more "fair use" theft. Not an endorsement, just fyi. By no means a suggestion that the market has made a bottom! I'd like to see the Dow at 3000 and P/E's back in line. Both Hasbrow and Matell are worth looking at too. All work and no play.....

--------------------------

I believe we are going to see more and more of these. In the NW Energy Coalition's "The Energy Activist" it is claimed that the Northwest is poised to lead the next high tech revolution, that it will be the Silicon Valley of Clean Energy. There are many companies active and currently producing and finding customers for these technologies. The technologies exist, and once oil prices rise, they will become cost effective. Then everyone and his brother will invest in them. That is why I believe the transition will not be as dire as some of you believe.

Here is an except of the Spring 2000 Issue:

Rhys Roth, co-director of Climate Solutions, a regional organization promoting solutions to global warming, says the Northwest has all the ingredients necessary to become a global player in the emerging clean energy revolution. The region already leads in the arenas of both technology and trade, Roth notes, and "we've built a terrific base of talent in energy efficiency. In addition, the Northwest is home-base for world-class clean energy companies."

Those companies are booming. Stocks for businesses developing fuel cell technologies - including Avista Labs in Spokane, Washington and Ballard Energy Systems in Vancouver, British Columbia - have surged in recent months. Siemens Solar's Vancouver, Washington plant produces 20 percent of the world's photovoltaic (PV) cells, making it the largest production plant in the world. The company installs more PV generation than any other manufacturer, with installations in places like New Mexico, California and as far away as Egypt, Germany and Saudi Arabia.

Located in Arlington, WA, Trace Engineering leads the world in manufacturing power inverters for PV and wind systems. The inverters convert DC power produced by PV panels and wind turbines to usable AC current. Trace supplies inverters to British Petroleum for its worldwide solar operations and to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District's ambitious PV program. The second largest U.S. producer of inverters, Heart Interface, is based in Kent, WA.

According to a Climate Solutions report,"How the Northwest Can Lead a Clean Energy Revolution," Applied Power, based in Lacey, Washington, is the fastest growing distributor of ready to use solar PV power systems in the country. The company is also one of the world's five largest solar system design and installation firms. Applied Power was chosen as one of two finalists negotiating to build the world's biggest solar plant - a 30-acre site in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

As one of the world's leading fuel cell developers, Ballard Energy Systems recently received an award for its efforts. Financial Times, a leading business publication, presented Ballard with its 1999 Most Promising Pre-Commercial Technology Development Award. To capture the award a new product must be a promising a breakthrough, potentially commercial, technologically proven and environmentally beneficial. The company has hooked up with Daimler-Benz and Ford to produce fuel cell vehicles. Daimler-Benz is commited to reaching an annual production level of 100,000 vehicles each year by 2005. Ballard fuel cells currently power three Chicago buses and three B.C. Transit buses.

With these and other expanding renewable energy companies in the region, Roth says, the Northwest is poised to lead the world to a cleaner energy future. "But the competition is going to get fierce," he notes. "We'll need to match gutsy, visionary business leadership with political initiative in the public sector."

Regards, Christa...still optimistic

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2000