Co-Founder, US Renewables Grup
Founder and Managing Partner of venture-capital investors Rustic Canyon Partners, and one of the founders of US Renewables Group, the largest West Coast, private-equity investor in renewable resources and clean fuels
PROFILE
Tom Unterman
Guest
FROM Tom Unterman
To the Point
Will Plummeting Oil Prices Cause a Clean-Energy Meltdown? Both John McCain and Barack Obama say America needs renewable energy—wind, solar, nuclear and "clean coal" as opposed to oil and natural gas. When the price of oil was rising, those alternative technologies were attracting needed investment. But oil now costs half what it did just a few weeks ago. Added to that, the credit crisis is drying up capital and green-energy projects that looked promising are being put on hold. What about energy independence and global warming? Does government have the resources to take up the slack? Are renewables really the answer to the world's energy problems?
To the Point
Climate Change: International Challenge and Business Opportunity Receiving the Nobel Prize today, Al Gore warned that failure to act against global warming will mean "mutually assured destruction." He had strong words for the US and China, two of the 190 nations meeting in Bali to hash out guidelines for a new treaty for reducing greenhouse gases. With a turnabout by Australia's newly elected prime minister, the United States is the only industrialized nation opposed to setting mandatory reductions of greenhouse gases. The Bush Administration backs private sector initiatives for energy savings and alternative energy sources. In Los Angeles, there's a meeting of entrepreneurs, manufacturers and investors who see climate change not just as a challenge, but an opportunity. What are they doing to reverse climate change and cope with a process that's already well under way? Can LA and other cities cash in on a new international industry created by global warming?
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To the Point
White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
To the Point
What is Trump's plan for Middle East peace? On his first foreign tour, President Trump has promised "peace" between Israel and the Palestinians. Are there any details for re-starting talks that have been stalled for the past three years?
To the Point
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.
To the Point
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.