Yahoo!'s Green Goal Gives Pause

It's bidding to make the globe greener, but a new move by Yahoo!(YHOO Quote) may end up costing its shareholders some "green" along the way.

Late Monday, the beleaguered Internet company launched Yahoo! Green, a new Web site intended to help users fight environmental maladies such as global warming. It's a well-meaning move, but it should raise red flags for Yahoo! investors.

The plan could prove to be a drain on the company's resources, including the most precious of all right now: the attention of the most technically adept and visionary among its senior management.

Indeed, if this were a shrewd but cynical move by Yahoo! to cash in on the growing mind-share commanded by global warming, shareholders may have reason to applaud the company's ingenuity.

But instead, this seems to be an earnest effort by Yahoo! co-founder and "chief Yahoo!" David Filo that might result in using too much of the company's reach and resources for a personal cause -- and one that may not really serve shareholders.

Yahoo!'s ecological bid will not be a significant source of revenue or profit for the company, Filo said in an interview. Instead, money generated from the venture will be reinvested in further expanding Yahoo!'s efforts to combat global warming. "This is an issue that is of concern to many employees within Yahoo! as well as to our users," Filo said.