The Sustainable Investing Paradox

How can we find investments that are going to last, make money and do good things for the planet? When I started learning about investing in mutual funds holding a diversified collection of stocks it became apparent that many funds held companies I did not like including makers of tobacco or guns. These mutual funds made good returns. However, when I looked for mutual funds that advertised being socially conscious many performed below market expectations.

I make no claims of providing advice beyond sharing my personal experience. One of the first sustainability mutual funds that I heard about was Pax World. Their website states:

“Established in 1971, Pax World is a recognized leader in sustainable investing. The Pax World sustainable investing approach fully integrates analysis of macroeconomic and market trends, fundamental security-specific financial data, environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, and disciplined portfolio strategies.”

There is a trend for many corporations to consider sustainability but there is a paradox. Cambridge Dictionary defines a paradox as, “a situation or statement that seems impossible or is difficult to understand because it contains two opposite facts or characteristics.” Will investing in ESG funds make good returns and be an incentive for the non-ESG companies to go out of business? In 2018, I wrote a blog on ESG investing when BlackRock endorsed the trend to be more competitive.

As consumers and investors we can vote with our money to choose companies that do more good than harm. Most importantly, we need transparency and experience to be informed in what we are buying. I like to checkout each stock’s fundamentals held in the mutual fund or ETF with information available on the internet such as in Yahoo Finance.

Checking out the top 10 holdings for several mutual funds listed as being “sustainable” they include many of the same S&P 500 tech companies, home builders, and banks. So sustainability is focused on the company’s behavior more than saying it is immune to bubbles and crashes.

Embedded in my DNA is a fear of another stock market crash like my parents lived through in 1929. I wonder how many people have this phobia as well? Fear, consumer confidence, and Fed intervention have a big influence on stock and bond markets.

What caused the crash? According to Economics.help:

“The 1929 stock market crash was a result of an unsustainable boom in share prices in the preceding years. The boom in share prices was caused by the irrational exuberance of investors, buying shares on the margin, and over-confidence in the sustainability of economic growth. Some economists argue the boom was also facilitated by ‘loose money’ with US interest rates kept low in the mid-1920s.”

The current U.S. stock market boom over the past decade is being compared to the 1920’s and 1960’s by many experts. Will ESG green investments survive a market meltdown? Probably not. According to a former Blackrock executive in charge of sustainable investments as interviewed in The Guardian, corporations are focused on maximizing shareholder value. Unless there are economic incentives such as a carbon tax imposed by the government, it is unlikely ESG funds will be successful. So consider carefully the “green-washing” of ESG and sustainable investing to realize there is a lot of slick marketing, maybe even smoke and mirrors, with the mutual fund industry. Please comment below to share your opinion.

Mitigating Nuclear Hazards - Part 1 Overview

(Originally posted June 3, 2019)

To discuss my experience with mitigating nuclear hazards, I like to say that I am the only person I know of who has worked on almost every aspect of the nuclear fuel cycle. Please let me know if you know anyone else making such a bold claim so perhaps we can gain their perspective? Groups that gave me this experience include the University of Wyoming, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, U.S. Department of Energy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as well as several consulting assignments.

Ironically, in the U.S. we do not have a complete nuclear fuel cycle so a person would need to work with the French on reprocessing spent fuel to go full circle. The examination of the nuclear fuel cycle for mitigating hazards is relevant to nations and taxpayers under the construct of Conserve & Pro$per on many levels that will be discussed.

As shown on the figure, the nuclear fuel cycle is the process necessary to generate electric power (as well as medical isotopes) in a reactor. The cycle begins with mining, involves several steps to produce and burn fuel rods, store spent fuel, then ultimately burial in a engineered-geological repository. As discussed on my blog post about the Green New Deal, we all use nuclear energy, which accounts for about 20% or one-fifth of our electricity generated in the U.S. So even for the anti-nuclear activists, we all must be aware of the risks and costs involving the nuclear fuel cycle including the fact that we must properly deal with existing nuclear waste.

I will need many blog postings to explain my experience with the nuclear fuel cycle and provide examples of mitigating nuclear hazards. Here is my proposed outline to be provided in upcoming blog posts:

1. Overview

2. Uranium Mining

3. Uranium Mills and Clean Up

4. Yellowcake Conversion, Enrichment, and Fuel

5. Nuclear Reactors - Operations, Relicensing, and Decommissioning

6. Spent Fuel Storage

7. High-level Waste Disposal

8. Accidents

Thanks for your support and interest!

A 30-day Blogging Challenge to Prepare the First Monthly Newsletter

(Originally posted June 1, 2019)

I am challenging myself to provide meaningful content on the Conserve & Prosper blog EVERY DAY this month of June 2019! In return, I would greatly appreciate your thoughts, likes (or dislikes), comments, and topics of interest to make this relevant to all the readers! If you’re interested in looking at my resume, please see my LinkedIn page.

I officially retired from my U.S. Government job as an environmental scientist just one month ago! I’m feeling a tremendous relief from the high-stress office politics that came from the top on down and look forward to sharing insights on my many experiences in future blogs. The federal government is increasingly a very challenging, chaotic and restrictive place to work, especially for dedicated scientists who are focused on truth, justice, and making meaningful actions.

I worked in several administrations starting with Ronald Reagan and civil servants were told to stay non-political and could not engage in political activism per the Hatch Act. With the sharp political, anti-government divisions of nationalism occurring in the U.S. and globally, civil servants and especially the scientific community are needing to become activists as demonstrated by the first March for Science as described in my blog on Earth Day 2017. A great book I highly recommend on the transition between the Obama to Trump administrations affecting the Department of Energy and other federal agencies is The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis!

However, disruptions also occurred when President Obama took office in 2008 and he made a campaign promise to Harry Reid, defying the law, to shut down the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. This resulted in my DOE Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management closing, reductions-in-force (i.e. layoffs), and total chaos for finding new jobs - especially for scientists as described by the Government Accountability Office. This severely affected the political environment of other agencies including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. I will go into much more detail in an upcoming blog on nuclear waste disposal.

Blogging (my First Amendment right) for the past four years during weekends and holidays gave me a healthy outlet but resulted in my making just a few posts per month. The blogging opened me up more than ever to what is going on in our precious environment and how people around the world are being affected yet becoming more aware of our perilous situation. Obviously, I had to be non-political (as a federal civil servant) to provide unbiased educational news. Now, I can REALLY share my opinion and views on what is happening on many topics!

Over the past two years, I have also been occasionally working as a substitute teacher at local elementary, middle, and high schools. What an awesome, exhilarating, and sometimes intense experience to spend time with youthfully exuberant kids as well as dedicated teachers and administrators. These full-time professionals definitely deserve more appreciation as shown through better pay and newer schools.

So far I have not been commercial advertising on the website and hope you’ve enjoyed the non-commercial content! In the near future, I plan to provide products including a monthly newsletter, educational posters. and much more. This feature is not active yet so please stand by for a few more weeks.

Thanks for all the support and please share with your family and friends!

Climate Commitments by BlackRock

Yesterday’s announcement by the Vatican on carbon pricing as a control on climate impacts included BlackRock, Inc., the largest asset management company in the world. They hold over 6.5 trillion dollars in assets for institutions and individual investors. They created iShares exchange-traded funds (ETFs) which holds stocks like an index mutual fund that are traded as stocks with low management fees. They also manage U.S. federal employee retirement pensions in the Thrift Saving Plan.

First for full disclosure, I own stock in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) but it has not performed well in the past 52 weeks, down 15%. The yield of over 3% is attractive and has a low price to earnings ratio (P/E). They have 70 offices in 30 countries but recently needed layoffs to control costs.

According to the BlackRock history webpage, eight people created BlackRock in 1988 (including the current CEO Larry Fink) “to put clients’ needs and interests first.” They became a public company in 1999 and have tremendous influence on other companies and investors.

In September 2016, BlackRock issued a statement on climate change: “Investors can no longer ignore climate change. Some may question the science, but all are faced with a swelling tide of climate-related regulations and technological disruption. We show how to mitigate climate risks, exploit opportunities or have a positive impact.”

In January 2019 they announced the BlackRock Investment Stewardship’s approach to engagement on climate risk, “As part of its investment process on behalf of its clients, BlackRock assesses a range of factors that might affect the long-term financial sustainability of the companies in which we invest. We have determined that climate change presents significant investment risks and opportunities that have the potential to impact the long-term value of many companies.”

Therefore, BlackRock is taking a leadership role in the climate change debate by showing business sustainability must consider short and long-term risk factors. Climate change poses the greatest risk to humanity so businesses cannot afford to ignore science realities despite the noise and confusion coming from some sectors of government and industry.

Extreme Floods

Extreme flooding is occurring across the U.S. due to record rainfall affecting the midwest, central states and east coast. In addition, in Colorado and other mountain states we are seeing rapid snowmelt causing flooding along major waterways. The U.S. Geological Survey provides Water Watch information on streamflow and flood locations.

What Get's Your Attention?

What’s popular that gets your attention? How do children develop their interests? Would you agree it largely depends upon home and school as well as what medium, such as books, TV or the internet, gets our interest and attention? When interviewing people for jobs, I’ve often asked what would they be doing if making money was NOT a priority? This helps reveal their true passion in life! My childhood developed my passion for becoming an environmental scientist and luckily my liberal arts education as well as science degrees gave me well-rounded interests.

So what gets your attention the most now and when you were a child? For me, I’ve been spending a lot of time recently looking at news feeds from my LinkedIn groups where I currently have 1,272 professional connections around the world. I’m also connected to LinkedIn news from very large user groups including the Project Management Network with over 860,000 members, Sustainability Professionals with close to 190,000 members, and Water Pros with over 47,000 members. So in total currently I’m able to reach over a million people through LinkedIn. Social media is having an incredible reach, which I’ll discuss more in a moment.

Looking back, what influenced you the most that got your attention to shape your education and professional interests? Growing up, I was lucky that my Mom’s brother Uncle Allan lived with us and subscribed to the National Geographic magazine — living in the Washington D.C. area I got to meet one of their photographers who attended our church who shared exciting stories about his world travels. The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau was by far my favorite TV show as an adolescent which influenced me to become a natural scientist. His show ran from 1966 to 1975. What a thrill I had in 1984 seeing John Denver perform in D.C. on board the Calypso while docked on the Potomac River with Mr. Cousteau and his family!

The final episode last month of the 12-year Big Bang Theory series, as of May 21st, 2019, attracted 23.4 million TV viewers and the final season was the most watch show of the season (excluding sporting events).

You can probably guess the most watched TV shows. The Super Bowl generates the largest TV audience with the 2015 match between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks attaching the most viewers in TV history with 114 million people! However, viewership has been dropping in recent years with the 2019 game being the lowest in a decade with “only” 98 million according to CNBC.

Incredible are the number of people watching YouTube videos. Several music videos are seeing billions of viewers like Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You with over 4 billion views!

So these days to attract the youth and get their attention maybe we will need to learn to sing and dance?

Green New Deal: Inserting Realities into Radical Proposals

The Green New Deal proposed this month in Congress calls for radical changes to how we get our electricity. The non-binding resolution introduced by two progressive Democrats as reported by NPR suggests the energy sector can be converted to 100% zero-carbon power within 10 years while at the same time eliminating future nuclear power plants.

Can the U.S. realistically eliminate generating electricity from natural gas, coal and possibly nuclear sources in the next decade? According to the Energy Information Agency, here are the present sources of power generated in the U.S.: Natural Gas 33%, Coal 29%, Nuclear 20%, Hydroelectric 7%, Wind 7%, Solar 2%, and Biomass 2%

As you can see, 64% of current power generated releases carbon. Nuclear power does not directly emit carbon into the atmosphere and receives mixed to negative support by environmentalists. Currently, renewable wind and solar only accounts for 9% of power generation.

So it is not realistic to propose converting the entire power fleet in a decade to renewables only. Senator Diane Feinstein from California, which leads the nation in renewable power generation, said the Green New Deal must be modified to be more realistic, provide funding such as a carbon tax, and not have such an ambitious timeline. Most of the news coverage showed her defensively debating with children.

I believe that the Green New Deal is timely for creating the debates needed to move the United States from being the second largest emitter of carbon (China is the largest) to leading the future of green power generation and that rational realism, such as including new nuclear technologies as reported in Forbes, needs to be adopted in future legislation and energy planning.

The Children's Fight for Sustainability: Jesus said The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth

In the United States, two groups, Our Children’s Trust and Earth Guardians, filed a lawsuit against the federal government in 2015 to give youth legal rights to a stable climate and healthy atmosphere. Their lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon states that government actions (filed during the Obama Administration) that are causing climate change violates the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, as well as protecting public trust resources.

In Europe this week, children in several cities are cutting classes to march and protest for a sustainable future. The BBC reports of 35,000 children marched against climate change in Brussels!

So what did Jesus, over two thousand years ago, mean in the Bible verse Mathew 5:5 by saying “The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth?” My reading of various interpretations is that Jesus encouraged his followers to be strong and humble - recall his actions against the thieves in the temple?

The environmental movement rise in the 1960’s focusing on local issues is transforming into a global fight for not just sustainability, to preserve resources, but for survivability! What would Jesus be saying right now given how destructive forces (eco-thieves) are robbing our children’s futures? This is a call to action for us all to become more informed about what we can do to reduce our impacts on the Earth. Perhaps we need an eco-inheritance tax rather than tax breaks for the ultra rich?

To Conserve & Pro$per: Let Us Count The Ways!

I heard Chinese Proverb many decades ago that says, “The more possessions you own, the more possessions own you.” At the time I loved to collect books and possessed an extensive library. As I moved around with many boxes of books I eventually donated the books and relied on public libraries. This took a great weight off of my back!

For over six years we’ve demonstrated that even living in an area of no public transit we are happy with one vehicle for our family. We are paying less for car insurance, maintenance, fuel, car washes, and we have more quality family time together. Personal vehicles like personal computers might be the trend but the costs to our pocketbook and the environment will only increase.

So will a carbon fuel tax be one solution to combat global climate change? This would promote green energy sources and decrease demand on hydrocarbons and burning coal for electricity.

The essence of learning to conserve fits many themes to shrink our footprint, have less impact, consume less, 3R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle), and promote more green space. We must plant more trees and preserve the forests and wildlife that remain!

For a New Year’s resolution, let’s all go on a diet and exercise more! Eat less, get thinner, breath fresher air, feel our connection with animals and the environment and find ways to recognize and solve our local, national, and global challenges.

May we all promote a peaceful and prosperous lifestyle!

Momentous Climatic Events Last Week

The day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday for shopping deals, heavy rain along coastal California finally ended the tragic fires that spread north and south. The Camp Fire near Chico killed about 88 people, injured dozens, displacing 1000’s of people out of their homes, and impacted millions of people from significant air pollution. That same day the U.S. Government released the fourth national climate assessment that shows burning carbon is causing climate change and impacting our health, environment, and economy. See how these factors are interrelated in chapter 17.

On Monday, November 26, 2018 NASA successfully landed a probe on Mars!  Scientists and engineers beat the odds learning from previous missions for InSight to drill down to see what lies beneath the surface of Mars.

Exploring Mars captures international attention while NASA scientists continue to make important contributions to understanding our Earth. So how does NASA know climate change is occurring due to carbon pollution? See the overwhelming factual evidence for climate change!

On Friday, November 30, President George H.W. Bush passed away at age 94. His dedicated career of public service included environmental accomplishments with the passage of the Clean Air Amendments Act in 1990.  I worked with a colleague in Washington who helped as a Senate staffer and said the original Clean Air Act legislation had many challenges to get through Congress and they needed to show photographs of air pollution affecting national parks like the Smoky Mountains. The amendments had bipartisan support to improve air quality, reduce acid rain, save the protective ozone layer with more bans on CFC’s, and prevent an estimated 230,00 premature deaths and for “Better air quality, better health protection, better economy.”

More Bicycles than Cars or People in Amsterdam!

I’ve posted 15 photographs of our visit to Amsterdam this past week showing the popularity of bicycling and multiple parking locations near train stations, canals, schools, office parks, ferry boats, beach areas, and trains (check out the bike folded in half)! There are more bikes than people and about four times more bikes than cars according to AwesomeAmsterdam.com! Many people do not own a car and depend on biking around town. Obviously the air is clearer and people are healthier getting daily exercise. One day I wondered why all the 100’s of bike seats turned red, was it from a tour group - compare gallery bike photos 4 and 9 at the Sloterdijk Train Station? No, a clever advertiser overnight added seat covers. Luckily bicycle parking is free to all.

UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals

UNESCO Global Geoparks and their contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere

• Especially target 1.5:
  "By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters"

Disaster risk reduction is essential to ending poverty and fostering sustainable development. The bottom-up approach of the UNESCO Global Geoparks reduces the vulnerability of local communities to extreme events and other shocks and disasters through active risk awareness and resilience training.

Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

• Especially target 4.7:
  "By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development"

UNESCO Global Geoparks actively educate their local communities and their visitors of all ages. UNESCO Global Geoparks are outdoor classrooms and incubators for sustainable development, sustainable lifestyles, appreciation of cultural diversity and the promotion of peace.

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

• Especially target 5.5:
  "Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life"

UNESCO Global Geoparks strongly emphasize the empowerment of women through educational programmes or the development of women’s cooperatives. Such cooperatives provide an opportunity for women to obtain an additional income in their own area and on their own terms.

Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

• Especially target 8.9:
  "By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and product"

The promotion of sustainable local economic development through sustainable (geo)tourism is one of the key pillars of a UNESCO Global Geopark. This creates job opportunities for the local communities through tourism, but also through the promotion of local culture and products.

Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

• Especially target 11.4:
  "Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage"

Protection, safeguarding and celebrating our cultural and natural heritage are the foundation of the holistic approach of the UNESCO Global Geoparks. UNESCO Global Geoparks aim to give local people a sense of pride in their region and strengthen the identification with the area.

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

• Especially target 12.8:
  "By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature"

• and target 12.b:
  "Develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products"

UNESCO Global Geoparks educate and create awareness on sustainable development and lifestyles. They teach the local communities and visitors to live in harmony with nature.

Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

• Especially target 13.3:
  "Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning"

All UNESCO Global Geoparks hold records of past climate change and are educators on current climate change. Through educational activities awareness is raised on the issue and people are provided with knowledge to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.

Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

• Especially target 17.6:
  "Enhance North-South, South-South and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge sharing on mutually agreed terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, in particular at the United Nations level, and through a global technology facilitation mechanism"

• target 17.9:
  "Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the sustainable development goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation"

• and target 17.16:
  "Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the sustainable development goals in all countries, in particular developing countries"

UNESCO Global Geoparks are all about partnership and cooperation, not only between local stakeholders, but also internationally through regional and global networks were knowledge, ideas and best practices are shared. Experienced geoparks guide aspiring geoparks to reach their full potential.

Outline for Potential Book

Occasionally I get ambitiously motivated to write a book to share experiences from my Earth Science perspective on individual to global survivability, i.e. improving our odds, through adversity and becoming more resilient. I would like to summarize blog posts over the past three years, learn and discuss local examples I’ve heard about here in Grand Junction -- like capturing landfill methane gas to supply CNG vehicles -- and seek out the best practices worldwide. I started on an outline for a book that I am initially calling:

Survival Sustainability: What We All Need to Know Now and For Our Children’s Future

Here is an outline with some ideas that I began BEFORE finding 30+ books on the topic of sustainability. This outline might take the form of book chapters:

Successful and Unsuccessful Societies Throughout History

                Greek Trojan Horse, Rise & Fall of the Roman Empire, Hopis Seven Generations, Chaco Canyon and Pueblo People from Mesa Verde to Santa Fe

What Kind of Place Will Our Children and Grandchildren Inherit?

Plan for the Best, Prepare for the Worst

Meeting Our Basic Needs: Maslow's Hierarchy

Food, Diet, Exercise, Health, Water, Homes and Bathrooms, Getting Around

Origins of Our Universe and Many Changes Through Geologic Time

Life, Proliferation, Population Bomb, Extinctions

Earth’s Precious Resources and Finite Capacity

Nature: Weathering Extreme Events including Earthquakes, Floods, Fires, Tornados, Hurricanes, Drought

Neighborhood Watch to Governance – Local, County, State, Federal, International

Resilient Businesses and Investment Opportunities

Reestablishing the Ecological Balance of Nature – Wilson’s Half Earth proposal

Global Walk for a Livable World and Hands Across America

Nature and Spirituality – Indigenous People, Emerson, Thoreau, Ammachi

Appendices: Checklists

Please send me your thoughts about this book proposal and things you would like to know more about! Thank you!

Gaining a Competitive Advantage with ESG

OMG! Will ESG be the megatrend that transforms our planet? Environmental, Social and Governance is certainly becoming an important trend for businesses, investors, and governments.

Robert Eccles, Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School, and other scholars have compiled articles on Sustainability and Shareholder Value.

He wrote in 2016 that, “Recent research provides persuasive evidence of a latent investor appetite for the reporting of material ESG information that goes beyond conventional financial statements… In April 2015, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, in his now-annual letter to the CEOs of portfolio companies, said that investors “also have an important role to play, which is why we engage actively with companies on the key governance factors that in our experience support long-term, sustainable, financial performance. Chief among these is board leadership—in our view, the board is management’s first line of defense against short-term pressures… In a world increasingly sensitive to income inequality and suspicious of the corporate quest for profit, promoting a broader understanding of the role of the corporation in society is one of the most pressing issues facing the sustainable development movement. It will become even more important now that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were ratified by all United Nations’ Member States in September of 2015. As social expectations continue to rise about how corporations, especially the world’s largest corporations, can contribute to a more sustainable society, companies have no choice but to respond. Ultimately, the company’s license to operate comes from civil society. However, the company needs to be clear on which issues are a priority, as determined by its chosen significant audiences, and which are not. The Statement of Significant Audiences and Materiality offers the board has a unique and unprecedented opportunity to present a clear and credible view of their company’s role in society—one that can guide management’s decision-making and its interactions with its significant audiences and other stakeholders.”

A recent positive example of ESG becoming relevant is the banning plastic straws and stirrers used in drinks to cut pollution, particularly in the oceans, which is gaining popularity in several coastal states of the U.S., in Europe and with many businesses like Starbucks and Alaska Airlines. I learned that a Girl Scout began a non-profit called Jr Ocean Guardians and is credited with starting the trend!

Check out Yahoo Finance which provides a watchlist of companies that rank high for sustainability.

MSCI ranks 6,400 companies and 400,000 equity and fixed income securities globally and says this trend is catching in Asia as it has in the western world.

Memorial Day 2018: Sustainable Freedom

My father contributed to winning World War II by fighting for American freedom against predominantly German and Japanese dictatorships. He defended our Constitution that grants many freedoms to our republic which brought people immigrating from around the world to enjoy freedoms including of speech, religion, press and assembly. He worked his entire career for the Navy Department so I grew up in the suburbs of Washington D.C.

Our national holiday of Memorial Day is interesting to observe from an international perspective. America helped rebuild Europe with the Marshall Plan and we've enjoyed sustainable freedom for 73 years through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). However, many of these freedoms are increasingly being challenged as international cooperation breaks down by strong nationalist and protectionist views. 

One of America's closes allies since the Civil War period has been the southeast Asian country of Thailand - which translated means "Freedom" and is the only country in the region to escape colonial rulers. King Mongkut offered the use of elephants to America in 1861 which is still seen as a gift of friendship. The U.S. operates many military bases in Thailand which became a hub for our soldiers during the Vietnam war.

I recently learned about the Ten Royal Virtues of the recently deceased King Bhumibol (whom I previously posted a blog on 10.29.17 regarding his successful environmental stewardhip). These come directly from the Buddhist tradition known as the Ten Duties of the Government as described in the book What the Buddha Taught:

1. Giving - Non-attachment to wealth and property; consider first the welfare of the people.

2. Morality - Avoid cheating, adultery, lying or using intoxicants.

3. Donation - Sacrifice for the good of the people.

4. Honesty - Never deceive the public.

5. Gentleness - Be kind.

6. Simple life - Avoid a life of luxury.

7. Non-anger - Never bear a grudge against anyone.

8. Harmlessness - Be non-violent to promote peace.

9. Endurance or Patience - Be understanding of others.

10. Right Actions - Be in harmony with the people.

As we celebrate the freedoms fought for by the Greatest Generation, let us seek virtue, peace, and harmony in our inner and outer worlds. 

Demonstrating a Climate of Hope

Despite all the terrible events this year caused in large part by global climate change: including the worst wildfire season in the Pacific U.S.; major Category 5 hurricanes that destroyed much of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, parts of Florida, and Houston; droughts in the southwest and snow in the southeast parts of U.S….there are numerous reasons to keep hope alive. In fact, perhaps because of these and many other tragic events, a new awaking is emerging worldwide that we got ourselves into this mess by not understanding the delicate balance of nature and cumulative human impacts, so we must quickly find ways out of our calamity.

After reading a new book published this summer by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Sierra Club president Carl Pope, I feel so much more informed and optimistic about positive actions being taken. The book is titled Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet.

Mr. Bloomberg shares his wisdom that many mayors are making substantial progress in sharp contrast to the dysfunction in Washington. In New York City, ten years ago he led implementing sustainability with PlaNYC. A great outcome is the greening of the Empire State Building! Mr. Pope describes many battles that he personally waged such as the Beyond Coal campaign which prevented about 120 coal plants from being built allowing for newer, cleaner technologies to emerge. The book exemplifies the Earth Day idea of Think Globally, Act Locally.

Both leaders describe green actions including jobs that are transforming our society. For example, instead of promoting more coal mining jobs which are being replaced mostly by robotics so why not help out of work coal miners get jobs to restore areas damaged by past mining?

So here is a list of some great quotes cited in Climate of Hope from seven mayors and other renowned thinkers as chapter headings giving a sense of multiple topics:

·         Dwight D. Eisenhower: “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

·         Denis Coderre: “If you want to get things done, ask a mayor.”     

·         Jason Box: “It’s really quite simple. We’ve overloaded the atmosphere with heat-trapping gas and the rest are just details.”

·         Cindy Lerner: “Turning the Miami region into a real-world Atlantis is a fate we cannot accept.”

·         Alisha Winters: “Our families deserve clean air, and we have been without it for far too long.”

·         Dale Ross: “Our municipal utility will move to 100 percent renewables…Environmental zealots have not taken over our city council. Our move to wind and solar is chiefly a business decision.”

·         Kasim Reed: “You cannot have a national initiative without involving cities.”

·         Alice Waters: The reality is that the sustainable-food movement’s reach will grow only to a point and ultimately will be limited to those with access, means, and education – unless legislators dramatically change food and agriculture policy.”

·         Yeom Tae-Young: “As urban populations continue to grow, we cannot rely on the business-as-usual scenario of car-based cities.”

·         Amory Lovins: “Oil dependence is a problem we need no longer have – and it’s cheaper not to. U.S. oil dependence can be eliminated by proven and attractive technologies that create wealth, enhance choice, and strengthen common security.”

·         Diane Regas: A sustainable world is possible if we take advantage of the vast opportunities in manufacturing. We must view these industries – and their supply chains – as a source of solutions, not just a source of problems.”

·         Christiana Figueres: “Climate change increasingly poses one of the biggest long-term threats to investment.”

·         Mitch Landrieu: “For generations, barrier islands, marshes, and cypress trees as far as the eye could see protected us from hurricanes…For decades the coast has been under attack from every angle: cut by canals, starved of nutrients, and battered by storms…This attack must stop and be reversed.”

·         Albert Einstein: “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.”

·         Marty Walsh: “We know that climate action only works when we get everyone involved: our government, our businesses, neighborhoods, and residents.”

Celebrating the Life and Environmental Stewardship of the King of Thailand

This week, Thailand is celebrating and mourning the life and passing of King Bhumibol, with a cremation ceremony one year after his death. I've traveled to Thailand many times over the past 23 years and always felt greatly impressed by the love people displayed for their King. By learning more about his many accomplishments - especially with environmental stewardship, I began to understand the people's devotion. 

I experienced first hand the great accomplishments of the King regarding environmental and economic development. In 1994, I traveled to several Asian countries as a tourist and no where else did I feel so warmly greeted with great kindness as in Thailand - the Land of 1000 Smiles. One of the first things that I noticed was the caring and respect for family and especially the elders, the lack of homelessness, and genuine generosity. 

I traveled with an American doctor friend who volunteered at a hospital in Bangkok. When I saw the newspaper of an environmental conference in honor of the King to be held near Pattaya, I knew I had to go. The conference displayed technology from many countries for air and water purification and ways to improve agriculture. I became very impressed with the many accounts that I heard for the King's direct involvement and creativity to improve the lives of Thai people. One example I observed was the way he worked with rural farmers to improve rice crops, reduce flooding, and clean water.

Here is an article on the King's sustainable development practices and a thoughtful speech last year shown by video of U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power on the life and connections of the Thai King.

Schendler’s List for Corporate Sustainability

Auden Schendler shares compelling war (and peace) stories from the front lines of the sustainability movement separating corporate propaganda from real advancements. After reading his 2009 book, we shared some text messages and he says, “in short, if business doesn’t approach climate at scale, it’s not part of the solution.”

In the 2009 book, Getting Green Done: Hard Truths from the Front Lines of the Sustainability Revolution, he describes his influential role as sustainability manager for Aspen Skiing Company. Mr. Schendler points out that Aspen, Colorado is a mecca for the ultra-affluent, generating world-wide attention, so has a greater impact on corporate decisions. Aspen is also a poster child for the impacts of climate change where the winter season already lost a month due to early springtime just in the past few decades. The future of the ski industry (as well as the entire planet) is being jeopardized by global warming, aka. climate change.

More recently in 2013, Auden Schendler and co-author Michael Toffel provided a list of five actions needed for meaningful corporate sustainability programs:

1.       Lobby local, national and international political leaders to reduce carbon

2.      Insist trade groups give priority to climate policy

3.      Market climate activism

4.      Partner with effective non-governmental organizations

5.      Demand suppliers reduce greenhouse gas emissions