Investors should prepare for a “green friendly” government says David Fessler. One of Obama’s first steps will be to make American homes and offices more energy efficient. And that means big gains for three companies directly involved in producing energy saving devices…

In the conclusion of this two-part essay, Dr. Marc Faber discusses what America needs to do to truly fix its energy consumption problem – a long-term solution, not a temporary Band-Aid.

Solar stock Ersol rose to a new record after German engineering giant Bosch said it paid $157 a share, a premium of more than 60%, for a controlling stake in the company. This from The Guardian:

Shares in leading German solar stocks rose substantially on expectations that other big players, including oil groups, are on the prowl in a market that grew to €6.6bn last year and is forecast to top €18bn by 2020.

Companies specializing in centralized fossil fuel fired generation need to move towards energy efficiency and diversity of generation, Scottish and Southern Energy, Britain’s second largest energy supplier, said today.

“The days of meeting an unchecked demand for energy through monolithic carbon intensive power stations are coming to an end. Increasingly the emphasis will be on energy efficiency, renewables, cleaned up fossil fuel plant and micro generation,” the company said in a statement accompanying its full-year results, according to Britain’s The Guardian newspaper.

It’s all to do with the Government being able to tell the public that they’re weaning them off oil produced by those nasty terrorists. It’s a fallacy… and the biggest food producer in the world is choosing to burn its crops for the sake of subsidies.

On April 1 — April Fool’s Day, appropriately enough — Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) held a nearly 3-hr hearing before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. One of the participants was Chevron Corp. Vice-Chairman Peter J. Robertson, who made some excellent points.