Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine is spotlighting 25 companies whose stock you can purchase if you want to “invest in a cleaner world.” Says the famous financial mag: “Not all greentech is speculative. We’ve identified solid companies that should profit big from addressing climate change and encouraging the use of alternative fuels.”
There are some surprising names on the list, well-established companies you wouldn’t necessarily equate with being on the cutting edge of eco-investing. Companies like 78-year-old American Standard, which makes heating and air-conditioning systems. Says Kiplinger’s: “Selling principally under the Trane brand, American Standard is a leader in energy-efficient air-conditioning and climate-control systems. This will be a hot industry because buildings account for one-third of global energy demand. Any solution to greenhouse-gas emissions must include drastic reductions in energy demand from office buildings, residential towers and other large structures.”
The magazine notes that billionaire investor Warren Buffett “has become one of the company’s biggest shareholders.”
There are a number of companies like that on the list - companies that aren’t on the cutting edge of bio-fuels or solar technology, but, rather, are focused on more mundane but equally important issues such as improving energy efficiency, making the usage of coal cleaner, or making low-emission paints. Even a company that makes hopper cars for railroads to haul grain to the ethanol plant can be a “green” investing play.
