Catching the Green Wave | Green Energy News

February 1, 2004 – Vol.8 No.45

CATCHING THE GREEN WAVE.

California State Treasurer Phil Angelides thinks that clean technologies are the wave of the future and wants his state to be a leader. But he doesn’t expect the Green Wave to really get rolling for another 30 - 40 years. (Let’s hope he’s wrong on that time frame.)

To help put California at the forefront of the Wave Mr. Angelides would like to commit $1.5 billion from two state pension funds to be put into green technologies, businesses and investments. The $1.5 billion would be less than one-half of one percent of the combined funds of the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPers) and the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS).

In his plan $500 million would be earmarked for venture capital for clean technology companies. He estimates 10,000 jobs would be created with the venture capital and technologies could be anything from renewable energy to environmentally friendly materials.

He’d also like to see $1 billion invested by the two funds in environmentally responsible companies.

And as part of his initiative Angelides would like the two funds to evaluate their real estate investments - nearly $16 billion invested in 160 million square feet - to determine if the properties are maximizing their clean and green potential.

Further, the State Treasurer, who has aspirations to challenge Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the next election, would like use the funds to leverage the marketplace to push for more and better environmental reporting.

The Green Wave initiative needs to be approved by fund governors at their next meeting in the spring.