anarchist

Five Great Bets on Alternative Energy - Barron's

Some of the stocks listed in this article are probably very good long term investments like WMI but not because of their relationship to"alternative energy".
Wind and solar supply a small fraction of our energy needs in the US and even if Obama's promised doubling of their capacities they would still only meet a small fraction of our energy needs.
Charley Maxwell, a noted energy analyst tells us that nuclear power is the most rational choice for the US. It takes something like ten year to get a nuclear plant up and running so the US is way behind the curve of getting its energy needs met. In the meantime Mr. Obama could legislate that all new Government vehicles use natural gas, the next year all new State vehicles and later our truck fleets. We would be using energy that is readily available here in the US and Canada plus sending less dollars to the Middle East and our Southern Hemispheric friends. This would help give the US time to get on-line with nuclear energy.
Solar and wind currently have too many limitations to ever be a major source of energy in the US. Traders may be able to make a profit on the current euphoria but long term, barring any major breakthroughs, solar and wind are not on my investment watch list.