BRANSON GIVES BILLIONS TO COOL

Mogul pledges billions against warming
Deepti Hajela, September 21, 2006 (AP via Yahoo News)
- British business mogul Richard Branson said Thursday he would invest about $3 billion to combat global warming over the next decade.

- Branson, the billionaire behind the multi-platform Virgin brand, said the money would come from 100 percent of the profits generated by his transportation and airline sectors. It will then be invested in efforts to find renewable, sustainable energy sources in an effort to wean the world off of oil and coal.
- Branson made the announcement on the second day of the Clinton Global Initiative, a conference of business, political and nonprofit leaders hosted by former President Clinton that debuted last year.
- "Our generation has inherited an incredibly beautiful world from our parents and they from their parents," Branson said at a news conference with Clinton at his side. "We must not be the generation responsible for irreversibly damaging the environment."

- Clinton praised Branson as one of the most "creative" and "committed" people he had ever known…
- The commitment ensures that the conference, which brings people together to brainstorm on solutions to global issues, would more than meet its goal of matching last year's pledges of more than $2 billion…The initiative began Wednesday with a slew of world figures, from first lady Laura Bush to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.
- The Thursday session featured Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Queen Rania al-Abdullah of Jordan…