On my first day of spring break, I was tutoring and reading Newsweek when I found an article about Goldman Sachs going green, environmentally of course. They chauffeur their executive officers in hybrid cars and have built a new green tower, which is their headquarters. If this sounds a bit extraordinary, it is to an extent. Goldman Sachs was in the news recently, Newsweek has an article at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17437401/site/newsweek/, because two of its clients want to buy TXU Corp., which is the poster child for global warming. So, Goldman advised the two clients to first, reduce the number coal-fired plants planning to be built from 11 to 3 and, second, invest in energy-saving initiatives like the wind power. Last week, TXU accepted the two clients' $45 billion offer.
Why is this news? Actually, this is not only news, it is a trend that has hit Wall Street. The promotional motto is "To get green, go green." Goldman Sachs is known to decline business if it does not meet their green standards and with Al Gore in the spotlight, no company wants to be criticized for their environmentally unfriendly practices. Goldman Sachs is the focus of this article because it leads the pack. In 2004, it made 680,000 acres of land in Chile a natural reserve, it will not finance any company that "significantly convert or degrade a critical natural habitat," the firm will not conduct business with illegal loggers, is committed to reducing the indirect greenhouse-gas emissions from its offices by 7%, and has become a renewable energy developer with the 2005 purchase of Horizon Wind Energy. Other companies are following suit and the Lehman Brothers appointed Theodore Roosevelt IV as the head of its Global Council on Climate Change. Roosevelt IV is the great-grandson on a very environmental president.
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