Sunday, March 04, 2007

Al Gore: Eco-profiteer, Savvy Investor, or ...?


A quick recap: Records show that Al and Tipper Gore paid a monthly gas-and-electric bill of $2,400 for their 20-room mansion and related outbuildings. That includes $500 a month for their poolhouse. Gore claimed that he bought "carbon offsets" to make up for his $30K annual energy tab. Where did he buy offsets? From Generation Investment Management, a firm which lists Gore as Chairman. In other words, he paid himself!

Sloan Morganstern provides valuable insight into Generation Investment Management (GIM). According to its website, GIM's investment philosophy integrates "issues such as climate change into investment analysis:"


* Sustainable development will be a primary driver of industrial and economic change over the next 50 years
* The global context for business is clearly changing—"Capitalism is at a Crossroads"
* Shareholders will be best served by companies who maximize their financial return by strategically managing their performance in this new economic, social, environmental and ethical context

So which companies is Gore's firm investing in?

Morganstern points to GIM's 13F Form filed with the SEC. A little work with Excel, using Sloan's categorization of companies, yields the following:

Company Invested ($K) Green? Description
TECHNE CORP 22309 N Medical research
GENERAL ELECTRIC CO 19565 N Global diversified products and services
NORTHERN TR CORP 14333 N Financial services
UBS AG 14079 N Financial services
BECTON DICKINSON & CO 13785 N Medical technology
JOHNSON CTLS INC 13711 Y Batteries for hybrid vehicles
AFLAC INC 13315 N Insurance
AUTODESK INC 12712 N Engineering software
STAPLES INC 11921 N Office supplies
SYSCO CORP 11085 N Food services
LABORATORY CORP AMER HLDGS 9935 N Diagnostic equipment, genomic testing
GREENHILL & CO INC 9473 N Investments
WATERS CORP 8875 Y Safer water, food, healthcare products
NUVEEN INVTS INC 7389 N Investments
METABOLIX INC 5209 Y Eco-friendly plastics and chemicals
VCA ANTECH INC 4858 N Pet healthcare services
BLACKBAUD INC 4765 N Fundraising software
AQUANTIVE INC 4615 N Digital marketing
WHOLE FOODS MKT INC 4427 Y Natural, organic food retailer
206361
Green investments 32222
% of green investments 15.61%

In other words, for all of the talk about 'green' investments, only about 16% of its funds are in companies that Morganstern categorizes as truly 'green'. Or maybe Gore thinks the AFLAC duck is an endangered species.

I'm having a hard time determining whether Al Gore is a craven eco-profiteer, a savvy investor, a blatant hypocrite, or just some combination thereof.


Oven-baked good readin', just like Mama used to make:
Dan Riehl, Bill's Bites, GWH, Hang Right Politics, Pajamas Media, Ranting Stan, Wizbang,
Anti-Strib, David Online, Redstate, Wisdom from the Realm

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