Investing in Sustainability - Green Chip Stocks

I heartily recommend the PBS special: ?Civilization: The West and the Rest,? which does a fine job in analyzing the six ?killer apps? that resulted in the dominance of the Western culture over the remainder of the world. They are: political and economic competition, development of science, ownership of property, modern medicine, consumerism, and work ethic.

But while the show was brilliantly crafted and extremely thought provoking, I found it lacking in an important way. There is no doubt that these are the ingredients that made Western Civilization what it has become over the last 500 years or so ? ingredients that have resulted in our easier, longer, and healthier lives. But are they a prescription for success in the future? The show boldly asserted this, but is it true?

In particular, it seems to me that consumerism and some of the other killer apps that have been integral to the fantastic economic growth have hit the wall in terms of their ability to improve our lives. At this point, it appears that these factors have begun to cause the implosion of our civilization, rather than its enhancement. ?Put another way, perhaps this vast economic engine of coveting, purchasing, using, and discarding has run headlong into a buzzsaw: sustainability.

Here?s a short list of challenges facing our world, each the result, directly or indirectly, of our competitive, consumer-based society.

??Global climate change / extreme weather events

??Erosion of the middle class, public education, and the resultant weakening of democracy

??Rising influence of mega-corporations in our lives

??Eco-devastation, extinction of species, reduction in biodiversity, deforestation, desertification, ocean acidification, etc.

??Water shortages

??Food shortages, and the declining nutritional value of that which remains

??Externalities of oil, including the use of the military to maintain access to it

??Loss of liberties / social injustice

??Runaway population growth

? Skyrocketing rates of disease resulting from fossil fuels and toxic chemicals

To put it simply: What was good for us in the past is not necessarily good for us in the future.

I?m reminded of the financial consultants who urge their clients to ignore the stock market?s peaks and valleys, as they point out that over the last 100 years, the market has appreciated many hundred percent. True (though I don?t need a consultant to tell me what happened over the last 100 years). ?But is this a prediction for the next 100 years? Not in my book.

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