Green news harvest: Handicapping the auto bailout

Here's sampling of green-tech news, with quick commentary:

• Company With Hybrid Battery Solution to Seek Billions From Energy Department - The New York Times
  A better-known auto start-up--Tesla Motors--is also angling for bailout money, arguing that it has used its money (less than $200 million) quite efficiently.
• Mitt Romney: Let Detroit Go Bankrupt - The New York Times
  A well-reasoned argument for "managed bankruptcy" from a man with deep ties to Detroit.
• Power Play: Corporate Bosses Debate Energy Policy - The Wall Street Journal
  CEOs from Duke Power, Nissan, and Google say a revamped energy policy starts with carbon regulations that put a price on greenhouse gas emissions.

Solyndra's series of tubes offer a unique angle on solar power.
(Credit: Solyndra)
• Obama vows climate action despite financial crisis - Reuters
  One of the central questions on energy and the environment is how quickly the incoming administrations will push for carbon regulations.
• Mobile Phone Chargers Are Energy Vampires - PC World
  Sounds like a great idea: a rating system for how much power cell phone chargers suck when they are left plugged in to an outlet.
• Xcel Energy Selects GridPoint Software Platform for Wind-To-Battery Project - Press release
  A project with an interesting convergence of renewable energy, storage, and smart-grid technology.
• Solyndra Snags $320M Deal With Roofing Firm - Greentech Media
  A significant deal to bring its curved, CIGS solar cells onto corporate rooftops.
• High-Efficiency Wind Turbine Generator Manufacturer Danotek Motion Technologies Powering the Wind With $14.5 Million From CMEA Ventures, StatoilHydro and GE - Press release
  GE and Statoil invest in maker of wind turbine generators.
• Popular wood-fired boilers spur pollution concerns - The Boston Globe
  Air quality is a serious concern for some types of biomass energy systems. Some towns are setting restrictions.
• Governor Schwarzenegger Boosts State's Renewable Energy Standard to 33% by 2020 - Clean Edge
  This is significant, given that California's policy is the main driver for many new solar power plant technologies.