From ABC (Australia)* - "Richard Branson pledges $3 billion to tackle global warming". Sounds great doesn't it? Well he's not exactly giving it away. Read the fine print. He's investing the profits from Virgin Airlines and other enterprises back in his own businesses. Fine. It's primarily for research into biofuels but I'm not sure that this qualifies as altruism. There is a still a profit motive here.
In any case the long term benefits of biofuels are open to question. Either land is diverted from food crops (you can't eat ethanol) or more pristine ecosystems are destroyed to make room.
Still it's better than most billionaries are doing.
*Note: I'm not picking on the antipodeans. Virtually all of the headlines are misleading. They just happened to be at the top of the heap!
In any case the long term benefits of biofuels are open to question. Either land is diverted from food crops (you can't eat ethanol) or more pristine ecosystems are destroyed to make room.
Still it's better than most billionaries are doing.
*Note: I'm not picking on the antipodeans. Virtually all of the headlines are misleading. They just happened to be at the top of the heap!
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