Green Daily

If there's any hope for our benighted species to extend our chaos-ridden time on this planet, it rests in the possibility that we can assign our swollen chimp brains and collective wallets to the task of figuring out how to forestall climate change and the end of fossil fuels.

While as a student of history I'm generally a pessimist in such matters, there is some evidence that maybe we can salvage things before it's too late.

One hopeful sign is the report this week from the UN Environment Program, which says that investment money is flowing into sustainable energy technologies at a rapid pace. New investment hit $148 billion in 2007, a 60% jump from the year before.

Wind energy took the lion's share of cash again at $50 billion, with solar energy coming in second at $26 billion. The much castigated ethanol industry fell almost 30% from 2006, raising $2.1 billion. Even the unsexy but nonetheless excellent idea of simple efficiency improvement managed to score $1.8 billion.

While the numbers don 't hold a candle to what was being raised during the tech bubble at the turn of the 21st century, they indicate that investors recognize where the future lies. Look for more innovative tech as oil gets pricier and the planet gets hotter.