Last week Shell announced it would not renew its membership of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a trade association known for taking climate-sceptic positions. Shell says it was leaving ALEC because of the association’s stance on climate change. On 19 June, institutional investors urged Shell in a letter to leave several US and European industry groups argued to be hampering the move to a low-carbon economy. Curtis Smith, a Shell spokesman, says in a statement: "We have long recognised both the importance of the climate challenge and the critical role energy has in determining quality of life for people acr