Bruce Klafter's blog

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group and Google co-hosted a morning program this week entitled “Electric Bills and Oil Spills-Will California Continue to Be a Clean Energy Leader?” With more than 400 people in attendance, the question certainly seemed to be a timely and important one.

Recently I spent four amazing, rainy hours at Shanghai’s Expo 2010. The Expo, which is built around the theme, "Better City, Better Life," is focused on the future of the urban environment and the ways in which future policies and urban strategies will influence sustainable development in large urban areas such as Shanghai.

Like many things in China, the Expo is absolutely astounding. It covers over 92 acres and expects approximately 70 million visitors during its six month run.

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group and Stanford’s Precourt Energy Efficiency Center held their annual Energy Summit this past Friday. If I had to characterize the overall sentiment of the Summit, I would say the themes that emerged were: clean energy investment and action are urgently needed; political gridlock is an impediment; and Silicon Valley runs the risk of losing its edge in terms of technological leadership.

Greenpeace just released a very interesting report on the world’s renewable energy future. In the organization’s words, “to successfully combat climate change, we urgently need a revolution in the way we produce, consume and distribute energy.”

Last week Applied Materials and our CEO Mike Splinter were recognized by the California League of Conservation Voters for the Company’s work in Building a Greener California.  Applied Materials was honored along with Environmental Entrepreneurs or “E2,” a national coalition of business leaders advocating for sound environmental policy and Justice William Newsom (retired California appellate judge), a lifelong conservationist who has worked to preserve Lake Tahoe’s beauty as well as endangered species.