BILL GATES GOES GREEN WITH ETHANOL PURCHASE...looks like good
company to be with........
While oil company execs have been given a tongue-lashing by the U.S. Senate for the soaring fuel prices, other firms like IBM, Corning and Cummins have been getting warm welcomes for saving energy while doing business. "In just one year, 2003, IBM cut its energy consumption 7%--and saved $38 million," Sen. Hillary Clinton gushed at a recent clean energy conference. And since it doesn't exactly take fuel to create software (although some of the IBM's first computers certainly looked like they ran on gas), that already puts IBM and other tech giants like Microsoft in a good light with enviros.
Even so, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates seems to want a piece of the action when it comes to renewable energy. The billionaire's investment company, Cascade Investment, has agreed to invest $84 million in Pacific Ethanol (nasdaq: PEIX - news - people ) which will help it finance construction of several planned fuel-additive plants on the West Coast. Cascade's investment gives Gates a 27% stake in Pacific Ethanol.
Gates will be sharing the company with petroleum distributor SC Fuels, which owns the majority stake in the ethanol producer and is one of its biggest customers. It could be a lucrative investment, since federal law requires that the U.S. nearly doubles the amount of ethanol it uses annually to 7.5 billion in 2012 from 4 billion gallons in 2006.
Pacific Ethanol's President and Chief Executive Officer Neil Koehler said in a statement that he was "excited about the prospect of a long-term partnership with Cascade Investment." "Our mission is to be the leader in renewable fuels in the Western United States. This investment gives us the equity commitment required to quickly implement our plan to build out our first five ethanol plants."
the U.S. Senate for the soaring fuel prices, other firms like IBM, Corning and Cummins have been getting warm welcomes for saving energy while doing business. "In just one year, 2003, IBM cut its energy consumption 7%--and saved $38 million," Sen. Hillary Clinton gushed at a recent clean energy conference. And since it doesn't exactly take fuel to create software (although some of the IBM's first computers certainly looked like they ran on gas), that already puts IBM and other tech giants like Microsoft in a good light with enviros.
Even so, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates seems to want a piece of the action when it comes to renewable energy. The billionaire's investment company, Cascade Investment, has agreed to invest $84 million in Pacific Ethanol (nasdaq: PEIX - news - people ) which will help it finance construction of several planned fuel-additive plants on the West Coast. Cascade's investment gives Gates a 27% stake in Pacific Ethanol.
Gates will be sharing the company with petroleum distributor SC Fuels, which owns the majority stake in the ethanol producer and is one of its biggest customers. It could be a lucrative investment, since federal law requires that the U.S. nearly doubles the amount of ethanol it uses annually to 7.5 billion in 2012 from 4 billion gallons in 2006.
Pacific Ethanol's President and Chief Executive Officer Neil Koehler said in a statement that he was "excited about the prospect of a long-term partnership with Cascade Investment." "Our mission is to be the leader in renewable fuels in the Western United States. This investment gives us the equity commitment required to quickly implement our plan to build out our first five ethanol plants."
Bill Gates Goes Green
Parmy Olson, 11.17.05, 10:34 AM ET
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While oil company execs have been given a tongue-lashing by the U.S. Senate for the soaring fuel prices, other firms like IBM, Corning and Cummins have been getting warm welcomes for saving energy while doing business. "In just one year, 2003, IBM cut its energy consumption 7%--and saved $38 million," Sen. Hillary Clinton gushed at a recent clean energy conference. And since it doesn't exactly take fuel to create software (although some of the IBM's first computers certainly looked like they ran on gas), that already puts IBM and other tech giants like Microsoft in a good light with enviros.
Even so, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates seems to want a piece of the action when it comes to renewable energy. The billionaire's investment company, Cascade Investment, has agreed to invest $84 million in Pacific Ethanol (nasdaq: PEIX - news - people ) which will help it finance construction of several planned fuel-additive plants on the West Coast. Cascade's investment gives Gates a 27% stake in Pacific Ethanol.
Gates will be sharing the company with petroleum distributor SC Fuels, which owns the majority stake in the ethanol producer and is one of its biggest customers. It could be a lucrative investment, since federal law requires that the U.S. nearly doubles the amount of ethanol it uses annually to 7.5 billion in 2012 from 4 billion gallons in 2006.
Pacific Ethanol's President and Chief Executive Officer Neil Koehler said in a statement that he was "excited about the prospect of a long-term partnership with Cascade Investment." "Our mission is to be the leader in renewable fuels in the Western United States. This investment gives us the equity commitment required to quickly implement our plan to build out our first five ethanol plants."
More Faces In The News
04-01-05
Editor
Internet Rumor Claims Actor Denzel Washington Made Exorbitant Donation To Fisher House Foundation; Rumor Is False!
A Mount Vernon resident asked us to print a copy of the following email message she received concerning an alleged very large donation made by Denzel Washington:
"Denzel Washington recently visited BAMC (Brookes Army Medical Center, in San Antonio, Texas). This is where soldiers that have been evac'd from Germany come to be hospitalized in the States. They have buildings there called Fisher Houses. The Fisher House is a hotel that soldier's families can stay at, for little or no charge, while their soldier is staying in the hospital. BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base, but as you can imagine, they are almost filled to the brim most of the time. While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour of one of the Fisher Houses. He asked how much one of them would cost to build. He got his check book out and wrote a check out for the full amount right there on the spot. The soldiers overseas were amazed to hear this story and want to get the word out to the American public, because it warmed their hearts to hear it. He has a son who is a Marine in Iraq."
The Mount Vernon Inquirer has investigated the facts surrounding the email and we have concluded that the facts are incorrect. Here is our investigative report:
Fort Sam Houston, which houses the Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC), also includes on its property a Fisher House within walking distance of the medical center. Fisher Houses are a network of "comfort homes," essentially low-cost hotels built on the grounds of military medical centers in the U.S. and abroad that provide all the amenities of home and enable family members of servicemen to stay close to loved ones who are undergoing medical treatment for illness, disease, or injury. The modest fees charged by Fisher Houses (about $10 per night) make them accessible even to families with tight budgets (a situation common to many military families).
As might be expected with the U.S. military having been engaged in combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq for the last few years, the demand for space in Fisher Houses at some military facilities has exceeded their capacities.
According to the Fisher House Foundation, when Denzel Washington was at Fort Sam Houston in December 2004, he did visit the Fisher House and learn of their need for additional facilities. At the time he expressed an interest in donating to the Fisher House Foundation, but he did not, as described above, "get out his checkbook" on the spot and write a check for the full amount needed to construct a new building. (Although Fisher House representatives initially told the press that Mr. Washington had already made a donation, they later said that although such a donation on the actor's part might be in the offering, it has not yet actually been made.)
Due to the generosity of the American public, the Fisher House Foundation has already collected enough money to build another house, although it will not necessarily be constructed at the Brooke Army Medical Center. Other possible sites for a new Fisher House include the Michael E. DeBakey Medical Center in Houston, the Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa, the Madigan Army Medical Center in Fort Lewis, Washington, the VA Medical Center in Palo Alto, California, and Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
One version of the Denzel Washington e-mail in circulation concludes, "By the way . . . He has a son who is a Marine in Iraq." Although Denzel Washington does have two sons (and also two daughters), neither of his sons is a Marine or is stationed in Iraq. One son is far too young to be serving in the military (he's only thirteen years old), and Denzel's older son, 21-year-old John David Washington, is currently a student and football star at Morehouse College in Atlanta.
