Do Well and Do Good

Rockefellers vs. Exxon Mobil

The descendants of John D. Rockeffeler, the man who founded the company that would become Exxon Mobil, are taking on the company's current management for its refusal to focus on renewable sources of energy.

The family is sponsoring four proxy resolutions aimed at changing various aspects of the company. The first seeks to change the corporate governance structure by separating the roles of CEO and Chairman, both of which are currently held by Rex Tillerson, the man Forbes called "The Defiant One" in an article last year about Mr. Tillerson's refusal to 'get in line' with the shift in public sentiment toward renewables and away from oil and coal. 

Other resolutions aim to increase the company's emphasis on understanding and responding to climate change, such as one resolution which seeks to establish a task force to investigate and report "the likely consequences of global climate change between now and 2030... and to compare these outcomes with scenarios in which ExxonMobil takes leadership in developing sustainable energy technologies..."

I currently do not own a position in XOM as of the date of this writing – this may or may not change in the future. Under no circumstances should any of the comments stated above be viewed as a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security.  A decision to invest or not invest in any particular security should be made in the context of the financial situation of the individual or entity involved and, as such, this communication should not be construed as a recommended action.Please see conditions of use for important legal disclosures and information relevant to this post

Earth Day Part 2: Make Me Sustainable

With Earth Day recently gone I thought I would take some time to re-up my commitment to the environment. Happily, a friend recently shares a link to a website called Make Me Sustainable that is helping me keep my promise.

What I liked best about the site was that it made me realize that I could change small things in my daily behavior and feel like I am really making a significant difference. Something like "Say no to double bagging" asks pretty little but gives back in spades. Some suggestions they made actually made my life significantly better, such as signing up to reduce the amount of junk mail I receive using a service called Green Dimes. Less junk mail and help the environment -- sign me up.

It's great to see technologists thinking creatively about how to help solve big issues. All I have to do is remember the people I know who drive a Prius with their eye on the gas meter all the time trying to optimize their MPG numbers as if it were a game to realize how important it is to show people what their impact is before asking them to reduce it. Make Me Sustainable does just that. This, coupled with some smart suggestions on how to reduce that impact left me little choice but to keep my post-Earth Day promise.

Earth Day Part 1: The Skeptic

It's hard not to get a little skeptical about the Earth Day celebrations. The bloggers over at Tree Hugger may have said it best when they questioned: "Is Earth Day the New Christmas?" Or a quote by Advertising Age in an op-ed, saying "It's nearly Earth Day: Time to consume more to save the planet." Indeed, with every major corporation now pushing 'green' products and every network on TV advertising 'green' shows, it's hard not to feel that the true spirit of the environmental movement has been co-opted for the service of something altogether different.

Still, I can't help but try and step back a bit and note the positives here. At the end of the day, consumers vote with their dollars. If there truly is a concerted effort to buy things that are actually made with fewer resources and are better for the environment, corporations will respond to the market demand and will adjust accordingly. And that's not a trivial shift. Yes, there is an irony here at play, since the most environment friendly thing one can do is not to consume so much in the first place. But since consumption isn’t going away soon we need to give companies and market participants a reason to pay attention. There's no better way to do that than to make them follow the green.

Motely Fool: Microsoft Shouldn't Swing for the Fences

There's enough excitement in the technology industry these days to get your head spinning. Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), fighting off offers from software behemoth Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) since February, is now in talks with former Internet juggernaut AOL, the Internet division of Time Warner (NYSE: TWX). Microsoft hasn't given up hope, though: Some reports say Mr. Softy is considering a joint bid for Yahoo! with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), owner of MySpace.

Read the rest of this article on the Motley Fool.

I currently do own a position in TGT but in no other companies mentioned here as of the date of this writing – this may or may not change in the future. Under no circumstances should any of the comments stated above be viewed as a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security.  A decision to invest or not invest in any particular security should be made in the context of the financial situation of the individual or entity involved and, as such, this communication should not be construed as a recommended action. Please see conditions of use for important legal disclosures and information relevant to this post