Coal and the iron and steel works that consumed it were, 125 years ago, the foundations of Andrew Carnegie’s fortune.(1) So, his life would seem unlikely to hold lessons for investors concerned about global warming. But it does.
Carnegie’s Causes
The Scottish immigrant had two great causes. Most recognize his name today in the US and UK for his philanthropic investments in vehicles offering opportunities for human betterment: Carnegie libraries, university scholarships, Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Mellon University, teacher pensions (TIAA-CREF), etc.
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I discovered this curve on Xigi.net, a social networking site. It shows where different market sectors or drivers behind sustainable development reside on the continuum of 1) acceptance in the mainstream, 2) visibility to the public eye, and 3) maturity as a social enterprise.
A good friend who used to work in the carbon offsets sector commented to me that this curve should be thought of as a zoomed-in pixel of a larger graph showing major social shifts in the twentieth century (think 1960’s, vietnam, civil rights). The larger wave is building very strongly right now and this wave (from xigi) will break on top of the broader, deeper and stonger wave as we shift toward a more sustainable mode of living.
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