Energy

  Ok, time for energy talk.  The fact is, the solutions exist.  Seriously, if anyone who is reading this blog would click on some of the ads, I think my first first investment would be some open property in Southern California, near the Mojave and Death Valley.  I'd put up a field of solar panels.  And I'd hire people to maintain it.  It wouldn't have to make me a lot of money, just pay for itself, and fill a retirement account (Yeah, right, I've never been happier in my life).  It's all a matter of putting forth the effort to actually solve the problem.
  One of the problems with this, though, is that banks aren't making loans.  Even though the otherwise worthless land exists, the technology is fast improving, and utilizing the open space in such a manner is just sound from all sides, the necessary start up capital isn't readily available.  There's room in Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, just about any state has open space that generates a fair amount of continuous sunlight.
  Wind is also a viable option.  Here's a thought, combine your wind and solar power farms.  Properly built and laid out, you could solve a large portion of our energy problems, and reduce the use of fossil fuels.
  How about genetic engineering and biofuels?  We could probably produce more than enough diesel fuel if we genetically altered heavy oil producing florae to survive in more extreme circumstances.  Not to mention that the gasses emitted by burning biofuels are cleaner.  It's a matter of science.  The technology exists, just nobody actually wants to try and implement it to solve some of our problems.