Basic Materials Roundup: Market Talk

The latest Market Talks covering Basic Materials. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.

1424 ET – So-called mitigation credits that businesses can buy to offset the environmental impact of their activities are an effective way to balance the need to speed up infrastructure development while also complying with environmental laws, says Nick Dilks, managing partner at private-equity firm Ecosystem Investment Partners. “People still want clean water. They want clean air. They want a healthy environment,” Dilks says. “But they also want efficiency and certainty in permitting and the ability to build infrastructure.” Baltimore-based EIP recently wrapped up its latest, roughly $400 million fund to invest in restoration and conservation of wetlands, streams and natural habitats across the U.S. Those projects generate mitigation credits that the firm then sells to project developers in sectors such as oil-and-gas infrastructure, real estate, mining, renewable energy and data centers. (luis.garcia@wsj.com; @lhvgarcia)