The global warming movement has raised some serious issues and attracted the attention of investors, corporations, and individuals who invest in commodities. Perhaps the most vocal and high-profile figure in the environmentalist movement is Al Gore, former vice president of the United States.
Already a major proponent of environmental issues as vice president, Gore continued his campaigning for environmental causes when his term ended in 2000. He continued to raise concerns about man-made environmental issues in general and the hazardous consequences of global warming in particular. His presentations on the topic culminated in the critically acclaimed documentary An Inconvenient Truth.
In the documentary, Gore makes a presentation that directly ties man-made activities such as burning fossil fuels to changes in the earth’s temperature, emphasizing the resulting negative impacts these actions have on the planet. Detrimental effects include increased weather pattern disruptions, resulting in increased temperatures in already warm climates, and fiercer and harsher winters in cold regions.
The film also includes warnings about melting polar ice caps and the increased likelihood of floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions due to global warming. Although the documentary (and the broader environmentalist movement) has come under fire for inaccuracies, it has nevertheless caught the attention of people worldwide, including investors.
To the extent that it has spurred advances in the renewable energy space and opened up new investment opportunities for investors, the global warming movement is worth examining from a portfolio investment perspective.