The Green Bubble?

Remember the Tech Boom, and the following Tech Bubble Burst in early 2000? While the economy is nowhere near where it was then, in fact it hasn't even moved back to the heights of that level since, many wonder if the lack of results in "Green" are headed for the same fate. Sweating the debts, and lack of results for all the clamoring of green technologies, I'm sure many are plowing through their acne medicine.

At a time when most startups can't get funding and even government-backed small-business loans are scarce, there is seemingly endless enthusiasm for cleantech--that is, young companies that create energy out of renewable sources such as wind or sunlight, or make vehicles powered by something other than fossil fuel.

Cleantech is "the greatest economic opportunity of the 21st century, says Ira Ehrenpreis, board member of the National Venture Capital Association and general partner with Technology Partners, in Palo Alto, Calif. It is the only sector, he points out, that combines bipartisan political agreement, corporate and Wall Street support and a transformational issue--saving the earth's energy and water resources. "The green of the environment and the green of economic and financial returns go hand in hand, he says.