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Model Summer Rayne Oakes quizzes him on socially responsible investing

In this guest post, model and sustainable business consultant Summer Rayne Oakes recounts her recent interview with socially responsible investing expert Thomas Van Dyck. (Read more about Oakes in a Grist profile.)

I first met Thomas Van Dyck in June 2005 during the height of San Francisco's World Environment Day celebrations. It was a brief two-minute introduction wedged between a chaotic green trade show and a trippy drum-circle gathering. All I managed to find out during that time was his job description: investment consultant. In my mind, I lumped him in with the typical French-cuffed, Ferragamo-tied, Rolex-wearing beings I see on my occasional sojourns to Wall Street. I couldn't have been more wrong.

As I learned after running into him a few more times, Thomas Van Dyck is one of the top socially responsible investment (SRI) consultants in the business. He happened into the field in the early '80s, while working as an environmental activist, and he's helped to shape and grow SRI ever since. Van Dyck and his team, who work in the heart of San Francisco's Financial District, consult on close to a billion dollars in assets, with clients ranging from foundations, unions, and pension funds to entrepreneurs and celebrities. Ninety-nine percent of his clients have at least one socio-environmental screen on their portfolios, and the vast majority has multiple screens. In addition to his investment work, Van Dyck founded As You Sow in 1992, a nonprofit organization that uses shareholder advocacy to push for more enlightened corporate practices.

Mildly funny

In other video news, last night scientist Michael Oppenheimer appear on the Colbert Report. He did a fairly good (though not particularly funny) job, though it really highlights the disparity between the horrendous consequences forecasted and the wan, pitiful solutions offered (light bulbs!). Video below the fold:

He does not fare well

Christopher Horner, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute [no, no! He works at the Competitive Enterprise Institute — very different thing. Jon Stewart got it wrong too. My apologies. See comments.], has a book out called The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and Environmentalism. He appeared on The Daily Show last night. He […]

Roz Cummins whips up Valentine vittles

I don't know about you, but sometimes it just seems like more fun to have dinner with a group of friends -- those who are single and those who aren't -- on Valentine's Day than with just one person. Why? Well, let me put it this way: having dinner with just one person, no matter how beloved that person is, does not guarantee that your evening will be a romantic one.

Tune in Tomorrow

Leaders around the world leap into the climate-promise arena Today we bring you another edition of Leaders Making Big Climate Promises! In New Zealand, Prime Minister Helen Clark announced a goal to make her country the world’s first carbon-neutral nation. Zowie! British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell says he’ll set up a climate team to cut […]

Who Speaks for the Eggman?

U.S. green groups sue feds over polar bear, walrus protection Two green groups have sued the feds for failing to protect polar bears and walruses (walri?) from the nasty combo of oil drilling and global warming. Pacific Environment and the Center for Biological Diversity say the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service didn’t consider the effects […]

Bed Bath & Behind

Ceres publishes list of top 10 industry laggards on climate change Which companies will be caught with their pants down when greenhouse-gas regulations hit? Environmental investment group Ceres has released a list of 10 U.S. corporations that shareholders say have failed to adequately plan for the climate-changed future. The list includes Wells Fargo, urged to […]

Now he’s lobbying America on climate change

Am I huffing glue, or is this a real story? Tony Blair is to devote himself to fighting global warming when he quits power this summer by promoting an American rethink on the Kyoto protocol. Tony Blair decided the best time to lobby America for a “rethink” on global warming is after he’s divested of […]

Washington is still the weakest link

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that Washington was the West Coast's weakest link when it comes to climate policy. Since then, the Evergreen State has stepped up with the outline of a plan to put a sizable dent in emissions. (That's in addition to some small-caliber but near-term policies). This was such great news that I was tempted to change my handicapping.

But then I read the papers yesterday ...

Maybe

After years of rumors and false starts, Edward Abbey’s classic novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, credited with inspiring the Earth First! movement, may finally make it to a movie theater near you. The 1975 book follows a foursome of activists angry about the overdevelopment of Utah’s canyonlands and not afraid to show it — by […]