Target is raising its minimum wage to as much as $24 an hour
The retail giant currently pays a $15 per hour starting wage but said Monday that it would begin paying workers wages ranging from $15 to $24.
Business
This archive collects stories about businesses — from startups and local enterprises to multinational corporations — taking meaningful action on social, environmental, and economic challenges. These reports highlight moments when commerce and accountability intersect in constructive ways.
The second-largest U.S. electric company by market value plans to exit all coal by 2035
Duke Energy will shut down all 11 of its remaining coal-fired power plants by 2035, spanning the Carolinas, Indiana, and Florida. The second-largest U.S. electric utility also plans to more than double its solar and wind capacity to 24,000 megawatts by 2030, backed by a $130 billion clean energy investment over the next decade. Duke serves roughly 8 million customers across six states, so its choices ripple outward into grid infrastructure, household bills, and the air people breathe near aging plants. When a utility this large commits to exiting coal entirely, it signals that clean energy economics have tipped — and offers a template other slow-moving utilities around the world may soon follow.
GM makes largest-ever investment, spending $7 billion on EV manufacturing capacity
GM’s $7 billion bet on electric vehicles is the largest single investment in the company’s 116-year history, and it lands squarely in Michigan. The plan upgrades an assembly plant near Detroit to build battery-powered Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, while a new facility in Lansing will produce the battery cells to power them. Together, the two sites will create more than 4,000 jobs and the capacity to build 600,000 electric trucks a year. Pickups are America’s bestsellers and among its heaviest emitters, so electrifying them at this scale shifts the emissions math of the country’s roads — and signals that the question for legacy automakers is no longer whether to go electric, but how fast.
European supermarkets discontinue selling Brazilian beef to protect the Amazon
Sainsbury’s in the U.K., Lidl in the Netherlands, and the Dutch retailer Alhold Delhaize were among the companies saying they would move away from stocking Brazilian beef.
Developers cancel Oregon pipeline and natural gas export terminal
The $8 billion, three-foot-wide, 229-mile-long pipeline would have carried methane-based gas from Canada to the Oregon facility where it would have been shipped to international markets.
United Airlines logs first-ever commercial flight powered entirely with biofuels
Made up of fats, cooking oils, and grease produced by the company World Energy, this “Sustainable Aviation Fuel” is said to emit 80% less carbon dioxide than traditional fuels.
Nissan to spend $18 billion developing a cheaper, more powerful EV battery
Nissan says its solid-state battery will cut charging time by two thirds and help its EVs to achieve cost-parity with gas-powered cars.
Apple to start backing self-service technology repair
The program, Self Service Repair, will include tools, manuals, and Apple parts for users to fix their own products when something goes awry. It is set to launch in 2022.
Major French dictionary adds non-binary pronouns for the first time
An entry for iel and iels was added to the dictionary Le Robert that says: “Third person subject personal pronoun – singular and plural – used to refer to a person of any gender.”
Pfizer to allow developing nations to make its treatment pill
U.S. drug company Pfizer will allow its experimental Covid-19 treatment pill to be made and sold in 95 developing nations. The deal could make the treatment available to 53% of the world’s population.