Read of the Day: Why I’m Coming to Iowa (Des Moines Register – by Mike Bloomberg)

Tuesday evening I will join local business and community leaders in Des Moines for a screening of a new documentary film called “Paris to Pittsburgh.” It tells the stories of everyday Americans who are helping us tackle climate change – and Iowans play a starring role.

Iowa gets more than a third of its energy from wind power, the most of any state. If every state got as much of its power from clean sources as Iowa does, America would already be nearly all the way to the goal we set under the Paris Climate Agreement of cutting carbon emissions 26 percent by 2025.

Iowans understand what too many leaders in Washington don’t: Fighting climate change is good for our health and our economy. The most effective steps to cut carbon emissions – like switching from coal to clean power – reduce air pollution and create jobs. Wind and solar energy are increasingly cheaper than coal, and they employ far more people. There are already more than 30,000 clean energy jobs in Iowa – compared to around 50,000 coal mining jobs in the entire U.S.

Clean power also gives Iowa a competitive edge. Microsoft, Facebook, Google and Apple all built new data centers in Iowa, because of the state’s abundant supply of clean energy. These companies committed to getting more clean energy both to cut carbon emissions and to cut costs. Investing in Iowa helps them reach both goals.

A recent op-ed in the Des Moines Register called for aspiring presidential candidates to present a bold vision for taking on climate change.

I couldn’t agree more: We need stronger leadership in Washington on this issue. But Americans aren’t waiting around for it.

Read Mike’s full oped in the Des Moines Register here.

Profile of the Day: Mike Bloomberg Flies US Flag for Climate Change Action (Financial Times)

When Mike Bloomberg took the stage at the climate summit in San Francisco in September, wearing a pin badge of the American flag and an appropriately green tie, the audience greeted him almost as if he was a head of state. Many of the people attending the summit probably wished that he were. In the two years since Donald Trump was elected president, Bloomberg has become a sort of climate ambassador for the US.

After President Trump said he would pull the US out of the Paris climate accord, Mr Bloomberg helped lead a new coalition of cities, states and businesses, called We Are Still In, that pledged to cut emissions anyway.

Since leaving office in 2013, Bloomberg has devoted an increasing amount of his time and fortune to climate-related causes, including fighting the use of coal. Bloomberg says he has been galvanized in part by Mr Trump’s support for coal.

“I’m dismayed by what goes on in Washington every day. In this world where you have a president denying science, it is very scary,” Bloomberg tells the Financial Times. “I’m a capitalist and I think that people will do what is in their own interest. It really is the economics as much as anything that are driving [the energy transition] and will win in the end. The real question is will they win in time to stop serious things that can’t be undone.”

“We have a leader of the free world walking away from science. If you tried to write a book or a movie saying that, you’d be laughed out of the theater.”

Read the full story here (subscription).

Edward Norton, Alan Alda, Mariska Hargitay Join Nat Geo’s 6-City ‘Paris to Pittsburgh’ Screening Blitz (The Wrap)
Charleston, Des Moines, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York and Orlando get a sneak peek at climate change doc ahead of its global release on Dec. 12.

SPOTTED at the NYC Premier of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Paris to Pittsburgh Documentary: Mike Bloomberg, Martha Stewart, Christie Brinkley, Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, Terry Lundgren, Debbie Bancroft, Brooke Burke, Mark Feuerstein, Edward Norton, Alan Alda, Mariska Hargitay, Peter Hermann, Rhea Suh, Alan Horn, Jon Kamen, Joe Berlinger, Michael Bonfiglio, Gary Knell, Iris Fen Gillingham and Ray Kelly. See photos from the premier on Mike Bloomberg’s Flickr page here, and watch the full trailer at ParistoPittsburgh.com.

Newly Re-Minted Democrat Mike Bloomberg is Hitting Iowa Hustings: “Last Week, Mike Was In Four States” (Vanity Fair)

Headlines from COP24 Climate Conference in Katowice, Poland:
-UN Climate Chief Patricia Espinosa: Impacts of Climate Change ‘Have Never Been Worse’ (Climate Change News)
-Naturalist David Attenborough: The Collapse of Civilization is on the Horizon (The Guardian)
-Arnold Schwarzenegger calls Trump “Meshugge” over Paris Climate Accord (CBS News)

Today’s Headlines:
Deal or No Deal: Kudlow Walks Back Trump Tweet Announcing Car Deal with China (Bloomberg)
Year of the Woman: Democratic Women Replacing Men in Leadership Positions (Axios)
Lock Him Up: Prosecutors Set to Recommend Sentence Today for Michael Flynn, Trump’s Former National Security Advisor (Los Angeles Times)
Predatory Lending Crackdown: New York State Is Probing Abuses in Small-Business Lending (Bloomberg)
Paris Update: Macron Reverses Fuel-Tax Hike After Yellow Vest Protests (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg Opinion:
-Theresa May’s Brexit Deal Is a Betrayal of Britain (Bloomberg Opinion – Mervyn King)
-Trump Comes Dangerously Close to Witness Tampering (Bloomberg Opinion – Tim O’Brien)

Wednesday’s U.S. National Day of Mourning for President George H.W. Bush: With some U.S. markets closed on Wednesday, Bloomberg LP announced accommodations for market participants related to execution and settlement, pricing and more. Read the announcement here.

Best of late night.

“We’d like to say Happy Hanukkah to everybody. Of course tonight is the second night of Hanukkah which means only 6 more nights to figure out how to correctly spell Hanukkah.”
— James Corden

“I heard that on January 1st, ‘Friends’ might be leaving Netflix. When fans heard that, they were like ‘well no one told us life was going to be this way.’”
— Jimmy Fallon

“Over the weekend, a man proposed in Times Square. But he was so nervous, he dropped the ring into a sidewalk grate. It was quite a scene: someone was in distress and about 50 Spidermans just stood there watching.”
— Jimmy Fallon