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Kevin McCormally: I’m Kevin McCormally of Kiplinger’s. I’m here with Manny Schiffres, the investment editor of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine to talk about green investing.

Manny, I know we’re not talking about Kermit the Frog. Why is this a good time for green investing?

Manny Schiffres: Well, there are a couple of obvious reasons. First, the growth in demand for traditional fuels such as oil and gas continues to outstrip the growth and supply for those fuels, so that shortfall creates potential windfall for any company that can provide cheaper alternatives to fossil fuels. In addition, we have this tremendous amount of attention that’s being focused on global warming and that provides benefits for companies that can help reduce greenhouse emissions, which many scientists think is the cause of global warming.

Kevin McCormally: Well Manny, I know this is a real hot political issue now, but is there a way for investors to make money in green investing?

Manny Schiffres: Well, absolutely! I mean there are many stocks that you could invest in. We have a list called the Kiplinger Green 25, which we think are all companies that can benefit from the attention to green issues.

Kevin McCormally: Well, why do you think that demand for these stocks is going to increase?

Manny Schiffres: For starters, you have the large focus now on the subject. Every time you fill up your gasoline tank, you can see the impact of rising fuel prices and we expect a substantial increase in demand for these stocks. For 25 years, there’s just one mutual fund that focused on alternative energy. Now, there is six and many more are on the way.

Kevin McCormally: Okay. How do you define a green stock?

Manny Schiffres: The traditional definition would be a company that’s involved in solar energy or wind energy, that sort of thing. The Kiplinger Green 25 has a much broader definition. We consider the green stock to be any company that can benefit from the attention to alternative energy sources or to global warming.

Kevin McCormally: A couple of examples?

Manny Schiffres: Well, obvious names are SunPower, which has a play in solar energy, maker of solar panels. Ormat Technologies, which is a thermo energy company.

Kevin McCormally: Okay. What about non-traditional?

Manny Schiffres: The best example of that would be General Electric. General Electric is involved in coal, clean coal technology and in wind power. Its alternative energy businesses generate $12 billion a year in revenue.

Kevin McCormally: Okay, but you’ve got the list of the 25 altogether?

Manny Schiffres: You can see the entire list at the Kiplinger.com website.

Kevin McCormally: Thank you, Manny.