George Soros, billionaire and founder of hedge fund Soros Capital Management, plans to address the “political problem” of climate change by investing $1 Billion in the clean energy technology sector. Mr. Soros also announced the establishment of the Climate Control Initiative, a non-profit that he is funding with $10 Million a year over the next 10 years. According to an article from Bloomberg, the group will be based in San Francisco and will observe, advise on, and assist the development of clean energy policy. Thomas Heller, a professor at Stanford University Law School and an expert in environmental and energy law and regulation, has been chosen to lead the initiative, which will address climate change policies and programs as they pertain to the public interest.
Working in Europe, China, the U.S., India and Brazil, the Climate Policy Initiative will address key issues in global warming and clean energy from a political viewpoint. Mr. Soros is currently focusing on the system of carbon-emissions trading its potential replacement with a tax on greenhouse gases, citing investors’ abilities to manipulate the trading systems. A cap-and-trade framework, which limits the amount of carbon dioxide companies are permitted to release and allows them to trade their carbon credits, was established in the European Union in 2005, but permit prices have fluctuated since its inception.
George Soros is not the only well known hedge fund manager stressing the importance of clean technology and green energy. T. Boone Pickens, founder and Chief Investment Officer of BP Capital Management, is similarly interested in the future of energy. Mr. Pickens has ventured into the alternative energy space by attempting to create one of the world’s largest wind farms in Texas.
The wind farm, “Pampa Wind Project," was recently put on hold until 2013 due primarily to the economic crisis. Mr. Pickens still asserts that he strongly believes in the viability of his alternative energy projects. While T. Boone may be publicly supporting clean energy, his hedge fund's public equity investments are comprised solely of "dirty energy" companies, mostly in the oil and natural gas sectors. |
