Bill Gates Republic Services landfill investment climate criticism, Digi Mart USA News: Bill Gates has spent years urging businesses to take climate change seriously, but a new ProPublica investigation suggests one of his largest investments has not kept pace with his public message. Reporter Alex Cuadros finds that Gates, through his investment office, has quietly built a $29 billion stake in Republic Services, the country’s second-largest landfill operator.
ProPublica says the holding now represents more than one-fifth of his net worth.
Landfills are a major source of methane in the United States, and EPA inspectors have repeatedly found Republic sites leaking the potent gas at levels far above federal limits. One Houston landfill was singled out as a chronic violator.
Despite marketing itself as a climate-conscious waste company and signing on to an emissions-cutting initiative, Republic has resisted tougher targets that might require more than $1 billion in new spending, according to the report. The company has also, through industry groups, pushed back on stricter federal rules, advanced methane monitoring, and policies to divert food and yard waste away from landfills, measures scientists say are key to curbing emissions.
“It seems very likely that Bill Gates has the power to influence Republic’s behavior to make it more climate-friendly, even if that costs the company profits,” said Ann Lipton, a legal scholar at the University of Colorado, Boulder, as quoted by ProPublica.
