Saturday, February 4, 2012

Nordic journeys in financing tropical environmentalism

Find a worthy environmental cause around the world, a group of tropical do-gooders looking for cash, a well-intentioned project to fight global warming, you can bet the Norwegians have it on their radar screen. I honestly find it commendable. Someone asks for help protecting the environment and Norway – with generous income available due to its offshore oil operations – raises its hand. It’s sure a nice contrast to America’s “what’s in it for me?” approach or Canada’s “we’re part of the deal until we’re not” plan.

But my hunch is the Norwegians are getting antsy. They’ve put up funds for environmental projects around the world and the going is slow.