Gore, AGW and Cashing In Money... was there ever any doubt... really?

[jmichna]

Why am I not surprised?

Gore Financially Invested in Climate Cause
By Fred Lucas
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
May 14, 2008
(CNSNews.com) - Weeks before announcing a $300-million, three-year advertising campaign to raise awareness about global warming, Al Gore was conducting a slide show for a group of investors in Monterey, Calif., touting companies such as Bloom Energy, Amryis , Mascoma and other firms that are not household names -- yet. These bio-fuel and green technology firms could be poised to take off, Gore told his audience.

"Here are just a few of the investments I personally think make sense," he said during the March 1 presentation. "I have a stake in these so I'll have a disclaimer there." (See Video)

Gore's admitted stake in those companies comes from his partnership in the venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB). Gore joined the firm last November, forging a partnership between KPCB and the London-based Generation Investment Management, a firm Gore chairs, and which steers investments in green and "sustainable" companies.

This month, KPCB announced it has invested $500 million into start-up "green growth" companies, and another $700 million into more established greentech, information technology and life science ventures.

The seed money is intended to "grow" the companies so they can be publicly traded. Both funds are closed to further investment. Last week, Generation Investment Management reportedly closed a $683-million "Climate Solutions Fund" to further investment.
......
To Gore's critics, his financial stake in businesses that could profit from government policies designed to fight global warming demonstrates a motivation other than a selfless desire to protect the planet.

Gore has lobbied Congress and state governments to enact bolder environmental regulations. Gore's defenders counter that he and his partners are simply looking at companies that will have long-term sustainability during the "climate crisis."

"There are a bunch of folks that stand to make real money, who have invested a lot in companies that are not worth real money until the agenda that this ad campaign is advocating is achieved," Chris Horner, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-enterprise think tank, said in an interview.

Companies in the KPCB portfolio, as start-up companies, might be in greater need of a helping hand from government policy changes, but the larger, more established firms in the GIM portfolio also could benefit if the government manipulates the current market by mandating alternative fuels or imposing a cap and trade system.

As a private citizen, Gore is not required to publicly disclose how much of his personal fortune is invested in the venture capital firm. KPCB spokeswoman Brianna Woon declined to say how much Gore had invested in the firms, and she said the firms couldn't comment at this time on whether the greentech companies can succeed without government action.

Lack of government action could delay profits, but the free market is nonetheless moving toward clean energy on its own, said Gary Patterson, an analyst with the Fiscal Doctor Inc., of Wellesley, Mass. He predicts a good return for the venture capital firm's green investments.

"It would be very helpful if you have government initiative. Without it, it will take longer for these to be economically viable," Patterson told Cybercast News Service

However, Bert Ely, a financial analyst with Ely & Associates of Alexandria, Va., is skeptical that the kind of green investment portfolio Gore is advocating can be profitable without government action. History has shown green companies to be risky ventures, he says

"Wind power, solar and bio-fuels all operate on tax subsidies or purchase requirements," Ely told Cybercast News Service. "The government stimulates demand. The most notorious subsidy is the 51 cent gas credit for ethanol."

"To the extent that you got some kind of government mandate here, whether it is cap-and-trade or a purchasing requirement, a taxpayer subsidy, to me that's a dicey way to look for a return on a venture because what the government giveth it can taketh away -- and often does," Ely said. "You're making a political bet, not an economic bet."
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In public statements, KPCB has pointed to the likelihood of new government policies as a selling point for investors.

"The growing sense of global urgency over our twin crisis -- climate change and energy security -- is now driving businesses to become green, consumers to demand green and policy makers to drive policies to accelerate the market adoption of green products," KPCB partner John Denniston said in a May 1 statement announcing the new ventures.

James Ritterbusch, a petroleum analyst and president of Galena, Ill.-based Ritterbusch & Associates, is skeptical about the ability of the green firms to succeed without government help.

"It would be a challenge," Ritterbusch told Cybercast News Service . "Ethanol would be a model. It was very difficult for ethanol to make inroads at all. Without a subsidy, it's an uphill battle."

Gore's 'We campaign'
Gore's ad campaign, titled "We," includes several commercials. In one of them, the conservative Rev. Pat Robertson joins the liberal Rev. Al Sharpton in calling for action to stop global warming. Another TV ad features former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich and current Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warning about the danger of climate change.

Neither Gore's Nashville-based office nor his non-profit organization Alliance for Climate Protection (ACP), which is sponsoring the campaign, responded to inquiries for this report.

The non-profit ACP has partnerships with United Steel Workers of American and the Girl Scouts of America, among others.

The ACP's Web site says the advertising effort is not just intended to lobby for legislation.

"The We campaign is not about supporting a particular bill or resolution," the site says. "It is about stimulating a cultural shift around this issue. Unfortunately, our leaders won't take the bold steps necessary until the American people demand real change. The We campaign is designed to catalyze this shift in public awareness and engagement."

Green business 'will make money'
Last November KPCB and Generation Investment Management announced a "global collaboration to find, fund and accelerate green businesses, technology and policy solutions with the greatest potential to help solve the current climate crisis."

When Gore joined KPCB as a partner, KCPB's John Doerr joined the Generation Investment Management advisory board.

GIM's long-term strategy for investing goes further than environmental factors, said company spokesman Richard Campbell. He said other sustainability factors, such as corporate governance and staff retention, also play a role.

"It's too simple to say that. It's just too simplistic. Generation's success is not based on a cap and trade system in the U.S.," Campbell told Cybercast News Service.

"I don't think you can read anything into Al Gore's campaign to make people understand the severity of the climate crisis for the last few decades with the performance of the fund management business that he chairs," Campbell continued. (ed: Oh, really?)

The GIM portfolio includes investments in firms such as Johnson Controls, which could profit from the battery systems for low-carbon emissions vehicles in the future. It also includes General Electric, which has teamed with the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), an alliance promoting a cap and trade system to the United States.

Campbell said the purpose of GIM is to make money for its investors, and anticipating the climate crisis is one way of doing that.

"Generation believes that the climate crisis will have an enormous impact on financial services, will have an enormous impact on business," Campbell continued. "Those businesses that are best able to take advantage of the opportunity for climate change will make money and those business that aren't ready to face up to the challenges of the climate crisis will lose money. That is the basic premise about long term investment."

Other companies in the Generation portfolio are Metabolix, a firm that develops bio-plastics, and alternative fuels; Waters Inc., a laboratory company that provides products for health care delivery, environmental management food safety and water quality; and Techne Corporation, which manufactures biological products.

"He's already in the global warming business," Matthew Vadum told Cybercast News Service . Vadum is a research associate for the Capital Research Center, a conservative think tank that has investigated Gore's financial interests in the global warming movement. "I believe Al Gore is a true believer, but he also is a smart businessman."

[one-eyed-fatman]

That's what our whole government is about these days. Nothing new here folks, let's move along.

[Etta Place]

If you favor capitalism and you think it's a good idea for people to make money and get rich, then why not get rich from something that is improving the world we live in rather than ruining it?

[XDConvert9mm]

Originally Posted by Etta Place

If you favor capitalism and you think it's a good idea for people to make money and get rich, then why not get rich from something that is improving the world we live in rather than ruining it?

What is your opinion about the article and what Al's doing Etta?

[Frenchy]

He's acting like a Republican?

[Etta Place]

Originally Posted by XDConvert9mm

What is your opinion about the article and what Al's doing Etta?

This about sums up what I think about what Gore is doing:

"He's already in the global warming business," Matthew Vadum told Cybercast News Service . Vadum is a research associate for the Capital Research Center, a conservative think tank that has investigated Gore's financial interests in the global warming movement. "I believe Al Gore is a true believer, but he also is a smart businessman."

[XDConvert9mm]

Originally Posted by Frenchy

He's acting like a Republican?

I knew the taste of the other Green would turn him!

Originally Posted by Etta Place

This about sums up what I think about what Gore is doing:

I've seen you speak out on a number of occasions against "smart", greedy, capitalistic businessmen. What makes Al different? Is it just getting wealthy in a socially acceptable, green manner that's OK?

[Frenchy]

If a person is financially successful it is usually because he's meeting a market need. The more he stays ahead of the curve, the more success achieved.

[XDConvert9mm]

Originally Posted by Frenchy

If a person is financially successful it is usually because he's meeting a market need. The more he stays ahead of the curve, the more success achieved.

I understand that part very well. That's what I do for a living too on a much smaller scale.

The article suggests that he is creating a need and getting Government backing and tax incentives for the businesses he is invested in to make these investments work through premises that may or may not be true, or at least are not universally accepted as fact at this time. The upshot to the whole thing, IMO, is that he is acting in direct conflict of public interest in order to make private interests work for him. Not exactly a new thing in the business world. This is what he's being called on though.

[Etta Place]

Originally Posted by XDConvert9mm

I knew the taste of the other Green would turn him!



I've seen you speak out on a number of occasions against "smart", greedy, capitalistic businessmen. What makes Al different? Is it just getting wealthy in a socially acceptable, green manner that's OK?

Possibly. I'm pretty much a tree-hugger, anti-war person. People can call me anti-American, but I think I love America and want to preserve what I think is beautiful about it. We have a beautiful country with many natural resources.

I do think it's the government's job to protect the people. Allowing businesses to pollute our air and water is not protecting the people.

However, I don't generally favor big government. I agree with Ron Paul that a bigger government just creates more opportunities for corruption. I don't like influence-buying as a general rule. I think lobbyists corrupt our political process.

And, I abhor the consumerism in our culture and think that greed and this worship of things is extremely bad for people in a spiritual sense and is bad for the planet in a physical sense.