jbg Posted July 22, 2009 Report Posted July 22, 2009 The founders of Generation Investment Management LLP (link) are the aptly named team of David Blood and Al Gore. Below are excerpts from their website, describing the firm: About Us Overview Generation is an independent, private, owner-managed partnership with offices in London and New York. The firm was co-founded in 2004 by Al Gore and David Blood. Sustainable Investing for the Long Term Generation's investment approach is based on the idea that sustainability factors—economic, environmental, social and governance criteria—will drive a company's returns over the long term. By integrating sustainability issues with traditional analysis, we aim to deliver superior investment returns. We are closely aligned with our clients, and our performance is measured over the long term. Some of their investments seem to be quite massive and profitable (link, excerpts below): Ausra Secures $US60.6 Million in Funding KERN, Generation and Starfish Join Kleiner Perkins and Khosla Ventures to back Ausra’s cost-competitive technology and global expansion PALO ALTO, CALIF. – October 2, 2008 – Ausra, Inc., the provider of large-scale solar thermal energy systems for industrial processes and utility electricity generation, has secured $US60.6 million ($76.7 million) in its latest preferred equity financing. Investors in this closing....also included Generation Investment Management, based in London, England.... The investor group committed these funds in support of Ausra’s reliable, costcompetitive technology, seasoned management team and global expansion. “We are very pleased to have such prestigious investors join our team to assist Ausra in achieving its goals in the solar thermal energy market,” said Bob Fishman, president, CEO and chairman of Ausra. “This round of financing will enable us to accelerate delivery of our technology to our customers.” Proceeds from Ausra’s financing will fund the company’s research and product development and commercial activities, including the completion of its 5-megawatt solar thermal power project near Bakersfield, Calif. – the first power plant in North America to incorporate Ausra’s core technology, the Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector solar collector and steam generation system. This facility will further lead to the development and construction of a 177-megawatt solar thermal power plant for Pacific Gas and Electric Company in central California. Ausra’s technology has significant advantages for its customers in cost, scalability, zero emissions and land-use efficiency. The company’s first commercial project, located in NSW, is currently under expansion. The facility will augment power production at an adjacent conventional power station later this quarter, allowing it to create the same amount of electricity using less coal. Ausra news release - p. 2 of 2 Ausra’s pioneering solar thermal technology was developed and first deployed in Australia by one of the company’s founders, Dr. David Mills. As Australia prepares to reduce its carbon footprint, Ausra’s solar thermal technology has the potential to play a significant role in both small and large-scale power generation and industrial process steam applications. The company’s subsidiary, Ausra Pty Ltd, is focused on expanding Ausra’s Australian operations. ***************** Thus, there are big, profitable dollars at stake. As most know, Al Gore lives rather nicely, thank you. And his "carbon footprint" is not modest at all (link, excerpts below): Al Gore's 'Inconvenient Truth'? -- A $30,000 Utility Bill Think Tank Blasts Gore for Hypocrisy, Defenders Call Report a Last Gasp from Warming Skeptics Back home in Tennessee, safely ensconced in his suburban Nashville home, Vice President Al Gore is no doubt basking in the Oscar awarded to "An Inconvenient Truth," the documentary he inspired and in which he starred. But a local free-market think tank is trying to make that very home emblematic of what it deems Gore's environmental hypocrisy. Armed with Gore's utility bills for the last two years, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research charged Monday that the gas and electric bills for the former vice president's 20-room home and pool house devoured nearly 221,000 kilowatt-hours in 2006, more than 20 times the national average of 10,656 kilowatt-hours. "If this were any other person with $30,000-a-year in utility bills, I wouldn't care," says the Center's 27-year-old president, Drew Johnson. "But he tells other people how to live and he's not following his own rules." This is really eye opening. Quote Free speech: "You can say what you want, but I don't have to lend you my megaphone." Always remember that when you are in the right you can afford to keep your temper, and when you are in the wrong you cannot afford to lose it. - J.J. Reynolds. Will the steps anyone is proposing to fight "climate change" reduce a single temperature, by a single degree, at a single location? The mantra of "world opinion" or the views of the "international community" betrays flabby and weak reasoning (link).
Bonam Posted July 22, 2009 Report Posted July 22, 2009 I'm not usually one to jump to the defense of American politicians but what's wrong with investing in companies that make a profit? I guess the implication is that his advocacy for environmentalism is just so he can make more money on these types of investments? If so, that seems far-fetched, as these investments come years after he began advocating for environmentalism, and there are no doubt a variety of other equally or more profitable ventures he could have invested in. Quote
jbg Posted July 22, 2009 Author Report Posted July 22, 2009 I'm not usually one to jump to the defense of American politicians but what's wrong with investing in companies that make a profit? I guess the implication is that his advocacy for environmentalism is just so he can make more money on these types of investments? If so, that seems far-fetched, as these investments come years after he began advocating for environmentalism, and there are no doubt a variety of other equally or more profitable ventures he could have invested in. The problem is the blatant hypocrisy. Gore is telling others to live a more spartan lifestyle while he has an environmental Baccanalian feast. Quote Free speech: "You can say what you want, but I don't have to lend you my megaphone." Always remember that when you are in the right you can afford to keep your temper, and when you are in the wrong you cannot afford to lose it. - J.J. Reynolds. Will the steps anyone is proposing to fight "climate change" reduce a single temperature, by a single degree, at a single location? The mantra of "world opinion" or the views of the "international community" betrays flabby and weak reasoning (link).
Guest TrueMetis Posted July 22, 2009 Report Posted July 22, 2009 Gore is an idiot and most of what he said was Bullshit as Penn and Teller explain. Quote
jbg Posted July 22, 2009 Author Report Posted July 22, 2009 Gore is an idiot and most of what he said was Bullshit as Penn and Teller explain. I think more a deliberate liar than an idiot. Idiots don't get to become U.S. Senators or Vice-Presidents too readily. Quote Free speech: "You can say what you want, but I don't have to lend you my megaphone." Always remember that when you are in the right you can afford to keep your temper, and when you are in the wrong you cannot afford to lose it. - J.J. Reynolds. Will the steps anyone is proposing to fight "climate change" reduce a single temperature, by a single degree, at a single location? The mantra of "world opinion" or the views of the "international community" betrays flabby and weak reasoning (link).
eyeball Posted July 22, 2009 Report Posted July 22, 2009 I think more a deliberate liar than an idiot. Idiots don't get to become U.S. Senators or Vice-Presidents too readily. Huh? Idiots can quite readily and frequently reach even higher levels of power. Quote A government without public oversight is like a nuclear plant without lead shielding.
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