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Show THE ZEPHYR/AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2008 THE GREENING of WILDERNESS.....part 2 _ How the Mega-Rich are Co-opting Environmentalism and Turning IT into a Big Business too. 3 By Jim Stiles ...this is what is wrong with the conservation movement. It has a clear conscience....To the conservation movement, it is only production that causes environmental degradation; the consumption that supports the production is rarely acknowledged to be at fault. The ideal of the runof-the-mill conservationist is to impose restraints upon production without limiting consumption or burdening the consciences of consumers. Chairman. Recently TPG bought a controlling interest in TXU, the largest utility company in Texas. FORTUNE observes: “Bonderman’s high-profile deals have given him a mystique. He’s the man who can close the sale, and his secretive style only feeds his aura. People may not see how he does it, but they see the results. The stealth isn’t just a matter of personal preference. Bonderman has learned it’s much easier to conduct business fat from the prying eyes of the media, stock analysts, and the public.” His estimated worth is $3.3 billion, good enough to be ranked the 105th richest American in 2007. He owns a 15,000 square foot mansion in Aspen, Colorado and a sister Wendell Berry Nobody hates the conservation movement more than Rush tribes against “environmentalist whackos” mock every aspect of endangered species to the application of alternative energy global warming —or even its existence---it’s all one big bad joke cist. Among Limbaugh. His daily diaof it—from the protection sources to the severity of to the right-wing polemi- home, also 15,000 square feet, is under construction adjacent to the Scott Matheson Na- ture Preserve in Moab, Utah. But as FORTUNE points out, “he jets around the world ina Gulfstream GV. (Actually, his ‘official residence’ is in Fort Worth and his family stays in Aspen, but he might as well list his address as the GV.)...Rare is the week he doesn’t go abroad. At the same time, he’s calling and e-mailing incessantly. People who work with him say it’s routine to get calls back within a few hours whether Bonderman is in San Francisco, Dublin, Seoul, or anywhere in between.” his most frequent targets is the conservation hierarchy. He entertains his le- gions of listeners daily as he mocks and ridicules venerable institutions like the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and the Wilderness Society— the mainstream environmental community. According to Limbaugh, these are the people who embrace environmentalism as a secular religion of sorts. They believe, he says, “that God is the earth and that God is nothing more than the earth. Actually, itis When Bonderman turned 60, he threw a party for himself in Las Vegas. He rented out the Hard Rock Café for the entertainment part of the evening, then took his guests back to the Bellagio for food and partying. Robin Williams and John Mellencamp opened the show, but Bonderman wanted a a modern form of pantheism, where bigger act, so he hired the Roll- nature is divine. This group,” Limbaugh declares, “wants to preserve the earth at all costs. They want to ing Stones for a cool $7 million. Vegas papers reported that the entire evening’s festivities surpassed $10 million. Bonderman must have enjoyed his Vegas experience--- in 2007, TPG bought Harrah's En- roll us back, maybe not to the Stone Age, but at least to the horse-and- buggy era.” That's Limbaugh’s take on environmentalists in America today; af- tertainment, Inc.(now re-named Caesar’s Entertainment, Inc.), one of the largest leveraged buy- ter all, the King of Right Wing Talk Radio does have a way of painting very broad strokes when he imposes his “vision” on a plethora of issues. But while theré may indeed be mem- outs in history. The acquisition of more than 40 casinos across the country includes the MGM Grand, Bally’s, Caesar’s Palace, Harrah’s, The Flamingo, Paris Las Vegas, Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino, and Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall & Saloon—all in Las Vegas. bers of these organizations who long for horseless carriages and oil lamps, when it comes to the money and power that supports those groups, nothing could be farther from the truth In fact, when Limbaugh And add a couple of Vegas golf says, courses. “Capitalism is good for people AND for other living things,” he’d find more than a few enthusiastic nods from some of the most powerful environmentalists in America today. Being “green” has multiple connotations. And, according to Sports Business Daily, Bonderman even plans to join “MGM Studios Inc. Chair and CEO Harry Evans Sloan and producer Jerry Bruckheimer as equal partners” to secure an NHL team for Las Vegas. Despite his enormous wealth and extravagant lifestyle, however, Bonderman is highly regarded by the mainstream environmental community in the United States. He serves on the boards of the Grand Canyon Trust, the Wilderness Society and the World Wildlife Fund. His charitable contributions to these and many other groups measure in the mil- From its origins, the conservation movement, by its very name, has always evoked im- ages of and aspirations to a simpler, less materialistic life. And it made sense—if we loved Nature, if we hoped to preserve and protect what remained of wild and free country, then we had to look to our own behavior first. And our own lifestyles. There has always been a clear link between our relentless consumption of natural resources and the degradation _ lions. For that, Charles Wilkinson, the president of the Grand Canyon Trust, has hailed Bonderman as “one of the country’s greatest conservationists right now.” of the land, water and air we cherish. More than a century and a half ago, Henry David Thoreau set a standard for envi- “To the conservation movement, ronmentalists and the life we need to pursue when he wrote, “Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts, of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.” He warned, “”Our life is frittered away by detail... simplify, simplify...” And most fitting and meaningful of all, “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to leave alone.” Indeed. Consider David Bonderman. it is only production that causes environmental degradation; the consumption that supports the production is rarely acknowledged to be at fault.” DAVID BONDERMAN, ‘THE DEALMAKER’ & ‘HIS EVER MOVING VORTEX’ FORTUNE magazine calls him one of the “Kings of American business. They are the architects and managers of private equity firms and hedge funds, amassing untold billions of dollars. And, among this extremely quiet species,” FORTUNE declares, “ David Bonderman is as dominant as they come. He has earned a reputation as a master dealmaker, a tornado of a man spinning equal parts brilliance, energy, and charm inside his Wendell Berry THE CONSERVATION MOVEMENT & THE NEED FOR ‘GREEN’ Bonderman is just one of many from the realm of the mega-rich who have recently ever-moving vortex.” embraced environmentalism as their cause celebre. David Bonderman is a venture capitalist. His private equity firm, Texas Pacific Group (TPG), buys failing or marginal or undervalued corporations, “streamlines” the operation, sometimes breaks the company into pieces and makes huge profits. In 2005 TPG claimed to have $20 billion under management, “a gaudy sum,” says FORTUNE, ” that includes a series of under-the-radar Texas Pacific affiliates in the U.S. and Asia.” The number has since risen. He has served on the Boards of many public companies, including Burger King Hold- Mega-millionaires, even billionaires fill the boards of directors of almost every major mainstream environmental organization in America. In fact, the money that pours into the coffers of these groups has made it a multi-billion dollar industry. Consider some of the assets and payrolls of the nation’s most popular national groups. The Wilderness Society has net assets of almost $35 million. Its top staffers receive annual salaries between $140,000 and $175,000. And among its “key employees,” president William H. Meadows received an annual salary of $252,000, plus a $14,000 expense ac- ings, Inc.; CoStar Group, Inc.; Gemalto N.V.; and Ryanair Holdings, plc, of which he is count. Some of its greatest expenses go to telemarketing ($300,941), a mailing list broker (photo above: David Bonderman’s new home in Moab, Utah) 12 |
