Energetics Cliff Notes - Wednesday Edition

All your riveting climate/energy news in one convenient place.

• Greentech Media recaps this weekend's Berkeley-Stanford Cleantech Conference, featuring keynote speaker Steven Chu (see my Twitter timeline for overly detailed liveblogging).
  

• Chu stuck around after the weekend to attend a bill signing by Jerry Brown at a SunPower manufacturing plant in Milpitas. The legislation will require California utilities to get 33% of their power (an increase from 20%) from alternative energy technologies by 2020.

• Bill Weihl, Google's green energy czar and a founder of google.org's fan-favorite Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal, on a prototype mirror design that could cut the cost of large solar thermal plants in half.

• Grist's Dave Roberts explains why environmentalists blocking CARB's implementation of AB 32 (featuring California's cap-and-trade program) are a little misguided.

• This (long-ish) post by Barry Brook is one of the best reactions pieces I've seen to the Fukushima nuclear accident.
  

• Big cuts are expected as the latest CR to fund the government unfolds -- high-speed rail is just one of the many unfortunate choices taking hits.