Monday, September 22, 2014

'My daddy's in oil.'

If I never had a cent
I'd be rich as Rockefeller
Gold dust at my feet
On the sunny side of the street
 
Fortunately for Dorothy Fields, John D. was made of sterner, and wiser, stuff than his heirs;
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund is joining a coalition of philanthropists pledging to rid themselves of more than $50 bn...in fossil fuel assets.
....Rockefeller Brothers Fund director Stephen Heintz said the move to divest from fossil fuels would be in line with oil tycoon John D Rockefeller's wishes, "We are quite convinced that if he were alive today, as an astute businessman looking out to the future, he would be moving out of fossil fuels and investing in clean, renewable energy," Mr Heintz said in a statement.
Failing to mention that, had John D. Rockefeller not gone into the oil refining business in the 19th century--to produce kerosene for home lighting--there would be no Rockefeller fortune for him to direct in the first place. Which doesn't seem to have exactly performed splendidly under Mr. Heintz, as the Fund is worth less than a billion dollars today. AKA, peanuts.
"There is a moral imperative to preserve a healthy planet," Valerie Rockefeller Wayne, a great-great-granddaughter of Mr Rockefeller and a trustee of the fund, is quoted by the Washington Post as saying.
Her great-great-grandfather was, by all reports a morally upright human being. He made his fortune by rationalizing the refining and transportation of petroleum, which resulted in the cost of kerosene, for purchasers, being driven down by something like 80%.

Nor were the consumers the only beneficiaries, as Rockefeller bought out his less efficient small competitors with Standard Oil stock. Making many a small businessman wealthy too. By serving your fellow man, you can prosper.

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