In his State of the Union speech, President Obama said the U.S. had recently experienced a Sputnik moment in clean energy.

That officially marked the 537th Sputnik moment of the last ten years.

Since the dawn of the modern greentech movement in 2001, policymakers, pundits and others have...

Who killed Evergreen Solar?

This month, the Massachusetts-based company announced it would shutter its local factory and lay off 800 of 925 employees. The firm lost $54 million in the first nine months of 2010. A European joint venture limped offstage last year.

The company isn't quite...

Green technology faces a number of barriers--high capital costs, entrenched incumbents, skepticism, bureaucratic and political roadblocks.

But, please, does the environmental community have to continue to be a problem?

The latest example comes in a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club to hold up an already faltering solar...

Every week, someone asks me "Where is Steve Jobs of green?" or "Where is the Google of Green?"

To top it off, they usually ask in a supercilious tone, as if the green energy revolution has failed because they aren't rich off it yet. The question has come up with...

Germany regularly cuts its feed-in tariffs for renewable energy. The cuts cause anxiety in the solar world, but generally don't lead to a panic because of the measured, reasonable actions taken by the government and the fact that demand continues to grow in other parts of the world.

U.S. Secretary of Defense James V. Forrestal was terrified. The year was 1948 and diplomats worldwide contemplated what might occur if nations recognized Israel as an independent state.

If the United States recognized the soon-to-be nation, Arab nations might cut off what would become crucial oil shipments, he...

There are essentially two approaches to government stimulus programs.

One, you can refuse to participate in these programs on the grounds that subsidies distort the market and lead ultimately to economic inefficiency.

Two, you can take the money with the realization that it pushes you into a murky realm where...

At first glance, it doesn't look like good news. In the most recent elections, Republicans gained control of the House and narrowed the gap in the Senate. Considering that Congress couldn't get an energy bill passed when the Democrats had a larger majority, the running fear is that the chances...

Lately, pundits and commentators have warned that America's place in the renewable energy market has begun to slip, in part because fewer students are pursuing degrees in the hard sciences and engineering.

How can we ever be a solar powerhouse without fresh ideas and students? Meanwhile, utilities, energy...