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Panelists discuss the technical and commercial state of carbon capture and storage (CCS) systems today, and their deployments in coming years to enable clean coal electrical generation plants. Panelists discuss the technologies - and the need for them -- from the scientific, technology, commercialization and financial perspectives.

In remarks on the Senate floor, Senator Amy Klobuchar decries political interference by members of the Bush administration in the release of climate change science by from federal agencies.

Former Vice President Al Gore wants the United States to produce all of its electricity through wind, solar and other clean, renewable sources by 2018. It is meant as one solution to addressing global climate change.

Witnesses at the hearing note that global demand for alternative energy systems is on the rise, and that if American firms can meet the needs of the international market, the U.S. economy stands to reap trillions of dollars in export revenue. At home, meanwhile, the continued expansion of green firms has led to lower costs for consumers.

T. Boone Pickens, legendary oil and gas developer, shareholder rights defender, commodities trader and philanthropist announces his national energy strategy to end our dependency on foreign oil and how this plan affects US economic and security issues.

Mike Daulton, Director of Conservation Policies, National Audubon Society, is interviewed about attitudes among the American public regarding increased domestic oil and natural gas exploration on environmentally sensitive lands. He also discusses Audubon"s position on increased domestic energy production.

Sam Pulcrano, Vice President, Sustainability, United States Postal Service (USPS) is interviewed about sustainability initiatives at the US Postal Service, including recycling, energy efficiency, and the new business opportunities sustainability brings.

PNC and real-estate developer Vornado/Charles E. Smith are in a joint venture to build the first Platinum-level certified, green building in Washington, D.C. The 12-story building will adhere to the U.S. Green Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standard.

Students at the University of California Davis Hybrid Vehicle Research Center have been creating plug-in hybrids for national competitions for some time. "Team Fate" members Jungers and Kaufman describe how they "gut" the drive train of a standard vehicle, replacing it with an electric motor, a bank of batteries, continuously variable transmission, and some smart electronics. The resulting vehicle runs on electricity, assisted by a much smaller flex-fuel internal combustion engine only when needed.

Panelists discuss the challenges climate and anticipated climate change effects will have in the United States and internationally, including in vulnerable populations.

Thomas Friedman, New York Times Columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winning Author, reads from, and discusses, his forthcoming book, Hot, Flat And Crowded, which describes potentially catatrophic effects of global trends of climate change, worldwide economic growth and population increases, and energy consumption. Friedman says U.S. leadership is needed to deal with them.

Bob Dinneen, President and CEO, Renewable Fuels Assocation, is interviewed about criticisms that biofuels, such as ethanol, are driving up world food prices. He also addresses industry efforts to shift to cellulosic ethanol and to create a wider US ethanol fueling infrastructure.

According to Guy Prouty, Instructor of Anthropology, Oregon State University, every civilization rises, evolves, and then collapses to a simpler structure -- and this will include our own.  Comparing America with the Western Roman Empire, Prouty notes the over-reach of our military, the unsustainability of capitalism, peak oil, and climate change.

All landfill trash decomposes over time and releases methane, a greenhouse gas, into the air. At landfills across the county, new technology is being developed to capture that gas, treat it and send it where it can be used as fuel. At Three Rivers Landfill in South Carolina, landfill gas travels 17 miles through a pipeline to Kimberly Clark"s Beech Island facility, where it helps to power the manufacturing plant.

Researchers at Idaho National Laboratory, along with partners at Microcontinuum Inc. (Cambridge, MA) and Patrick Pinhero of the University of Missouri, are developing a novel way to collect energy from the sun with a technology that could potentially cost pennies a yard, be imprinted on flexible materials and still draw energy after the sun has set.