Minnesota to Bill Gates: No new coal!

Legislators protest Gates family’s stake in Big Stone II 9

Bill Gates
Bill Gates.

Unlike his bridge buddy Warren Buffett, who recently canceled six planned coal projects, Bill Gates is still pushing coal. Cascade Investment Management, his personal investment company, is the largest stakeholder (9 percent) in Otter Tail Corporation, the lead sponsor of the controversial Big Stone II coal project.

Last week, eight Minnesota legislators, led by Rep. Jean Wagenius (DFL) of Minneapolis and Sen. Ellen Anderson (DFL) of St. Paul, wrote to Gates, asking him to visit Minnesota in order to investigate green investment opportunities that would "align the values of your foundation with your investment strategy."

In April, NASA's James Hansen appealed to Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty to oppose Big Stone II: "You can help inspire your state and the rest of the country to take the bold actions that are essential if we are to retain a hospitable climate."

This is not the first time Gates investments have come under the ethical spotlight. In Feb. 2007, an L.A. Times article critiqued Gates Foundation investments. "In a contradiction between its grants and its endowment holdings," wrote the Times, "the foundation reaps vast financial gains every year from investments that contravene its good works."

Following the L.A. Times expose, the Gates Foundation promised that it would "formalize the process by which Bill and Melinda Gates analyze and review these issues."

There are some indications that such reviews may indeed be starting to happen, at least within the Gates family's own personal portfolio. Following outcries that the use of corn for producing ethanol was contributing to escalation of corn prices, food riots, and worsening hunger worldwide, Cascade Investment Management recently unloaded its stake in Pacific Ethanol.

So far, however, Gates has shown no sign of yielding to critics on Big Stone II.

Here are recent lists of Gates family philanthropic and personal holdings:

Ted Nace is the director of CoalSwarm, a collaborative information clearinghouse on U.S. and international coal mines, plants, companies, politics, impacts, and alternatives.

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  1. el mono Posted 4:22 am
    04 May 2008

    As a Minnesotan ...I am proud of these legislators for taking this action.  Gates needs to put his money where his mouth is.

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  2. Tasermons Partner Posted 4:31 am
    04 May 2008

    Don't give Buffet a free ride......his management company refuses to take down several dams in Oregon, despite protests from Fish and Wildlife, and local tribes, who say the dams are ruinin' the salmon runs.

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  3. JChan111 Posted 7:25 am
    04 May 2008

    Little or No Investment in Other Tech IndustriesGates being a smart person, must have a reason for doing this. It may just be as simple as he left investments on autopilot and let managers manage them. If that's the case then at worse he's a little near sighted perhaps and not realizing what he's invested in. Buffet being a 'hawk' when it comes to his investments is being more prudent.
    Just because someone is a genius in software technology investment doesn't necessarily imply it correlates with good corporate and environmental stewardship or appears wise to other environmentally savy folks.
    My hunch is his money managers have a hand in this, even though he himself would not approve of such a move.  However, maybe the coal industry is a huge Microsoft customer.  
    My suggestion would be to use the purchasing power you have to make big statement in that regard.



    -JChan

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  4. amazingdrx Posted 11:25 pm
    04 May 2008

    WindMinnesota has huge wind resources and progressive utility companies, like Xcel, that are investing in wind and smart grid technology.
    More coal for Minnesota?  Idiotic.  Gates is insulated from reality by corrupt underlings or oblivious or both.  If Buffet can't even get his attention!

    http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

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  5. getagrip Posted 3:25 am
    05 May 2008

    MoronsC'mon. Get A GRIP. There are many projects underway to wean us off coal in Minnesota. However, in the interim YOU JUST DON'T FLICK A SWITCH pardon the pun, and just switch to something else. Unless you want to turn off your computer RIGHT NOW, stop your stupid bitching! Coal will be here for a bit, so deal with it!

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  6. nycowboy Posted 4:49 am
    05 May 2008

    Offsetting CoalThis plant will generate no more carbon dioxide then existing plants, if there is no demand for power. Coal plants go up and down, and can change their coal burning rate, based on demand.
    If this coal plant is more efficient (therefore cheaper to run) then existing coal plants, then it will offset other coal plants that already on the grid.
    Coal plants don't create carbon dioxide. The demand for and production of electricity does. If nobody wants electricity, or if all the demand is fulfilled by wind power, then Big Stone I and II will simply sit idle, releasing no emissions at all.

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  7. Biodiversivist's avatar

    Biodiversivist Posted 5:47 am
    05 May 2008

    Funny photo guysWas that a Grist touch up job?

    In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

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  8. javaearth Posted 12:51 am
    06 May 2008

    - thats why I like Apple and GOOGLE.Other IT companies are trying to find renewable resources to a) help with their own enegry consumption and b) help find better solutions for the public in general. But in the mean times Bill Gates is causing more harm.
    I hope Apple uses this against them in their PC versus Mac commericals.
    - thats why I like Apple and GOOGLE. - they are hype and in touch with trends and issues.

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  9. Delay And Deny's avatar

    Delay And Deny Posted 2:27 am
    06 May 2008

    Penguins are frugal

    http://www.lesswatts.org/
    LessWatts.org is not about marketing, trying to sell you something or comparing one vendor to another. LessWatts.org is about how you can save real watts, however you use Linux* on your computer or computers.
    LessWatts is about creating a community around saving power on Linux, bringing developers, users, and sysadmins together to share software, optimizations, and tips and tricks.



    Texeme.Construct(Participant)

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