What Global Warming?

ExxonMobil claims to be “taking on the world’s toughest energy challenges.” If you visit the corporate website, you can view what it believes to be the key energy-related issues facing our nation. Things like “earnings” and “investments” are recurring themes, and it seems as though the high price of gasoline is a challenge to growing profits rather than a challenge to create change. Exxon notes that even if all the corn in the entire country were utilized for fuel, it would account for only 15% of US gasoline consumption, which is its only discussion of renewable fuels.



Companies such as BP and Shell attack the energy and the environment issue first and foremost on their websites and are actively seeking investment in new, cleaner, technologies. Exxon, on the other hand, as part of its research into the effects of global warming, decided to “embrace the uncertainty in all of this,” as its head researcher told scientists at MIT. Though industries such as solar and wind power have not become mainstream yet, they are important to the environment — and, as BP and Shell have realized, also important for corporate image.

ExxonMobil is unapologetic when it comes to its lack of investment in sustainable fuel technology, and instead is looking into cleaner ways to burn existing fuel. The oil company’s approach to the energy crisis as it relates to sustainability is understandable; earnings can seem more tangible than environment effects. Emphasizing what isn’t known rather than what is known about global warming and how it relates to fossil fuel emissions is ExxonMobil’s strategy, and whether it will work in the long term or not will ultimately be decided by the company’s customers…unless the world’s toughest energy challenge becomes finding the energy to ship everyone to live on Mars.

For more information: www.exxonmobil.com

Two Shades of Green

On Wall Street money seems to fall from the rafters of grandiose investment banks only to land comfortably in the hands of overworked (and certainly not underpaid) investment bankers. Charged with investing the huge amounts of wealth deposited in their vaults, banks and their seasoned employees might want to consider using investing in another shade of green: sustainable green.

Bruce M. Kahn, PhD of Smith Barney, feels the same way. Especially when investing in real estate, green buildings and sustainable design are becoming more and more valuable not only as physical property, but as commodities in stock markets as well. In a lecture presented by the U.S. Green Building Council, Kahn examined the great potential for green in Real Estate Investment Trusts (or REITs, as they are sometimes known).

REITs are groups that own various real estate properties and sell shares of that real estate to investors. As a piece of real estate becomes more desirable, the number of people who want to invest in partial ownership of that real estate will grow, thus driving up its value in the physical marketplace and its share price in the stock market. While the idea of rising share prices will always interest the wealthy investor, this scenario can be looked at from another exciting angle. As more people begin to invest in buildings that boast a sustainable design, the demand for this type of facility will be driven up, and more green buildings will start to pop up all over the world. Not only will the market for investors become more enticing, but also the ability for citizens of the world to live and work in a more sustainable environment will expand. The color wheel of green economics is beautiful in any shade.

As we pour our hard earned green into sustainable design, not only will we see a return on that investment in the form of more cash, we will also start to see a return in the form of spreading green architecture. As Wall Street seeks to continually diversify its portfolio to stay in the green, it need look no further than what is already green.