Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are one step ahead of the environmentalists. XShares  and The Chicago Climate Exchange have grouped to offer the first ETF based on carbon emission credits in an effort to help preserve the six greenhouse gasses. This is only the beginning of a new environmental movement, marked by hybrid cars and clean water on the verge of becoming a commodity. Gretchen Daily, a Stanford University ecologist believes we have to make conservation fit mainstream business calculations.

David Wolman for West Magazine reports that conservation used to be about suspending raw financial interest to protect places and species that have a value beyond the measure of economics. The idea is to maximize investment while minimizing environmental costs and Wall Street is the place to do that.

Tags: Commodity ETFs, Green ETFs