Green ventures rake in money, but their power can rise and fall

May 13 - SF Chronicle - It's difficult to find anyone these days that doesn't stake some claim to being green.

While our federal government is clearly a laggard -- some might say an eco-villain -- corporations and consumers alike are beginning to put their money where their mouths are.

From oil companies such as BP and Shell to staid Wall Streeters, everybody and their uncle claims to be for saving the planet from the gloom and potential doom of climate change. Indeed, Goldman Sachs -- never known for being a tree-hugger -- exceeded its own promise of investing $1 billion in new renewable energy ventures in 2006 by 50 percent. Bank of America has pledged $20 billion over the next decade to help its customers go green, too. Even Red State farmers are getting into the act, seeing ethanol and other bio-fuels as ways to harvest greenbacks from going green. Read More.