There have been a number of feature films on television highlighting the importance of going green. A better term is sustainable development which is important because as it stands now business as usual is not sustainable. The television special named “Earth 2100” that was featured on ABC network here in the US showed a hypothetical worse case scenario of unsustainable development in our present oil economy. I must say the consequences were dire to say the least. I watched this special feature with my wife and 3 young children aged 2, 6, and 9 years old. My two older children were utterly frightened of the prospect of what was suggested that could happen in the film. Afterwards we had a serious discussion of what we could do as a family to reduce our carbon footprint. It was very exciting to see the faces of my kids light up as we formulated solutions to contribute to sustainable development. However, this is not the focus of this article.
The focus is on our governments and business; I have always subscribed to the philosophy that business should take the lead in any innovation even the establishment of new ideas such as green technology, green marketing, green operations and anything that we as business can think of to sustain our home planet earth. As for the number government systems I am not so hopeful; there is not enough cooperation and much too much mistrust. The nations of which the citizenry reside are too nationalistic and the problem of sustainable development is a global issue. We must act as one when tackling the problem of accelerated climate change. I do understand the motives of changing the paradigm from global warming to climate change but let us not kid ourselves it is accelerated climate change and our use of fossil fuels is contributing to the change. Don't get me wrong I love capitalism and I am a firm believer of free markets; the free market system is going to get us to sustainable development and will save our planet and our species I am markedly counting on it.
The problem is that this has to be a collective effort of all major players in our economic system. Not just individual families or consumers but all of us, that includes business, governments, non-governmental agencies, consumers the rich and poor to give the planet a fighting chance. Another very important point is the window to act is shrinking quickly our opportunity is fleeting and the event horizon is upon us. Can you look your young child in the eyes and tell them that we had the opportunity to become better custodians of our planet but we let our selfishness get in the way, I had to take care of mine first not knowing what is mine is also yours. I am not willing to have that shameful conversation with my children are you?
For those of you who want to do the right thing and earn profit at the same time well you have come to the right place there are companies that are at the forefront of new green technology like wind energy, solar energy, geo-thermal and others you just have to go out and find them and buy stock or bonds to support these efforts. I for one like BYD which is a Chinese lithium battery company jumping into the electric car business. If you want to stick with American efforts in this industry Tesla motors manufactures a mean electric sports and sedan vehicle that has a range of at least 300 miles on one charge. Are you kidding me?!? Yes we have the technology and we are not afraid to use it! There is demand for technologies such as these and they will grow. Marketers have to sell it and collaborations with others not in business like science is a smart fit. If you still don't know which way to turn as an investor, go to your favorite business magazine or newspaper and start your research cycle. You will not be sorry once you find out who the players are. The businesses taking the risk of getting out of the oil economy into the green economy are players you are familiar with like Exxon-Mobil, Toyota, Ford, and others invest in them you can't go wrong with these strong companies. However, as with any new market you may want to make a bet on some newcomers as well like BYD. Since I have shifted my focus into this new industry my portfolio has grown about 15-20%. That is not bad in a shaken economy and always remember be ready for some losses but if you are investing for the long haul you will do well. That is it for now but unlike the dire picture painted by some documentaries I am hopeful because there is money to be made in going green and I do mean lots of green! Happy investing.
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363
Date Published :
Jun 17 2009