Warren Buffet came in for criticism after his company, Berkshire’s NV Energy, Nevada’s dominant utility opposed the proposal to increase a cap on the amount net metering for state citizens. “While the billionaire’s famed holding company has reaped tax credits from investing in wind farms and solar arrays, net metering is often seen by utilities as a threat. Buffett wants his managers to protect competitive advantages, said Jeff Matthews, an investor and author of books about Berkshire.

“It always comes down to money,” he said. “It’s legal to lobby and it’s legal to push your agenda, so he’s going to push his agenda even if it looks kind of hypocritical.” [Bloomberg]

The Canadian government has released official documentation to the United Nations pledging to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 as part of a unified global climate policy. “The government said it had formally submitted its target to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in advance of a major climate change conference in Paris in December.

The United States, Japan and the European Union have already committed to relatively similar reductions over the next 10 to 15 years. Canada possesses the world’s third-largest oil reserves, estimated at more than 170 billion barrels, and daily oil production is expected to more than double by 2025. Only Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have larger reserves.” [The NY Times]

Governments are charging prices for energy that do not account for its harmful environmental and health impacts, amounting to a $5.3 trillion “post-tax” subsidy this year, the International Monetary Fund has released in a report. “The IMF said China in particular failed to charge its more than 1 billion consumers for the pollution that comes from heavy use of fossil fuels, adding up to a $2.3 trillion subsidy this year.

The United States was the second -biggest offender, with an estimated $699 billion subsidy, followed by Russia, the European Union, India and Japan.” [The Economic Times]