Investing In A Sustainable World

Why Green Is The New Color Of Money On Wall Street

 by Matthew J. Kiernan, Ph.D.

This book was a tough read for me. I'm not really a money guy, so a lot of what Kiernan was talking about went over my head. However, I found his premise fascinating:

"Companies capable of managing ES [Environmental and Social] challenges better than their competitors are quite likely to be better-managed companies."

That's something that makes sense on the face of it, for a change.

Now, you've probably heard about "socially responsible investing," but Kiernan makes it clear that's not the kind of investment he's talking about,

The differences between the two approaches are, in fact, quite stark and fundamental. Traditional SRI is primarily driven by values. Investors view companies through the prisms of their own personal values: for or against contraception, alcohol, genetically modified foods, pornography, animal testing, company involvement in Sudan or Myanmar, and so on. Historically, financial returns have been only a secondary consideration; expressing one's personal values through investment practices has been paramount ... Sustainability investing, on the other hand, is ... all about investment risk and return and simply uses the analysis of the performance and positioning of companies on ES and other "nontraditional" issues as proxies to help identify better-managed, more nimble companies.

The one thing I found really interesting was that several energy companies and mining companies were on Kiernan's good buy list, so he's not whistling Dixie when he says that ES investing is "all about investment risk and return."

So far, so good. But the one thing that really bugged me about the book was the fact that it seemed almost like an infomercial for Kiernan's company, Innovest Strategic Value Advisors. It seemed like every chapter had an example drawn from Innovest Strategic Value Advisors. Did I mention that Kiernen is the founder and chief executive of Innovest Strategic Value Advisors?

That quibble aside, I found the premise plausible and Kiernan's arguments for ES-based investing were highly compelling. And the chart at the end of the book showing Innovest Strategic Value Advisors' picks of companies that are best managing ES issues is reason enough alone to by this book.

Although, it would be interesting to go through the list and find out how well those companies are dealing with the present financial crisis. I recommend this book for people who who are interested in investing and money matters -- which, unfortunately, is not me.

I've been wondering why Dick Cheney's been putting himself in the spotlight lately. Turns out that he's trying to shop his memoirs around for multi-millions of dollars. What better way to jack up the price than to be in the limelight all the time.

He's also trying to save his place in history -- and stave off criminal prosecution. It does seem odd, though, that he would actively antagonize the guy -- President Obama -- who can put him in jail. Cheney keeps calling for the Whitehouse to release torture memos. He'd better watch what he wishes for -- he just might get it.

The Republican Party narrowly shut down a resolution to rename the Democratic Party, the "Democrat Socialist Party." What a bunch of buffoons! Don't Republicans have anything better to do than call their opponent's names? Like, maybe, come up with a plan for reforming healthcare, or weaning the US from foreign oil, or regulating the financial sector, or improving education? Apparently not.

I guess when you've completely run out of ideas, the only thing left is name calling. And the Republican Party has obviously run out of ideas.

Let me state here and now that I am proud to belong the Democratic Party -- the party of ideas and solutions. I almost feel sorry for the 21 percent of Americans who still think of themselves as Republicans. Almost.

All five of California's budget proposals failed to pass yesterday. The only proposal that did pass was one that prevented politicians from voting themselves a pay raise during a financial crisis -- something that would never happen anyway.

So now -- because my fellow Californians didn't want to pay for them -- firefighters, police, and teachers are going to be cut. They'll probably fire state bureaucrats as well, which means even longer lines and even surlier representatives at the DMV [shudder].

Californians need to own up to the fact that they control the state's budget and vote accordingly. No more voting to "punish the politicians." It's not the politicians who will be punished by these punitive acts -- it's US. WE are the people being punished by larger classroom sizes, more crime, and more out of control wildfires.

I hope you guys are all ready to reap that which you have sown -- because it's going to be bad.

Dick Cheney is talking up a storm. Now he's saying that the torture memos released by the Obama administration only tell half the story. He's saying that there are other memos that show how much useful information was gleaned through the use of torture.

The problem is, it's already a well known fact that the torture of Abu Zubaydah didn't reveal anything -- and it's doubtful that the torture of other prisoners yielded any information of the significance to which Cheney alludes.

No, it's more likely that Cheney is throwing that out as a red herring to create a political debate over whether he should be tried for authorizing the illegal torture of prisoners. He's going to insist that there's evidence that will back him up, and I doubt that it will ever appear -- because I don't believe it exists.

This is all a way for Cheney to so politicize the torture hearing that are coming that we'll all throw up our hands and say, Forget it!

Did anyone else see Elizabeth Warren on the Daily Show last week?

I'm not sure what's more disturbing: The fact that Bush's Treasury Secretary screwed us, or that she had trouble remembering what PPIP was an acronym for. In any case, I thought it was a fascinating interview. Especially the part about how we got into this mess -- ripping the fabric out of our regulatory system.

Ok, beyond the ill-thought out name for these events, I just don't get what these tea-baggers are protesting. I mean, most -- if not all -- of them got a tax cut this year. This was an event staged by the multi-millionaires and billionaires who's taxes will go up in 2011 -- to about ten percentage points less than they were under the Reagan administration. These protesters are being used.

I can understand people's frustrations over the bailout that President Bush approved. We still don't know where that money went. But an anti-tax protest?!! Come on! 95% of Americans are paying the lowest taxes they have in 30 years.

I'm more worried about finding a new job, and I certainly can't protest the government over that. President Obama's doing the best he can to dig us out of the hole that President Bush put this country in. I feel sorry for the people who were used by the richest five percent for these anti-tax protests. But, come on!

Well, President Obama authorized the armed response that resulted in the freedom of a ship captain held by pirates off the Somali coast. That's quite a difference from the disgraceful way President Bush acted in the crises during his first year.

First there was the spy plane incident where President Bush actually apologized to the Chinese because they downed on of our spy planes. Which got the crew back safely -- and the plane back in tiny pieces. Then there was the way President Bush dealt with a terrorist hostage crisis -- by paying the ransom to free American missionaries from the al-Qaeda-affiliated group Abu Sayyaf. I'm certainly glad to see Obama didn't follow in the foot steps of the supposedly "great leader", G.W. Bush.

Then, of course, there was Bush's initial reaction to 9/11 -- to continue reading "My Pet Goat" while the nation was under attack. Disgraceful.

There's quite a change in the White House nowadays -- and it's all so good, so far.