US Getting Into Position on Clean Tech ... Left Out
While some US companies are making moves to take advantage of the pro-active climate change policies in other countries (like China), most are asleep at the wheel. This article describes what some co's are doing, and gives three main points investors and companies should be considering to maximize their return as many non US countiries and companies minimize their emmissions:
- First, investors must understand the financial risks for companies in which they own shares and companies must do a better job of analyzing and describing those risks in the public reports they file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If companies don't do this, investors should demand it. A growing number of the nation's largest pension funds are filing shareholder resolutions requesting that companies disclose their risks from climate change and how they plan to avert them.
- Investment managers need to more accurately assess climate risk exposure in evaluating companies and industry sectors. More robust research practices are also needed to better analyze and model how businesses and sectors are threatened by various global warming scenarios, whether from weather impacts or regulatory changes.
- Finally, investors must channel their investment capital to take advantage of new clean technology opportunities. As more states and countries move to adopt carbon controls -- whether on vehicles in California or China, or on power plants in the Northeast -- markets for hybrid vehicles, clean-coal processes, and other clean technologies will only magnify. Investors should take advantage by investing in companies and portfolios that are well positioned.
In a few years this will all be mainstream. We're in a brief window of time where you might be able to profit off of the differences in climate change awareness among companies. It's hard to watch the US Fed. government move so slowly, but great to see some US states and companies do an end-around. That's what makes ours a great system of government. If one part of it is fucking up, the rest are under no obligation to do the same.
posted by Andy Bochman at 9:19 PM
 
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