
Yesterday, I spoke at the 2008 U.S.-Africa Infrastructure Conference, Connecting the Continent, organized by the Corporate Council on Africa. I spoke about the infrastructure constraints faced by the private sector in Africa, particuarly the lack of a reliable supply of electricity. I pointed to the scope for American businesses to solve these problems -- the off-grid solar and other renewable energy technologies being developed in California, Nevada and elsewhere are IDEAL for the sparsely distributed populations of Africa, where access to energy from a public grid will likely never be achieved beyond the largest cities. But I was preaching to the choir. The level of enthusiasm for renewable energy to solve Africa's power crisis was tremendous, as were the number of businesses...

Travel log- Day 1 of the Michigan Campus Wind Storm Tour
The Boss brought a crowd of Obama supporters, young and old, to Eastern Michigan University on Monday. Amidst the sea of Obama canvassers, pin and t-shirt venders, union members, the Michigan Power Vote campaign spread our truly hopeful message of green jobs and climate justice. We however, were not the only energy activists on the scene. After an hour of wildly successful Power Voting, who should show up but the Trojan Horse of greenwash - American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.
There we were, clad in green hard hats, having conversations about green jobs for a sustainable Michigan economy, reinventing our traditional leadership in manufacturing and industry from the polluting, unsustainable industries that have so...