The ‘greening' of wilderne$$

Consider David Bonderman. 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.” David Bonderman is a venture capitalist. His private equity firm, TPG Capital, buys failing or marginal or undervalued corporations, “streamlines” the operation, sometimes breaks the company into pieces and makes huge profits. TPG's acquisitions are staggering and far too long to list. Bonderman's estimated worth is $1 billion (he lost over $2 billion of his fortune in 2008). Still he owns a 15,000 square foot mansion in Aspen, Colo., and another mansion in Moab, Utah. He spends much of his time in his Gulfstream jet. When Bonderman turned 60, he threw a party for himself in Las Vegas. It cost $10 million and he hired the Rolling Stones for the night. Despite his enormous wealth and extravagant lifestyle, however, Bonderman is highly regarded by the mainstream environmental community in the U.S. He serves on the boards of the Grand Canyon Trust, the Wilderness Society and the World Wildlife Fund and is a major contributor to many other groups like the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. For that, Charles Wilkinson, the president of the Grand Canyon Trust, has hailed Bonderman as “one of the country's greatest conservationists right now.” Bonderman is just one of many from the realm of the mega-rich who have embraced environmentalism as their cause celebre. Mega-millionaires, even billionaires have found seats on 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 mainstream environmentalism a multi-billion dollar industry. The boards are the policymakers for these organizations. They are the face of environmentalism in America...read more