I’m sure you’ve heard that old expression, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.” We now know this is more than likely not true, but there is metaphorical fiddling taking place as we do nothing to combat climate change.
As you might expect, not everyone is suffering as a result of climate change. Here’s a list of nine industries that are making a fortune while the environment goes to hell in a handbasket:
1. Big Oil
No surprise here, is there? The warming of the planet has presented Big Oil with new ways to make even more money. Exxon has partnered with Russia to look for more places to drill for oil in the Arctic seas. And, with the sea ice rapidly melting, summers are getting longer, so it’s much easier to search for more fossil fuels in the formerly frozen wastelands. Shell has invested over $6 billion into Arctic drilling.
2. Biotech
Biotech companies like the English firm Oxitec are hoping to cash in on the environmental crisis caused by a warming planet. Some firms are even being so specific as to focus on problems such as the increase in mosquitos caused by warming waters around the world.
3. Flood Control
Hurricane Katrina submerged 80% of New Orleans under as much as 20 feet of water. Hurricane Sandy flooded entire neighborhoods in New York, and also the subway tunnels. These weather events cost billions of dollars. Companies such as Flood Control America construct invisible steel walls vulnerable cities can quickly throw up when the threat of a major storm occurs. Flood disaster planning is currently a billon-dollar industry, and it is expected to double by 2020.
4. Air Conditioning
As the planet gets hotter, more people will need to try and cool off. And one of the big winners in that scenario is the air-conditioning industry and companies like Daikin Industries, which makes energy-efficient air conditioners.
5. Big Agriculture
Drought is merely another word for opportunity and huge profits for companies such as Monsanto. Monsanto is hard at work developing GMO crop seeds that are drought-resistant. No doubt they will make untold billions as the planet gets even hotter.
6. Wall Street
You didn’t think financial behemoths such as Goldman Sachs would miss out on the booty being made as we burn the Earth to a crisp, did you? Wall Street firms like KKR invest in hedge funds that trade in weather derivatives, making billion dollar bets for and against weather disasters. Other firms are buying water rights, in anticipation of worldwide shortages. To them, it’s all just a game of Monopoly.
7. Shipping
Thanks to global warming, what was formerly a route that could only be used with an icebreaker plowing the path for a cargo ship has now become open seas with a few easily avoided ice floes. This can save up to $300,000 per ship. Cha-ching!
8. Desalination
As the world gets hotter and drier, more and more companies are showing up to turn salty sea water into H2O that can be used for consumption and to irrigate crops.
9. Mining
Mining companies now have the chance to dig in formerly ice-coated areas of the Arctic–such as Greenland–for rich mineral resources like zinc, iron ore, uranium, copper, and gold. Despite environmental concerns about mining and pollution, Greenland has thrown open the gates to mining concerns in order to employ its people.
h/t Raw Story
