What We're Reading

Solar energy is still in it's infancy as an alternative energy fuel but let the consumers find a way to save a few bucks?  No way says Oklahoma state legislature.  A bill to allow a TAX surcharge for anyone using the sun in addition to their current utility, passed the Senate last month and now heads to Gov. Mary Fallin for her approval.  This "tax" however, isn't going to the state or federal coffers.  Noooo.  It's going to the existing utility company to "offset existing infrastructure costs"

Wait.  What?  Sounds like I'll be propping up their stock price instead.

Seriously?  Tax the Sun?!  Heaven forbid the big oil barons (Koch brothers) don't find a way to deter it's usage.  Just because Oklahomans were too asleep at the wheel busy to look the other way while their legislators sold them out, don't think for one moment that other states won't follow. 

Whatever happened to supply and demand?  Whatever happened to free markets?  Because a company does not adapt to new technology, s

At their inception, autos were considered speculative investments. In fact, so were railroads, the light bulb, telephone and internet.  They'll never catch on.  It'll be too expensive.  No one will be able to afford it.  There's no infrastructure for it.  It'll pass.  It's a FAD.

McKinsey feels "The world is on the cusp of a resource revolution". 

So, is cleantech failing? In a word, no. Rather, the sector has experienced a cycle of excitement followed by high (and often inflated) expectations, disillusionment, consolidation, and then stability as survivors pick up the pieces. We’ve seen this before with other once-emerging technologies.

The shakeout is brutal—and typical. It has weeded out weaker players, making the industry as a whole more robust. Despite the rough patch, annual growth is at double-digit rates. It’s also important to look beyond financial statements. Global wind installations, for example, have soared about 25 percent a year since 2006 (exhibit). And global co