The Environmental Capitalists Making Billions by Saving the Planet

The new environmental hero is the capitalist, the entrepreneur. Self-confessed "environmental capitalist" Carl Hall argues we need changes on a large scale and the only system that can reliably deliver that is capitalism. A bad conscience or wanting to be "green" will never create scale. People will continue to say they want an environmental solution and then still pick the cheapest good in the super market. We need to turn to self-interest and the invisible hand. Treating environmental questions as something that can be solved by appealing to people's good nature is a red herring. In this controversial but inspiring book, Hall argues that capitalism is a system that can optimize anything we tell it to optimize, be it the most efficient refinery or the lowest cost windmill. For companies that are serious about addressing the challenges the world is facing, there are great opportunities to turn bold actions into profits. As Hall says, "Sustainability is the biggest business opportunity in the history of the world!"

Carl Hall is an entrepreneur and the founder Alder, a private equity fund focused on growth companies in the clean technology industry.