Blankfein remains committed to the firm’s green initiatives.

Goldman Sachs Group’s high-profile environmental policies adopted during Chairman Henry M. Paulson Jr.’s tenure drew praise from the corporate social responsibility community, but derision from critics who assert the business of business is business. In 2004, Goldman donated 680,000 acres on the island of Tierra del Fuego in a partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society for creation of a nature reserve, prompting complaints from critics that Goldman was indulging the personal interests of Mr. Paulson, a former chairman of the Nature Conservancy.

And in November 2005, Goldman startled many observers by adopting an environmental policy acknowledging the impact of human activity on climate change, and among other things, pledged to spend up to $1 billion on renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, and promised to take environmental impacts into account in making investment decisions and to avoid investments involved in questionable activities such as illegal logging.

Mr. Paulson’s appointment as Treasury Secretary naturally poses the question of whether Goldman’s policies will change under its new chairman Lloyd Blankfein.

“Nothing has changed since Hank’s departure,” says Chris Williams, a Goldman Sachs press officer. “The environmental policy framework was adopted by our board and management committee, and his departure doesn’t change that.” The policy, he says, still “guides our business activities.”

One interesting part of the environmental policy called for creation of a “Center for Environmental Markets,” a $5 million project intended to conduct independent research with academic and non-governmental organization partners to explore and develop “public policy options for establishing effective markets around climate change, biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services.”

The Center has started work and “is in the process of evaluating some projects” although none have been announced, Williams said. The Center is part of Goldman’s Office of Corporate Engagement, run by Managing Director Mark Tercek.

Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Rainforest Action Network, said “time will tell” whether Goldman’s environmental policy commitments will be maintained. “Early indications are that there’s enough of a nucleus of committed executives” within the company that the policy will continue.

Brune said he’d like to see the new Center for Environmental Markets “do some work to establish innovative solutions on forest protection.” Fishing represents another potential area, he said, when investment institutions realize that they may face “a massive credit risk” when “too many boats are chasing too few fish.”

Beyond Goldman, he says, the Rainforest Action Network is in discussions with Morgan Stanley that, he hopes, could lead to “a strong set of social commitments by the end of the year,” and is working with Wachovia Corp. as well to development a climate and forest policy statement.

By James C. Hyatt (JCHyatt@yahoo.com) a New York-based freelance writer formerly with The Wall Street Journal.