As long as someone does it, it doesn't matter to me. I'm sure a bunch of rich people living in the middle of the desert doesn't want any more global warming than necessary.

They won't have a monopoly on the Sun. When others see them making a profit they will get politically correct competition.

Hey, that's not a fair comparison. The US Government is spending almost $100 million per year on solar research. That's pretty close to $15 billion - isn't it?

I do care for the environment, but I also have a concern for the political ramifications of sending so much money to the Middle East. We're basically financing terrorism.

Umm, and oil isn't doing that already? That's like being scared of electrocution of the prius's battery while ignoring the fact that you're sitting on a way more explosive bomb called the gas tank.

Believe me, we're never going to invade a muslim country for their solar utility facilities. We might bomb them, never invade for them.

Or if there is success in installing ethical democratic government you could be sponsoring peace. People are more likely to be radicals if they are desperate or under threat. People who are content and feel secure rarely support terrorism. Look at Sweden and Australia.

Hotbeds of it, I tells you. Just look at the violent sport they play... and on an oval pitch. Who the hell plays on an oval pitch? If that's not a form of satanism I don't know what is...

Seriously though. It's really no different from them buying up hotels and the like. At the end of the day we can always nationalize it, it's on our soil... and we will make money off of it too. Better yet, we can just would some of these ourselves. We invented the damn things, it's about time we got off of our arses and built some. BoulderBum, you'll be glad to know that there are plans to build a CSP plant here in CO. In the SW part of the state I think. I believe it's supposed to be a ~300MW facility. Not sure about that though.

To build infrastructure, whether roads or energy generation, you need investment capital. We've squandered all our cash on this war. The Arabs, on the other hand, have lots of investment capital, from selling us oil to run our Priuses and our SUVs. They're in a position to build alternative-energy plants. Oil is a drug, and by allowing ourselves to be addicted, we're making the drug dealer rich. And it's the rich man who has the capital to buy up the productive industries and get even richer.

Yes, precisely my point. We're financing terrorism through oil, so it makes sense for us to reduce our dependance on it and move to cleaner forms of power, but those darned Arabs are being smart about it and finding ways to sink the hooks in.

Meanwhile, our government subsidizes the oil industry and invests only a pittance in renewables.

Heck, maybe it's better if the Arabs do take over the world. At least they're investing in the future, and they can't do much worse than GW!

That's cool! I hadn't heard that.

I've been trying to keep tabs on the developments at CSU with AVA Solar, though.

Well said as always, Daniel.