This year, World Economic Forum can't avoid climate change Every year, some 2,000 business and political leaders descend on snowy Davos, Switzerland, for an unrivaled meeting of minds and money. As the five-day World Economic Forum kicks off today, attendees will tackle an issue of great concern: how to get Bono's autograph. Also, some of them will address climate change. In a survey, twice as many participants as last year say environmental protection should be a priority for world leaders, and 17 climate-related sessions are planned. "By putting climate change at the top of the [agenda, the WEF] has focused …

Will January 2007 prove to be a tipping point for U.S. climate-change policy? Already this month we've seen a barrage of high-profile activity -- and President Bush hasn't even given his State of the Union address yet. Are we at a tipping point? First there was a rapid-fire succession of four major climate-change bills proposed in the Senate, all of which call for mandatory caps on greenhouse-gas emissions. Then, like a clashing of cymbals after a drumroll, 10 major corporations representing the energy and chemical industries, among others, joined with a handful of major environmental groups in a call for …

Corporations join green groups to push for U.S. climate action Quivering under the bed was an option, but 10 major corporations have bravely formed a coalition with four U.S. green groups instead, calling for a national limit on carbon emissions. Their aim is a 10 to 30 percent cut over the next 15 years, using a cap-and-trade system that would allow over-emitters to buy credits from those who fall under the cap. The United States Climate Action Partnership, which wins today's kinda-clever acronym award, includes heavy-hitters like GE, BP, Alcoa, and Duke Energy. Such companies are motivated by fears of …

DR: Bush's token response to global warming is to argue for clean coal and nuclear power. To the extent he's involved in any international discussion, it's the Pacific pact, a trade deal with these emerging markets for old coal and nuclear technology. TT: Bush jumps in a long list of presidents of both parties who have not been able to deal with the [nuclear] waste issue in any meaningful fashion. And talk about a subsidized industry! Once upon a time we thought it would be too cheap to meter, and now we understand that it's an enormous cost. Yes, look, …

Cable magnate Ted Turner forms solar-energy business partnership Remember Ted Turner? Tall fellow, gray hair, owned a lotta cable TV and a lotta land and was married to Jane Fonda? Yeah, that one. Well, he's back, and he's sinking some of his legendary wealth into solar technology. Partnering with four-year-old, New Jersey-based Dome-Tech Solar, the skillionaire will focus on the ray-ravenous California market. "Our future depends on changing the way we use energy," Turner said. "We've got to move away from fossil fuels and develop long-term energy solutions that work. Using clean energy technologies, such as solar power, is the …

Insurer slapped with $2.5 million penalty in post-Katrina jury decision If a house falls in the Gulf Coast region and no insurer is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Heck yes -- in this case, a $2.7 million boom that's ricocheting around the country. Yesterday, a federal jury ordered insurance company State Farm to compensate a Biloxi, Miss., couple whose home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The award includes not only the roughly $233,000 policy value, but a $2.5 million penalty for refusing to pay the policy in the first place. At issue is whether the house …

PC honcho Michael Dell announces new green initiatives Amidst the energy-sucking glitz of Las Vegas, PC magnate Michael Dell announced that his eponymous company is greening up, and encouraged others to follow suit. Dell addressed two green-itiatives at an International Consumer Electronics Show speech yesterday. The first, a new partnership with carbon-offset provider Carbonfund, will let customers opt to have a tree planted when they buy a Dell PC. "This groundbreaking program encourages participation by inviting customers in the effort to address climate change," said Conservation Fund President Larry Selzer. "No other company in the technology space is doing something …

I've long (at least 6 months anyway) said that the best thing that could happen to jumpstart the production of plug-in hybrids by American car companies would be for a Chinese car company to announce its intentions to build the same. My reasoning? It would be a perfect wedge product into the American market. Where consumers might be skeptical about buying a traditional Chinese car, people would line up to buy a PHEV, provenance notwithstanding, because they got no place else to go. That way, my internal dialog posited, American car makers would be highly incentivized to bring a PHEV …

How to deal with the generation gap in the eco-workplace Close to 50 percent of environmental professionals and managers will soon be eligible for retirement, a prospect that has their employers worried. But more importantly, asks Kevin Doyle of the Environmental Careers Organization, what if they don't actually retire anytime soon? It means we're all gonna have to learn to play nice with each other. In his career-advice column on Gristmill, Doyle looks at the generational differences between traditionalists, baby boomers, Gen Xers, and millennials.

As director of program development at The Environmental Careers Organization, Kevin Doyle knows a thing or two about job searching. In this recurring column for Grist, he explores the green job market and offers advice to eco-job-seekers looking to jumpstart their careers. Environmental employers are losing their 'boomers, and some are worried sick about it. They know that an inevitable competition for limited talent will follow the equally inevitable wave of retirements that will crest and break as the baby boomers age. Numerous studies put the percentage of environmental professionals and managers who will soon be eligible for retirement at …