Investors are beginning to take account of climate change: LA Times

This article in today’s LA Times tells of the new movement in the investor community that is beginning to take account of the damage that climate change will cause. There’s an unmet need to develop new industry based on new technology that adapts to and counters climate change.

I don’t know how you’ll view that article (it looks pretty strange to me when I clicked on that link– but you can read it!) so take a look.

It seems to me that smart people with money are coming to realize that the climate is changing for the worse and their money is at risk. Big companies that sell oil could find the value of their holdings bottom out when people stop burning oil– if internal combustion engines are replaced by electric motors that use renewable energy, for example.

A good use for “all that oil” would be to synthesize plastics– not flimsy plastic bags but structural components, like replacements for concrete blocks, for example. Another use for oil is to synthesize chemicals like pharmaceuticals (and many other chemicals too numerous to name.)

Even ramping up synthetics production won’t use much of the oil left over if you stop burning it in engines. The demand could plummet and the value will follow, leaving oil companies bankrupt.

Companies that are exploring for new oil fields won’t be needed. Spending a lot of money to extract in harsh environments offshore or in the Arctic would make no sense if there’s no market for their product.

So that may be a good reason to disinvest.

Thoughts like these are going through the minds of the people with money who don’t want to lose it and have some smarts. That’s what this article seems to be saying between the lines.

PS this new wordpress editor is not ready for prime time. It’s just not stable. What happened to the total word count, to mention one glaring omission? Why does the size of the part I’ve marked out with my mouse keep changing whenever I try to change the type size or italicization? Does anybody at wordpress read my blog?