Something weird is happening in the once marginal world of environmentalism.

游客2023-09-15  29

问题    Something weird is happening in the once marginal world of environmentalism. The green cause is no longer th9 preserve of woolly-minded liberals and fringe activists. Its tenets are being actively pursued by business leaders, stockholders and investment managers. In the popular mind-set, natural disasters such as New Orleans’ Hurricane Katrina and floods in Eastern Europe are now linked to a change in climate that threatens our way of life and our grand-children’s future.
    Environmental concerns have grown so widespread that conservative politicians once skeptical of the green movement have been reacting to the pressure. The most startling turnaround, however, is among business leaders. Corporations are giving themselves green makeovers to improve efficiency, save money and look more attractive to investors and the public. According to a recent report from the Climate Group, an international environmental charity,43 multinationals--including Bayer, BT and DuPont-saved a combined $11.6 billion last year by improving energy efficiency, reducing waste output and harnessing solar power. General Electric’s Ecomagination campaign to cut carbon emissions, partly by selling low-emissions products ranging from power plants to fluorescent light bulbs, raked in $ 10.1 billion last year, up from $ 6.2 billion in 2004. Their slogan: "Green is green", as in the color of American dollar bills.
   Investment analysts are starting to see the environmental awareness of managers as a barometer of the likely long-term success of their companies. Green policies, they say, tend to indicate hands-on management, high consumer confidence and good corporate governance. HSBC won’t do deals with companies on projects, like oil pipelines through Russia, that don’t measure up to the environmental, social and governance standards. The world’s two largest insurance companies, Swiss Re and Munich Re, are now taking companies’ policies on climate change into consideration when determining risk. "We believe that operating in a sustainable fashion is a proxy (代理人) for good management practices overall, "says Chris Walker, head of sustainable business development at Swiss Re. "They’re the type of companies we’re more comfortable doing business with."

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答案 liberals and activists

解析 根据题干中的the green cause定位到原文第一段第二句The green cause is no longer the preserve of woolly-minded liberals and fringe activists.原文意为“环保事业再也不是头脑混乱的自由主义者和偏执的活动家们的专属领地了”。题干中has ceased to be the exclusive domain of意为“已不再是……的专属领域”,是对原文中is no longer the preserve of的同义转述,故答案为liberals and activists。
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