[quote=CostaMesa]One thing that I’m seeing pretty clearly is that the hardware manufacturing jobs seem to be shifting strongly from semicon to solar, en masse, alng with the VC money. There’s a smaller group going into biotech.

I do think that the H1b visas need to be looked at more closely going forwards. There have been a lot of examples of abuse IMO. [/quote]

I’ll go on record for saying. In about 2-3 years, you’re going to see a bunch of VC money flushed down the tubes who have invested in “alternative energy” such as solar, electric cars,etc.

Why? Because cheap gas prices are here to stay, and coupled with a downturn in the economy, any alternative type of technology is going to be considerably more expensive than stuff that will run on fossil fuel.

The last thing people will be doing is to pay more for something that is better for the environment for the sake of it being better for the environment in this economy.
People are cutting back, demand for manufacturing is coming down, consumption of fuel is going to go down, economic activity is going down, transportation costs are going down due to less commerce (fewer travelers, fewer shipping/transport costs/etc), prices of oil are falling like a brick, making the alternative energy argument a moot point from a “cost perspective”.. Alternative energy seems like it would have done better in a better economy when demand for fossil is up, there is a shortage, and people have no choice but to look for alternatives….My opinion.

For example, I have no problems driving my SUV these days. $50 to fill up for two weeks. Wouldn’t want to pay $$$$$ more for hybrid.

Oil is around $37/barrel today… Perhaps we will send under $30???? It would be interesting to see when that happens.

Ironic a gallon of gas these days cost less than a gallon of milk.