RealPage says it isn't doing anything wrong by suggesting to landlords how much rent they could charge. In a move to reclaim its own narrative, the property management software company published a microsite and a digital booklet it's calling 'The Real Story,' as it faces multiple lawsuits and a reported federal criminal probe related to allegations of rental price fixing. RealPage's six-page digital booklet, published on the site in mid-June, addresses what it calls 'false and misleading claims about its software''the myriad of allegations it faces involving price-fixing and rising rents'and contends that the software benefits renters and landlords and increases competition. It also said landlords accept RealPage's price recommendations for new leases less than 50 percent of the time and that the software recommends competitive prices to help fill units. ''The heart of this case' never had a heartbeat'the data clearly shows that RealPage does not set customers' prices and customers do what they believe is best for their respective properties to vigorously compete against each other in the market,' the digital booklet says....

On Wednesday, New York governor Kathy Hochul shocked the state and the country when she announced she would indefinitely shelve New York City's long-in-development congestion pricing scheme. The policy, in the works since 2007 and set to begin in just three weeks, was designed to relieve car traffic, curb road deaths, and send a billion dollars in annual funding to the city's transit system by charging drivers up to $15 a day to enter the busiest parts of Manhattan, with rates highest at 'peak hours.' (Truck drivers and some bus drivers could have paid more than $36 daily.) At heart, the idea is straightforward, if controversial: Make people pay for the roads they use. But congestion pricing was also set to become one of the most ambitious American climate projects, maybe ever. It was meant to coax people out of their gas-guzzling vehicles, which are alone responsible for some 22 percent of US greenhouse gas emissions, and onto subways, buses, bicycles, and their feet. Policymakers, researchers, and environment nerds the world over have concluded that, even if the transition to electric vehicles were to happen at lightning speed, avoiding the worst of climate change is going to require fewer cars overall....

Carbon pricing revenues reached a record $104 billion in 2023, with over half of the collected revenue being used to fund climate and nature-related programmes, according to the World Bank's latest State and Trends of Carbon Pricing report. 'Carbon pricing can be one of the most powerful tools to help countries reduce emissions. That's why it is good to see these instruments expand to new sectors, become more adaptable and complement other measures,' Axel van Trotsenburg, Senior Managing Director at the World Bank, said. However, the report's authors point out that less than 1% of global emissions are currently subject to a direct carbon price at or above what is recommended by the High-level Commission on Carbon Prices to limit global temperature rise to well below 2'C. Speaking at an energy conference in Cape Town, the company's chief executive, Dan Marokane, said Eskom was engaging with groups currently helping to fund its switch to greener power about delaying the closure of some coal power stations until 2030....

Shares of data security and management company Rubrik rose 21% in early trading Thursday, marking the latest large software debut in an IPO market that's showing signs of resurgence after a long lull. Palo Alto, California-based Rubrik priced its initial public offering at $32 a share on Wednesday, above the projected range of $28 to $31. The offering raised around $752 million for the company, and set an initial valuation around $5.6 billion. Shares are trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol RBRK. Founded in 2014, Rubrik pitches itself as a provider of tools for organizations to secure their data across the cloud and recover from cyberattacks. The company's IPO prospectus also plays up its AI expertise, stating that it can 'apply artificial intelligence and machine learning directly to business data to understand emergent data security threats and deliver cyber recovery.' Rubrik raised considerable funding as a private company, pulling in more than $550 million in known financings. Its largest venture shareholders include Lightspeed Venture Partners and Greylock Partners, both early-stage lead investors....