An Open Letter to Tom Steyer
Dear Mr. Steyer:
According to a Washington Post article on June 9th 2014, you will be divested of all your investments in fossil fuel enterprises by the end of this month. As the article discussed, that meant you continued to make considerable sums of money from these high CO2 producing entities, even as you said you were providing the financial firepower to fight Climate Change by focusing on campaign donations to like-minded Democratic candidates.
More troubling though, is that as a very knowledgeable and successful energy investor now committed to fighting Climate Change you do not appear to have invested in Climate Change reduction technologies such as Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts.
Why is that Mr. Steyer?
Are struggling advanced biofuel companies perceived as too risky for your portfolio? Do political campaigns provide a better Return on Investment (ROI) than these emerging technologies?
We think these questions are especially relevant given that the Koch brothers, whom you consider your Climate Change enemy, provide considerably more investment and job creation via the biofuels industry – their Flint Hills Resources makes over 600 million gallons/year of ethanol, as well as biodiesel.
It would seem reasonable then, that their Flint Hills commitment should be the minimum investment benchmark for you as well.
In closing Mr. Steyer, we hope that we have misjudged you. We hope that you have visited the Advanced Biofuels USA website (www.AdvancedBiofuelsUSA.org) to learn about the science, technology, and emerging companies that could begin to make significant Climate Change reductions with the help of your timely investments; and that you are making such investment plans now.
But, if this is not the course you are taking, we have a hard time taking your commitment to reducing the causes of Climate Change seriously. Instead, we are forced to see your actions as those of another ultra-rich fossil fuel investor who wants to play in the non-regulated power-broker game created by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision.
Sincerely,
READ MORE and MORE (New York Times) and MORE (Politico) and MORE (New York Times) and MORE (Sacramento Bee)
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