Paulson is a diehard environmentalist, who loves the adulation of the green crowd. When he was CEO of Goldman, the firm obtained a big chunk of undeveloped land in Patagonia (the firm owned debt issued by the owner, who defaulted). He had the firm donate it as a massive nature preserve. He received all sorts of awards and praise, for spending shareholder money. Now, it was all legitimate, as the BoD signed off, but it’s similar to our elected Solons getting praise for spending taxpayer money.