Oil and Gas Groups Buoyed by Fading Fears of US ‘Blue Wave’

U.S. oil and gas stocks rose while those of renewable energy producers fell on Nov. 4, as traders gambled that even if Joe Biden wins the White House, Democrats’ likely failure to gain control of Congress would kill plans for a clean-energy revolution.

Biden has proposed $2 trillion of spending in the next four years to decarbonize American electricity by 2035 on the way to hitting net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, with plans to expand clean power generation and build a network of charging stations for battery-powered cars.

But the proposals hang in the balance following the Nov. 3 election, which looks set to deny his Democratic party the Senate majority needed to push the program through, especially following the Supreme Court’s recent tilt to the right.