Tom Steyer’s Story: How Climate Change Changed Me

Billionaire climate campaigner Tom Steyer, founder and president of NextGen Climate, published a heartfelt opinion piece in Politico July 14, responding to news reports on the fossil fuel investments he made while he led San Francisco-based Farallon Capital Management. “I left the firm and committed myself to addressing global climate change because—based on the scientific evidence—I could not reconcile my personal values with managing a fund that by mandate is invested in all sectors of the global economy, including fossil fuels,” he wrote. “As a very senior and very conservative investor friend told me, ‘You never put the entire enterprise at risk. That’s bad business.’” Steyer has since dropped his fossil fuel investments.