Buffett Handing Complicated Climate Legacy to His Head of Energy (3)

Warren Buffett will exit the CEO chair at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. later this year with a complicated climate legacy.

The Omaha-based investor runs a conglomerate that is a clean energy heavyweight, with wind and solar assets across the US, and he has written that climate change is “highly likely” a “problem for the planet.” Yet Berkshire is also a major investor in oil, gas and coal — a position poised to endure well after the 94-year-old retires.

Buffett has been opportunistic, said Ethan Zindler, who leads country and policy research at BloombergNEF. “He’s obviously one of the world’s most legendary ...