The Climate Denier’s Guide to Getting Rich From Fossil Fuel Divestment

The Guardian L. Hunter Lovins 14 April, 2015 Don’t believe in climate change? Okay, let’s pretend it’s a hoax. From a purely financial perspective it doesn’t matter. If it is a hoax, you’ll make a lot of money. If it’s the real and worsening catastrophe climate scientists believe it to be, you’ll still make a lot of money. Now let me present some facts to you on the financial case for getting out of fossil fuels (I am fine if you just view it as some bar talk). There’s a strong and growing business case for climate protection. The 2014 report “Climate Action...

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Life after divestment: how to spend the money saved from fossil fuel investments

The Guardian L. Hunter Lovins 13 April, 2015 As more US colleges divest from fossil fuel companies, a new question arises: what to do with all that cash? It began in 2012 with Unity College in Maine. Then Stanford joined in, followed by Syracuse. Now, more than 20 US colleges have divested from fossil fuel companies. A month ago, Swarthmore students stepped up pressure for their administration to divest by occupying a campus building, a move mirrored by students at University of Mary Washington, Harvard and Yale. Why? As the divestment advocate Go Fossil Fuel Free puts it: “If it is wrong to wreck the climate, then it is...

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Challenging the Old Narrative that Possessions Equal Prosperity

The Guardian by Hunter Lovins 10 October 2014 A shift to the sharing economy, millennials shunning private car and home ownership, a saturation of consumerism – is a new economic narrative emerging? Prosperity. Every segment of society seeks it, but ask what it means or how to get it and the answers are not always clear. Do possessions equal prosperity? The mavens of Madison Avenue tell us: “He who dies with the most toys wins.” So we measure self-worth by what we buy, going deeper in debt to project the perception of plenitude. A New Yorker cartoon portrays a woman in an...

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Turning Passion into Action

  NCS Interns: Where Are They Now Series My internship at Nat Cap was the first step in turning a passion for environmental stewardship into a new career.  The very talented Nat Cap staff worked side by side with interns, treating us as colleagues, to produce their research and many consulting and education projects. I’ve often referred to the interns as a machine; they are an integral part of the engine that is Natural Capitalism Solutions.  Being an intern from spring through fall, meant an enormously enriching experience, working with many different interns, all from diverse backgrounds. I was also...

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