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The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter." He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.

Chemists claim that by mimicking photosynthesis in the lab, they could revolutionize fuel production within five years. Katharine Sanderson reports. Dan Nocera, a chemist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, made a bold statement at the American Chemical Society's fall meeting in Philadelphia last month. He claimed that within five years he could build a device capable of producing locally sourced hydrogen gas, which could power all the world's houses, fill people's car batteries and revolutionize energy supply in the developing world. "I guarantee, in under five years, you'll see this," he said.

Editor's note: This was Sen. Barbara Boxer's opening statement Sept. 24 during a hearing on President Bush's environmental legacy. The Administration did not send representatives to the hearing. The purpose of this hearing is to examine the Bush Administration's record on important public health and environmental matters. Unfortunately, instead of reviewing accomplishments-we look back on years filled with environmental rollbacks that serve special interests, and do not serve the American people.

As utility costs mount ever higher, Americans now have real options to take home energy matters into their own hands with "green" systems that can pay for themselves in as little as a few years. Among the choices: wind, solar, geothermal and a "microhydro" option that is potentially cheaper than a year's tuition at many state colleges.

The California city of Berkeley has approved a new financing scheme for loans to homeowners who install rooftop solar panels, a landmark programme that could inspire other US cities to follow suit. The Berkeley scheme would finance city-backed solar loans through a small addition to the property taxes of each participating home, eliminating the need to find up-front cash to install panels that can cost the average American upwards of $30,000.

Billionaire T. Boone Pickens brought is traveling energy road show to the Salt Palace Convention Center on Thursday, and hundreds of Utahns came to hear what he had to say. The oil tycoon and mega-successful hedge-fund manager promoted his strategies for alternative fuel development. The Pickens Plan urges Americans to break their reliance on foreign oil by using clean alternatives, including natural gas, wind, solar and nuclear power.

TENNESSEE The average Tennessee household uses 41 percent more electricity than the typical American household, but Joe Hoagland is determined to lessen that disparity. As senior vice president of energy conservation for the Tennessee Valley Authority, Dr. Hoagland heads a $99 million program this year to help convince Tennessee Valley power users to buy less of what TVA sells. With today's increase in power rates of 2 percent, his job has gotten a little easier.

Energy Policies To Maximize Energy Security And Economic Development Hosted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance Date/Time: January 9, 2009 8:30 am to 5:30 pm Detailed Conference Agenda Location: Buntrock Commons, St. Olaf College - Northfield, MN Hear from the experts on Renewable Energy Payments (a.k.a. feed-in tariffs): * Paul Gipe, the North American expert [more info] gives his excellent tutorial * National policy expert, Wilson Rickerson [more info] llustrates the spreading wave of feed-in tariff legislation * German energy expert, Willi Voigt, shares his experience with implementing feed-in tariffs in Germany and their stunning success

As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to tackle the vast problems ahead for America, he has consistently made two bold proposals. First, he intends to make an immense investment in infrastructure - roads, bridges, railways - to jump-start jobs. Second, he plans to boost clean green technologies to make up for the squandered opportunities of the Lost Decade. These are both powerful, worthy ideas. But they would be far more powerful if they were directly connected. The incoming administration has a historic opportunity to accomplish five major goals at once through a massive investment in stopping the waste of energy and dollars pouring out of American homes.

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) have released a white paper titled "Green Power Superhighways: Building a Path to America's Clean Energy Future," detailing current inadequacies of the U.S. electric transmission infrastructure and offering policy solutions to address them. Inadequate transmission capacity is a significant barrier to renewable energy development in the U.S. The release of the paper comes at a critical time. President Obama and Congress have made strong commitments to renewable energy as a driver for jobs creation and economic growth, but the nation's renewable energy resources can not reach their full potential without renewed investment in the country's transmission infrastructure.

CleanTechnica has a post from San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom on the city's proposal to build a wave power plant offshore - Wave Energy to Bring Power and Jobs to San Francisco. Today, San Francisco took a meaningful step toward turning the promise of renewable ocean energy into reality. We submitted a preliminary permit application to the federal government to develop a wave power project off our coast that we believe can generate between 10 to 30 megawatts of energy, with potential of up to 100 megawatts. When this project is fully operational, upwards of 100 jobs could be created in San Francisco. Ocean power is a true "game changer" in the area of renewable energy. When wave and tidal power technologies reach commercial scale, they are expected to be able to provide thousands of megawatts of power to our coastal communities, dramatically green our energy portfolios and create thousands of new American jobs. In San Francisco, we've been doing our part to spur these technologies by aggressively advancing tidal and wave power pilot projects. We are 100% committed to this challenge. Wave power is not a new concept. In 1887, San Francisco Mayor Adolph Sutro recognized the power of San Francisco's waves and built a wave catch-basin to harness the ocean's power. Over the next century wave power development took a backseat to our dependence on oil, with oil platforms built along our coasts to feed our oil addiction.

The American Massage Therapy Association says that massage therapists will likely experience a 20% to 35% increase in demand in the coming years.

Imagine cars with no tailpipes and no direct carbon emissions into our atmosphere - powered by an electrical energy system getting cleaner by the year through Renewable Portfolio Standards in effect in California and across the nation. More than a decade ago, I was one of the original owners of the EV1, an electric vehicle produced by General Motors (GM). When GM discontinued the series and reclaimed all of the EV1s, it was a major setback for the American car industry. Instead of leading the charge to create a new generation of vehicles - America fell behind.

The Alliance to Save Energy hailed new Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) legislation, introduced today by Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), as effective federal policy that would reduce consumers' energy use and therefore costs; cut global warming pollution; and supplant the need for new power plants to meet rising energy demand. The Save American Energy Act would cut electricity and natural gas demand and, in combination with another newly introduced Markey bill creating a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES), create more than a half million jobs and save U.S. consumers more than $180 billion, according to Markey's office.

Hard times are looming. And in their desperation to keep the American economy afloat, government and business will be tossing overboard any proposals for real environmental protection. No time for such romantic foolishness when there are investments to be protected. Get those tax refunds back into retailers' registers, quick!

The American Petroleum Institute (API), the trade organization for the oil and natural gas industry, has just begun running a feel-good commercial that argues "America's future" lies in drilling out domestic reserves of oil and natural gas off our coasts, in our western lands, and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Here's what the ad says:

Washington, DC-Nevada Senator Harry Reid joined other Democratic senators at a press conference today to unveil the Consumer-First Energy Act of 2008, a bill that addresses the root causes of high gas prices. Seven years of the Bush Administration's disastrous energy policies have enriched Big Oil and market speculators at the expense of American consumers. Democrats are committed to providing relief to consumers and strengthening our economic, energy and national security.

AFS Trinity Power has developed patent-pending technology that makes it possible for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to achieve 150 MPG, go 40 miles in all-electric mode, and use gasoline for additional unlimited miles in hybrid mode. In July 2007, in order to very quickly demonstrate all of the key attributes of this technology, the company mounted an effort to build two fully operational XH-150 SUV prototypes using off-the-shelf components. The two vehicles-modified Saturn Vue SUVs-were built in less than six months. They were unveiled on January 13, 2008 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit (Press Announcement) and (Salon.com test drive report).

"The world's southernmost wind farm, in Antarctica, is now operational. The Ross Island wind farm will supply about 11 percent of the power to New Zealand's Scott Base and the American McMurdo Station. Previously, the two sites relied on diesel-powered generators for electricity. The wind farm will cut diesel consumption by about 463,000 liters a year and reduce carbon dioxide output by 1,370 tons annually, according to New Zealand-based Meridian Energy, the project's developer. The three turbines, each 37 meters tall and 33 meters wide, are generating 330 kilowatts of power."