How to make your portfolio “fracking-free”

As the 2016 presidential campaign gets into full swing, voters across the country have an opportunity to hear directly from the candidates on important issues. Neither of the two major political parties has taken a coherent, ethically rigorous stance on hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” But there are other ways for the ecologically conscious to make their voices heard on this issue, including voting with their pocketbooks. Fracking, which involves using a highly pressurized mix of water, sand, and toxic chemicals to unlock oil and natural gas from shale rock buried miles underground, is recognized by experts as dangerous. Fracking can cause methane leaks (a greenhouse gas that’s much more harmful than carbon dioxide) and seismic activity and can set water ablaze. And if methane, flammable water, and earthquakes weren’t bad enough, other problems with fracking include excessive water consumption, waste management issues, and air pollution. Thanks to fracking, the United States is now the world’s leading producer of oil and natural gas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). EIA estimates that total U.S. gas production from 2012 to 2040 will increase 56 percent, with natural gas from shale as the leading contributor. The shale gas share of total

August 24, 2016 No Comments

Global warming’s best friend: the megabank

Most of us are aware of the existential threat that climate change poses to our species. The immediate impacts of a warmer planet range from melting polar ice caps to drought, famine, and extreme weather events globally. Google the phrase “Kiribati climate change” to read more about the people whose country is expected to be the first to disappear due to rising sea levels. If greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current pace, experts warn that widespread catastrophe looms by the beginning of the next century. The most notorious culprit in this drama is carbon dioxide (CO2). Most CO2 emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels. Thus, fossil fuel companies have been the target of a sustained divestment campaign by the socially responsible investment industry. While divestment is impactful, there is a critical but often overlooked driver of investment in the fossil fuel industry that has only now begun to get the collective attention of the environmentally conscious: big banks. Banks play an essential role in allocating financial resources for the private sector. They do this through their lending and investment operations. For example, coal-fired power plants, the nation’s top source of CO2 emissions, are costly to build, typically

May 6, 2016 No Comments