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Big Business Fuels Green Boom

Fear of dot-com-like bust grows as money chases scarce ideas

By Colleen Barry, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 1, 2007 5:17 PM CDT

(Newser) – Greed and idealism are converging as big business propels today’s clean energy industry, CNN reports. Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are pulling in capital for oil and coal alternatives, while across the pond, London financiers swapped more than $30 billion last year in "pollution permits"—credits companies can sell if their factories produce less pollution than permitted.

Critics fear that today’s green market boom could inflate and burst like the '90s dot-com bubble. "There's a lot of money chasing not so many ideas, so the prices are going up fast,” one analyst says. Some experts fear that a drop in oil prices could undo progress in fossil fuels. The UN plans to fight off such concerns by forging another treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which ends in 2012.

Mist covers the cloud forest at Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Costa Rica, Thursday, May 24, 2007. Costa Rica plans to enter the market to sell Carbon bonds to industrialized nations that need to reduce... (Associated Press)

A plume rises from smokestacks. (Getty Images (by Event))

A janitor dusts a Ford running on bio-ethanol. (Getty Images)

A visitor walks behind a car running on bio-ethanol. (Getty Images)

The hood of a Ford car running with bio-ethanol is seen during. (Getty Images)

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Big Business Fuels Green Boom

Fear of dot-com-like bust grows as money chases scarce ideas

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Environmentalism Is the New Socialism

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Many tout Jackson's record; others say pick too industry-friendly

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Most funded projects 'won't reduce emissions'

NYT Columnist Pied at Brown

Activists take issue with Friedman's corporate environmental solutions

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Eco lobby partners with the pulpit to get through to Congress

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Fear of dot-com-like bust grows as money chases scarce ideas

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

environmentalism • carbon trading • business • markets • carbon emissions

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Environmentalism Is the New Socialism

The left is using it as a new excuse to grab power

Obama to Pick Corzine Aide as EPA Chief

Many tout Jackson's record; others say pick too industry-friendly

Billions Wasted in UN Carbon Program: Study

Most funded projects 'won't reduce emissions'

NYT Columnist Pied at Brown

Activists take issue with Friedman's corporate environmental solutions

Greenies Find God Might Be the Answer

Eco lobby partners with the pulpit to get through to Congress

About Us

Site

Newser By Users

Community

Site Maps

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What is Newser?