Warren R. Baltimore has died at age 74.
In KLD’s earliest years, Warren provided much-needed financial advice and encouragement. He oversaw KLD’s insurance needs well after he had retired to Nantucket.
Dollars and Sense has published an examination of why supply and demand factors may not be the only cause of global food price inflation. In an article entitled “Hot Commodities, Stuffed Markets, and Empty Bellies,” KLD Research Analyst Ben Collins considers how some investors may be influencing commodities prices:
“…[The] growing presence of buy-and-hold investors in commodity markets has prompted heated debate among commodity traders, economists, and politicians over other possible causes of higher commodity prices. … [The] quantity and liquidity of money flowing through today’s global markets is unprecedented in human history.”
A thought-provoking article at EUobserver.com considers how the European Union’s approach to regulation affects American companies and consumers. Leigh Phillips interviews Mark Schapiro, author of Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What’s at Stake for American Power, which studies consumer product regulations in the context of “the massive global economic power shift” driven by “the eclipse of the United States by the European Union.”
I’ll leave aside the question of which side of the Atlantic is waxing or waning, but Schapiro does make some interesting points about the EU’s impact on corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. He argues that the EU regulates more aggressively because government directly pays the price for corporate activity:
Al Gore recently challenged America to generate all of its electricity from carbon emissions-free sources by 2018. The Boston Globe has reported that John McCain and Barack Obama agree that Gore’s is a worthy goal. How can it be achieved?
Energy efficiency may be the biggest piece of the puzzle. “Efficiency is often referred to as the ‘fifth fuel’ for electricity generation. Coal, natural gas, nuclear, and renewables are the other four,” explains KLD Senior Research Analyst Andrew Brengle.
In a recent post on Harvard Business’ “Leading Green” blog, Ceres president Mindy Lubber issued a “warning to U.S. companies: Just because national lawmakers are dawdling on global warming, don’t think your business can dawdle, too.”
Lubber explained that while the European financial services sector has a head start in addressing climate change, their U.S. counterparts are now offering investable products that focus on carbon mitigation and reduction. She cited KLD’s Global Climate 100 (GC100), which includes a mix of 100 global companies that pursue promising approaches to renewable energy, alternative fuels, clean technology and efficiency.
The July 30th Boston Globe reported on a new initiative from the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ). Hekhsher Tzedek is a food product certification program that is being developed in partnership with KLD. Certification “indicates that a kosher product was made in compliance with a set of social justice criteria, in keeping with the teachings of the Jewish faith,” as explained by working guidelines listed at the USCJ website.
Reports of abusive labor practices at a large kosher meatpacking plant in Iowa helped inspire the new certification program. In a release from Hekhsher Tzedek, founder and director Rabbi Morris Allen explains:
The Oregonian reports that Oregon might add a socially responsible investment (SRI) option to its menu of 529 tuition savings products.
So-called “529 plans,” named after the relevant section of the federal tax code, differ significantly from funds held directly by states on behalf of their own employees. 529 savings plans are administered by state governments, but they are in fact private accounts held by individuals. Any American can invest in and receive tax benefits for participating in any state’s plan, although there may be additional tax advantages for investing in one’s home state.
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