13_stephen_schwarzman.jpgAn estate owned by William L. Koch, president of mining and energy company Oxbow Corp., used about 3.9 million gallons over the past 12 months, down from more than six million in the prior 12-month period. A spokesman for Mr. Koch says he has “taken significant steps to reduce water usage” over the past year and that “we follow all of the water restrictions and abide by the law.”
Still, many Palm Beachers seem happy to pay the 30% surcharge on their water bill that is imposed when a resident consumes more than 6,000 gallons a month. Others are violating the Phase III restrictions and incurring fines to keep their grounds green.
The Palm Beach Police, whose officers hand out water citations during their daily rounds, say that over the past three months alone they’ve written 370 citations totaling $54,700. Singer Jimmy Buffett, who owns a mansion in town, was fined $100 for unspecified water violations, as was buyout king Stephen Schwarzman, according to city records. A spokesman for Mr. Schwarzman said the Blackstone Group CEO wasn’t available to comment. A representative for Mr. Buffett didn’t return a call.
Throughout the West - in Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming - battles are raging over proposed coal plants. Caught up in two big ones is The Blackstone Group, the global asset manager than went public last year.
Blackstone (BX) owns 80 percent of Sithe Global Power, an independent power producer. Sithe wants to build a 1,500-megawatt plant, known as Desert Rock, on land governed by the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. It also wants to build a 750-megawatt plant called Toquop in southeast Nevada.
If the plants are built - which is no sure thing - they would provide electricity to some of the nation's fastest-growing areas, including Las Vegas and Phoenix. The Desert Rock plant would also deliver a much-needed economic injection into the Navajo Nation, America's largest Indian reservation, many of whose 200,00 residents are poor.
But both projects face powerful opponents. Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico opposes the Desert Rock plant, although there's not a lot he can do to stop it because of the sovereignty granted to the Navajo tribe. In Nevada, U.S. Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader, vows to do all he can to block Toquop and two other coal plants.
Environmentalists including the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defense also want to stop the plants, and that could be a problem for Blackstone. So far, the groups have not targeted Blackstone or its high-profile chairman and CEO, Stephen A. Schwarzman, but it's only a matter of time before Schwarzman is brought into the fray, according to insiders. Blackstone, which managed nearly $100 billion in assets as of last Sept. 30, did not respond to a phone call and e-mail seeking comment.
Blackstone will likely face pointed questions about the coal plants from institutional shareholders, who have lobbied other public companies to disclose their climate-related risks. Coal-fired plants are the single biggest source of greenhouse gases that cause global warming.
