Green Options

Under Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) of the U.S. Treasury, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs received $25 billion each and Bank of America received $10 billion in federal bailout funds.  It has been argued that much of the the global economic meltdown was brought on by the country’s largest financial institutions.  In response to the recent bailouts, Harrington Investments, Inc., a socially responsible investment (SRI) advisory firm, announced that they have submitted binding bylaw amendments at Citigroup, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs that would create Board Committees on U.S. Economic Security.

The bylaw states that the board should consider the impact of bank policies on U.S. economic security as part of their fiduciary duty:

U.S. Economic Security’ impacted by bank policy may include, among other things 1) the long term health of the economy of the U.S., 2) the economic well-being of U.S. citizens, as reflected in indicators such as levels of employment, wages, consumer installment debt and home ownership, 3) levels of domestic and foreign control, and holdings of securities and debt, of companies incorporated or headquartered in the U.S. and 4) the extent to which our company holds securities of foreign companies or has employees or representatives holding positions on the boards of directors of foreign companies.

The shareholder statement argues that taxpayer efforts to stabilize the U.S. economic system were precipitated by “years of irresponsible lending and business practices. Unregulated trading in speculative derivatives and a general lack of management and board oversight at major U.S. financial institutions has brought the global economy to the brink of disaster.”

The failure of Lehman Brothers is seen as the last straw that broke the credit market. The financial markets have been in a state of complete disarray ever since the U.S. Government allowed Lehman Brothers to file for bankruptcy on September 15th 2008 instead of intervening to save it as it had done with Bear Sterns and later with the insurance company, American International Group.

It’s official, according to the New York Times, the bailout proposition has been rejected by the House of Representatives. The Dow Jones just plunged more than 400 points and America is standing up for itself as the bastion of free market economics!

According to the New York Times, “supporters of the bailout proposal had argued that it was necessary to avoid a collapse of the economic system, a calamity that would drag down not just Wall Street investment houses but possibly [...]

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s largest bank, will inject 900 billion yen ($8.4 billion) into Morgan Stanley to help it transition to a bank holding company. Goldman Sach’s strategy is slightly different albeit with the same ultimate objective i.e. to become a commercial bank. According to Bloomberg, Goldman already has in excess of $20 billion in customer deposits in two subsidiaries and is creating a new one, GS Bank USA, that will have more than $150 billion of assets, [...]

In view of the current financial crisis, it is hard to grasp the fact that overnight investment banks once regarded the kings of Wall Street, are teetering on the edge of stability. The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers has threatened the survival of Morgan Stanley in spite of the fact that it has just declared great earnings. All eyes are on Morgan and Goldman Sachs, the two big I-banks left standing. Will they go next? What will this mean for corporate [...]

The planets may be aligned to finally make solar competitive with coal, according to an article in Bloomberg.com by Greg Chang. Rising natural gas prices, the extension of tax credits for solar investment, and the near-certainty that carbon emissions caps will be imposed by the next U.S. administration, will make it happen. A concentrated solar thermal plant in California’s Mojave Desert, run by FPL, Inc., uses 550,000 mirrors [...]