners or its Model Program members, then set out on a massive content purge that eliminated most of its library.

• As of Monday afternoon, the site had 2.9 million videos, compared to 13.5 million on Sunday. 

The backstory: Earlier this month, Nicholas Kristof wrote in a column for the NYT that the platform was “infested with rape videos” and that it monetizes other types of sexual violence toward childen. 

That piece set off a chain of events that have “left the porn industry shaken,” according to Motherboard. 

• Mastercard and Visa, which process payments on the site, launched an investigation.
• Pornhub enacted policy changes, including banning unverified accounts from uploading new content. 
• But that wasn’t enough. Last Thursday, Mastercard and Visa cut ties with Pornhub.

Pornhub says that it’s being unfairly targeted because it’s an adult content site and that its efforts to remove illegal content have been largely effective. But it failed to convince the powerful payment processors, whose decisions could lead to major changes in the porn industry.

AUTO

The Ultimate Riding Machine

Yesterday, Amazon-owned Zoox unveiled its first electric robotaxi in its push to eliminate awkward small talk in Ubers forever. Here’s what’s under the hood.

• It’s driverless: In fact, the vehicle doesn’t even have a steering wheel or pedals.
• It’s safe: In the event of a crash, airbags envelop individual passengers to prevent any painful knee-knocking in the four-person cabin.
• It’s fast(ish): Topping out at 75 mph, it’s the speediest robotaxi in the industry.

Zoox’s ties with Amazon mean it will likely be called into action to help optimize that last mile of delivery that keeps Bezos up at night. But for now, Zoox is 100% focused on people, not packages. “In a nutshell, we want to eventually move people around a city,” CEO Aicha Evans told journalist Kara Swisher in an interview. “It’s purpose built.”

Bottom line: Zoox is not yet ready for commercial use, but the ultimate goal is to launch a ride-sharing app in a few major cities.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Google’s services, including YouTube and Docs, suffered a widespread outage yesterday morning for about an hour. 
• Google also pushed back its employees’ return to the office until September 2021 and said it would experiment with a “flexible workweek.” 
• Apple will now show nutrition-like “privacy labels” that provide more info on the user data that’s collected by apps. 
• The FTC is asking nine tech companies to share information on their methods for collecting user data.
• Adidas is exploring a sale of Reebok.
• Meghan Markle...venture capitalist? The Duchess of Sussex is investing in oat milk latte startup Clevr Blends.

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GIFT GUIDE

Time Is Running Out...

You told yourself you wouldn’t put off your gifting this year...but you did. And that’s okay. Because Sidekick, our lifestyle newsletter giving you trusted recs from all over the internet, is here to help you with your last-minute scramble.

In Sidekick’s Holiday Gift Guide, you’ll find the perfect holiday present for everyone in your life, including:

• Your friend who subscribes to Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, Peacock, and even CBS All Access
• The yogi who has both a morning AND evening skincare routine
• The recent NYT Cooking subscriber who won’t shut up about their focaccia bread art

Bottom line: In choosing these products, we abided by the Gift Guide Golden Rule: If we wouldn’t give it as a gift, we didn’t include it on the list. 

Start browsing.

GAMES

Reader Submission: Fun With M&A

Today’s game is the brainchild of Brew reader Mark Bissell. Which reminds us—if you have an idea for a trivia question or a puzzle, definitely drop a line.

Okay, onto Mark’s puzzle. Picture a world in which M&As are only approved for companies whose names can be merged by blending one into another via shared letters.

In this world, we’ll give you a clue about the combined company and you have to determine the two companies that merged.

Ex. Furniture for the Oracle of Omaha = Berkshire Hathawayfair 

1. It has Normal People...and leggings
2. A $1.6 trillion colossus with a Vision Fund
3. An electric automaker, but make it bubbly
4. A defense contractor for singles 
5. Vegan house rentals

ANSWER

1. It has Normal People...and leggings = Hululemon 
2. A $1.6 trillion colossus with a Vision Fund = MicrosoftBank
3. An electric automaker, but make it bubbly = Tesla Croix 
4. A defense contractor for singles = Lockheed Martinder 
5. Vegan house rentals = Airbnbeyond Meat 

** A Note From eToro

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