Therefore, Greenpeace (and many other environmental organizations) have begun working with these new powerhouse allies in the fight to avert climate catastrophe. We expect it will bear a lot of fruit.

The two quotes below demonstrate the sea change that has occurred in the world of finance.

Can you guess who wrote the following statements?

Quote 1:

An economic revival for rural America.

Developing wind power is an investment in rural America.

To witness the economic promise of wind energy, look no further than Sweetwater, Texas.

Sweetwater was typical of many small towns in middle-America. With a shortage of good jobs, the youth of Sweetwater were leaving in search of greater opportunities. And the town's population dropped from 12,000 to under 10,000.

When a large wind power facility was built outside of town, Sweetwater experienced a revival. New economic opportunity brought the town back to life and the population has grown back up to 12,000.

In the Texas panhandle, just north of Sweetwater, is the town of Pampa, where they are currently building the largest wind farm in the world.

In addition to creating new construction and maintenance jobs, thousands of Americans will be employed to manufacture the turbines and blades. These are high skill jobs that pay on a scale comparable to aerospace jobs.

Plus, wind turbines don't interfere with farming and grazing, so they don't threaten food production or existing local economies.

Know who said it?

Quote 2:

The Carbon Principles

The Intent
We the undersigned financial institutions have come together to advance a set of principles for meeting energy needs in the United States (US) that balance cost, reliability and greenhouse gas (GHG) concerns.

The Principles are:
Energy efficiency. An effective way to limit CO2 emissions is to not produce them.
 
Renewable and low carbon distributed energy technologies. Renewable energy and low carbon distributed energy technologies hold considerable promise for meeting the electricity needs of the US while also leveraging American technology and creating jobs.

Conventional and advanced generation. In addition to cost effective energy efficiency, renewables and low carbon distributed generation, investments in conventional or advanced generating facilities will be needed to supply reliable electric power to the US market.

Know who said this one?

The Green Finance Initiative works at the intersection of markets, policy, and business. Enough money has to be at stake so that large and small corporations have the incentives to grow their green businesses AT THE EXPENSE of their dirty business units.