Turn a Profit From Global-Warming Stocks

You should own global-warming stocks. Even if you think that global warming is based on bad statistics and unconvincing computer models. Or that it's a plot by the tree huggers and the United Nations to institute some kind of world government.

I'm not one of the skeptics. I find the science compelling. Human activities ranging from burning coal for electricity to driving gasoline-fueled vehicles have increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

These changes are about to shift the world's climate into a new state that will dramatically alter rainfall patterns, ocean currents, sea levels and the acidity of the world's oceans. And we've got only a relatively small window, maybe as few as 50 years, before these changes to global climate take on an irreversible momentum.

I'm not here to argue the science. There are lots of books that do a good job of that. My current favorite is Tim Flannery's The Weather Makers. I accept your skepticism. Doubters and scoffers welcome.

So let's say you don't buy it. I still think you ought to invest in global-warming stocks. At worst, you'll make a profit. At best, you'll make a profit and help save the world. That sound OK to you? Then let me explain my logic. At the end of this column, I'll give you five kinds of global-warming stocks to consider for your portfolio.

Not Just an Environmental Issue

The deck is stacked at the moment in favor of action on global warming. Even if global warming winds up on the rubbish heap of discredited scientific theories, entities such as the European Union, Japan, China, India and even the U.S. are going to adopt a program that looks a whole lot like one designed to stop global warming because it fits each nation's need to increase its energy security as well.