Recently the movie the Age of Ultron was viewed whose story among the super heroes was about man’s desire to use technology to help make the world better. There is little doubt that the world is better, however there have been consequences along the way. The book The Polluters – the Making of Our Chemically Altered Environment by Benjamin Ross and Steve Amter published by Oxford University Press, NY, 2010 looks at some of the consequences.

The lifeblood of our cities is water. For many years, water was seen as never ending, till the invention of air conditioning which allowed people to live in the desert like areas. If you like in the area, water is a necessity. If you live in other areas, mostly you think about water for bathing, sanitation and recreation. For industry, they thought of water for production of whatever was being made. What happen to the end result or discharges was not a big problem for most people. If you think we have an abundance and the waste will be carried away, do you worry about pollution controls? Pollution controls are an expense as most companies do not recycle their water, they send it away and get new water from upstream. If you examine regulations – many lobby groups sought a core principle of no regulatory program shall include a prohibition against the discharge of any waste.. unless there is a practical and reasonable method of treatment… This has meant that unless government provides the water treatment and leads in water treatment, industry had few reasons to do so, even when they knew the consequences. For many years water rates and penalties were kept minimal because of both jobs, taxes and a belief in the ever ending water supply.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, if the world is to be a better place these are the companies that have to lead. As an investor often times you can get both – leadership and a continuing dividend payment.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.