AAR Corporation (NYSE: AIR) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

AGCO Corporation (NYSE: AGCO) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) Raised to Buy at Janney Capital.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Cut to Hold at Needham.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) Raised to Buy at Argus.

Dominion Resources, Inc. (NYSE: D) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.

Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) Raised to Buy at Citigroup; Raised to Buy at Stern Agee.

Infoblox Inc. (NYSE: BLOX) Started as Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley; Started as Overweight at Stephens; Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT) Started as Outperform at William Blair.

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) Cut to Neutral at Cowen.

Par Pharmaceutical Companies Inc. (NYSE: PRX) named value stock of the day at Zacks.

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) Started as Buy at Citigroup.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU) Cut to Hold at Argus.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (NYSE: RBS) Raised to Equalweight at Morgan Stanley.

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.

Total SA (NYSE: TOT) Raised to Buy at UBS.

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JON C. OGG

The Hong Kong division of Alibaba may go private as part of a refinancing and a buyback of Yahoo!’s (NASDAQ: YHOO) shares. (Reuters)

Financial backers of Greece say they are concerned about whether a deal to lend the company more money will hold. (Reuters)

Economists concerned about the U.S. economy a few months ago change their opinions. (Reuters)

A fall off in investment bank activity hurts Barclays (NYSE: BCS) earnings. (Reuters)

China’s imports fall, raising demand concerns. (Reuters)

The new CEO of Sony (NYSE: SNE) will try to marry hardware and software for many of the firm’s products, just as he did with the PS3. (Reuters)

The head of Xstrata is under pressure to get a better deal for a Glencore merger. (Reuters)

A new settlement between banks and the government could help one million homeowners. (WSJ)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) to launch a home entertainment system as it moves into the hardware space as Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has. (WSJ)

An insider trading bill is broadly supported by Congress members. (WSJ)

Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) expands its use of web-based software products. (WSJ)

The FDA will speed the approval of biosimilar drug treatments. (WSJ)

An Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) reorganization could cost 1,800 jobs. (WSJ)

Weekly unemployment benefits numbers improve steadily. (WSJ)

Greek unemployment rises to 20.9%. (WSJ)

The head of the European Central Bank pushes banks to take inexpensive loans to stabilize eurozone financials. (WSJ)

Canada will allow uranium exports to China. (WSJ)

A Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) and Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA) partnership to marry physical games with online ones. (WSJ)

Southern Co.’s (NYSE: SO) plan to build a reactor in Georgia receives NRC approval. (WSJ)

Apple’s market cap passes that of Google and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) combined. (WSJ)

New research suggests the education gap between rich and poor has widened. (NYT)

German officials are worried that the ECB has cut lending standards too much. (FT)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) Started as Equal Weight at Barclays.
Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVNR) Reiterate as “Buy” with a $6 price target by Canaccord Genuity.
Citi Trends, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTRN) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. (NYSE: ETH) Started as Hold at Argus.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Maintained Outperform but cut estimates at Credit Suisse; maintained Hold with $24 price target objective at Canaccord Genuity.
International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) resumed with “Outperform” rating at Wells Fargo.
Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (NASDAQ: KALU) Started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Las Vegas Sands Corporation (NYSE: LVS) resumed with “Outperform” rating at Wells Fargo.
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) Started as Buy at Nomura.
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) resumed with “Outperform” rating at Wells Fargo.
Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA) reiterate as Buy with a $23 price target objective by Canaccord Genuity.
Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp. (NYSE: NOR) Started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks Investment Research.
Southern Co. (NYSE: SO) Cut to Hold from Buy for short-term coverage but maintained a Buy for long-term at Argus.
Spectra Energy Corporation (NYSE: SE) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Maintained Neutral and lowered estimates at Credit Suisse; Maintained Underperform with $17 price target objective by Jefferies.
Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V) Started as Buy at Nomura.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) resumed with “Market Perform” at Wells Fargo.

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Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) Cut to Neutral at HSBC.
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Added to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Gafisa SA (NYSE: GFA) Reiterated Buy as Value at Zacks.
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (NYSE: KKR) Started as Neutral with $18 target at Credit Suisse.
Masco Corporation (NYSE: MAS) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) Maintained Buy but Cut target to $12 at Gleacher & Co.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Reiterated Outperform and $42 target at Credit Suisse.
Pepco Holdings Inc. (NYSE: POM) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT) Raised to Buy at S&P Equity Research (late Thursday).
Southern Company (NYSE: SO) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) Cut to Neutral at HSBC.
VeriSign Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) Raised to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late Thursday).

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JON C. OGG

The ETFs include Utilities Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLU), iShares Dow Jones US Utilities (NYSE: IDU), Rydex S&P Equal Weight Utilities (NYSE: RYU), and Ulta Utilities ProShares (NYSE: UPW). The closed-end funds we looked at include Cohen & Steers Utility Fund Inc. (NYSE: UTF), Reaves Utility Income Fund (AMEX: UTG), Wells Fargo Advantage Utilities and High Income Fund (AMEX: ERH), and DNP Select Income Fund, Inc. (NYSE: DNP). The mutual funds we looked included Invesco Utilities Investor (FSTUX), Rydex Utilities (RYAUX), and Franklin Utilities A (FKUTX).

The utilities sector posts a price/earnings ratio of 18.50, higher than the tech, financial, conglomerates, and materials sectors. The sector’s return on equity is the lowest of all but the financial sector, but its dividend yield of 3.94% is higher than any other sector.

Utilities Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLU) holds net assets of $4.33 billion and it’s year-to-date return is 6.81%, while its yield is 3.94%. XLU’s three largest holdings are Southern Company (NYSE: SO) at 8.32.% of assets, Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC), and Dominion Resources, Inc. (NYSE: D). The fund’s 52-week range is $27.92-$34.30, and it closed last week at $33.19. Shares are up about 18% in the past 12 months and about 19% from the annual low.

iShares Dow Jones US Utilities (NYSE: IDU) claims net assets of $511 million and its year-to-date return is 7.94%, while its yield is 3.57%. It’s three largest holdings are also Southern Company (6.39%), Exelon, and Dominion. The fund’s 52-week range is $67.94-$84.54, and it closed last week at $81.85. Shares are up nearly 20% in the past 12 months, and about the same from the annual low.

Rydex S&P Equal Weight Utilities (NYSE: RYU) has net assets of $24.5 million, and its year-to-date return is 7.48%, while its yield is 3.27%. Its top three holdings are Constellation Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE: CEG), which is being acquired by Exelon, at 2.7% of total assets, NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG), and NiSource Inc. (NYSE: NI). RYU also includes some communications stocks, such as MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS) and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ). As its name would lead you to believe, its tenth-largest holding accounts for 2.54% of total assets. The fund’s 52-week range is $43.51-$56.28, and it closed last week at $54.47. Shares are up about 24% in the past 12 months and about 25% from the annual low.

ProShares Ultra Utilities (NYSE: UPW) has net assets of $14.45 million, and its year-to-date return is 15.65%, while its yield is 2.32%. Its top three holdings are Southern Company at 5.62%, Exelon, and NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE). The fund’s 52-week range is $32.19-$50.52, and it closed last week at $47.37. Shares are up about 45% in the past 12 months and about 47% from the annual low.

Check out our earnings preview on alt-energy companies that are reporting earnings this week. These include SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA), JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO), A123 Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE), and Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ: CLNE), among others.

The chairman of Taiwanese solar wafer maker Eversol acknowledges that the market for solar PV will be challenging for the next couple of years, but he also believes that solar will achieve grid parity in six countries by 2013. He also believes that no subsidies will be needed to reach this goal, but that national renewable portfolio standards will do the trick. Grid parity means that the cost of solar generation will equal the cost of coal- or gas-fired generation or even hydropower generation.

That seems awfully aggressive. Right now solar PV generation costs about $0.22/kWh, compared with traditional generation costs of about $0.08/kWh. About half the cost of solar PV is attributed to what are called “balance of systems” cost, that is all the hardware, labor, and assembly needed to get the solar PV module installed. While competition and improved technology will ultimately drive down the solar PV module cost, much greater savings are possible by wringing out the balance of systems costs. A report from the Rocky Mountain Institute notes that the downward trajectory of module costs is greater than that of balance of systems costs, and that needs to change in order for small-scale solar projects to compete with grid electricity.

Japanese electricity company Chubu Electric Power has announced that it plans to close two of its reactors because they are especially vulnerable to major earthquakes. The two plants generate about 2,500 megawatts. A third reactor at the same location is already off-line for maintenance. Following these shutdowns, just 37% of Japan’s nuclear generation capacity will be available of the nearly 50,000 megawatts of the country’s capacity.

In the US, four new nuclear reactors are in line for permits and licenses by the end of 2011. Southern Co. (NYSE: SO) and Scana Corp. (NYSE: SCG) are both in line for combined construction permits and operating licenses from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The companies want to install new 1,150-megawatt reactors at Southern’s site in Georgia and Scana’s plant in South Carolina. The reactors will be a design from Westinghouse, which is owned by Toshiba Corp. and Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SHAW).

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued a summary of a report on renewable energy and climate change which examines 164 scenarios.  Of the 12.9% of energy currently generated by renewable fuels, some 80% of that is wood burning for cooking and heat. Wind power generates about 0.2% of global electricity, and solar energy generates about 0.1%. Hydropower generates 2.3%.

The IPCC believes about 20% of global electricity could be generated by renewable fuels by 2050, and, in the best case, up to 80% could be generated by renewable fuels. The potential is greatest for solar and nuclear generation.

Paul Ausick

To show just how bad the market has been even to utilities, the leading ETF is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLU) and its shares have fallen 4.6% since Friday closing Wednesday at $30.99 with a 52-week range of $25.76 to $32.89.  We did of course not cover every single utility with nuclear power, but our coverage below accounts for a combined market capitalization rate of more than $100 billion.  Our review focused on Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE), Constellation Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE: CEG), Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR), Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), Progress Energy Inc. (NYSE: PGN) and Southern Company (NYSE: SO).

We broke out how much each of the partial US nuclear energy complex has fallen since Friday, what the 52-week range is, what the market caps are, and which are some of the listed nuclear properties which we took from the U.S. Nuclear Energy Institute.

Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) is down only about 3.5% since Friday with shares at $26.79; 52-week range is $23.09 to $29.89 and its market cap is $6.4 billion. Nuclear properties include Callaway.

Constellation Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE: CEG) is down about 6% since Friday with shares at $30.30; 52-week trading range is $27.64 to $38.73 and its market cap is roughly $6 billion.  Nuclear properties include Calvert Cliffs, Ginna, and Nine Mile Point.

Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) is down almost 9.5% since Friday with shares at $66.65; its 52-week trading range is $66.31 (hit today) to $84.33 and its market cap is about $12 billion.  Nuclear properties include Arkansas Nuke 1 & 2, Grand Gulf, Indian Point, James A. Fitzpatrick, Palisades, and River Bend.

Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) is down almost 7% since Friday with shares at $39.95; its 52-week trading range is $16.78 to $45.56 and its market cap is $26.5 billion. Nuclear properties include Braidwood, Bryon, Clinton, Dresden, La Salle, Limerick, Oyster Creek, Peach Bottom, Quad Cities, Salem, and Three Mile Island.

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) down almost 6% since Friday with shares at $36.59; 52-week range is $33.57 to $40.80 and its market cap is $11.2 billion.  Nuclear properties include Beaver Valley and Perry.

Progress Energy Inc. (NYSE: PGN) is down ‘only’ almost 4% since Friday with shares at $44.55; 52-week trading range is $37.13 to $46.83 and the market cap is about $13.1 billion.  Nuclear properties include Brunswick, Crystal River, H.B. Robinson, and Shearon Harris.

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is down close to 4% since Friday with shares at $36.80; 52-week range is $32.04 to $38.79 and its market cap is close to $31 billion.  Nuclear properties include E.I. Hatch, J.M. Farley and Vogtle.

Many of these plants have switch-over capabilities, but there is one thing to consider here.  Despite these plants being old, shutting these plants down in any short order is just not likely in the cards barring maintenance or other disasters.  Switching to fossil fuels is also a much more costly initiative for consumers.

What seems to be at issue is that newer regulations would come with a higher cost of securing and operating “safe nukes” if there is such a real term.  Our take is that nuclear expenses will rise as a result, but the future demand damage of uranium may make the fuel cheaper ahead and any higher regulatory and security costs that the plants take on will probably be passed down to Joe America.

JON C. OGG

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) Raised to Outperform at Macquarie.
Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ: JDSU) Raised to Buy at S&P Equity Research (late Wednesday call).
NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
Frontier Oil (NYSE: FTO) Cut to Neutral at Macquarie.
Southern Co. (NYSE: SO) Cut to Hold at Soleil.
Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) Cut to Market Perform at FBR; Cut to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.

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JON C. OGG

Since 2000, CO2 emissions have dropped by 445 million metric tons, and since 2007, the year with the highest emissions in the past decade, CO2 emissions have fallen by 585 million metric tons, almost 10%. There are two general reasons for the decline. One, fuel switching in electricity generation from coal to natural gas, and two, a recessionary economy where businesses use less energy and drivers log fewer miles.

The effects of fuel switching are measured by carbon intensity, which is the amount of CO2 emissions per unit of energy consumed, or CO2/BTU. The switch to natural gas reflects the lower price of natural gas compared with coal. Electricity generators such as Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE:DUK), American Electric Power Co. (NYSE:AEP), and the Southern Company (NYSE:SO) all use natural gas in their peaking plants and the few plants that still burn oil to deliver peak power are being converted to natural gas. Duke is also building a new intermediate natural gas-fired plant.

Electric power generation recorded the steepest fall in carbon intensity of any sector measured by the EIA. In 2009, carbon intensity in electric power fell 4.3% year-over-year due to fuel switching. Coal prices rose nearly 7% and natural gas prices fell by almost half. Because natural gas only emits about 55% as much CO2 as coal, burning natural gas significantly reduces overall CO2 emissions even when gas generates only a fairly small percentage of the nation’s electricity supply.

In 2000, natural gas was used to generate 518 billion kWh of electricity with CO2 emissions of 281 million metric tons. In 2009, the amount of electricity generated by natural gas rose to 841 billion kWh and CO2 emissions rose to 374 million metric tons. Those numbers represent a decrease in carbon intensity of 18%, avoiding emissions of 82 million metric tons of CO2.

Wind generation in the US jumped from 6 billion kWh in 2000 to 71 billion kWh in 2009. Because wind generation does not emit any CO2, the growth in wind energy over the 10-year period avoided emissions of 39 million metric tons.

Similarly, nuclear power generation grew by 45 billion kWh in the decade even though no new nuclear plants came on-line. Again, with no CO2 emissions directly attributable to nuclear generation, electricity from nukes avoided 26 million metric tons of CO2 emissions.

Consumption of transportation fuel has also fallen sharply in the past three years, by more than 1,000 b/d between 2007 and 2009. Fuel economy has also improved to an average 28.5 miles per gallon in 2009. Even lower fuel prices throughout most of 2009 did not boost demand for gasoline.

Demand in the industrial sector fell most of all from 2000 levels. Demand spiked in the computer and semiconductor industry in early 2008 and has fallen sharply since then. The primary metals industry, including steel makers like Nucor Corp. (NYSE:NU) also experienced a sharp drop beginning in 2008, primarily resulting from a drop in demand from auto makers. Since 2000, industrial output has fallen almost 34%, with virtually all the drop coming since mid-2008.

Unfortunately, the severe recession was chiefly responsible for the drop in energy use and CO2 emissions. That is not a good strategy, and not one that the US can build on to meet President Obama’s stated goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 17% below 2005 levels by 2020.

Because the economic recovery is expected to be fairly slow, especially after the effects of the stimulus bill get behind us at the end of the second quarter of 2010, these emissions numbers may not shoot back up as they might if the economy rocketed off again. It could be a good time to adopt new legislation on emissions and climate change. However, there will also be pressure to avoid imposing any new emissions regulations that could impede economic growth. The political fight has provoked only a few skirmishes so far, but pitched battles are looming.

The following chart from the EIA report shows the relationship between GDP and energy-related CO2 emissions for the past 20 years.

The gap has widened as the US economy has grown its service sector faster than its industrial and manufacturing. Ironically, manufacturing job growth is now actually helping the economic recovery in the US, though it’s unclear how long that will last or how much help it will ultimately be. Still, no politician will want to be accused of stomping on a recovery during an election year.

In the end, most people are likely echo St. Augustine: let’s halt CO2 emissions and climate change, just not yet.

Paul Ausick

Sponsor: 5 best investments for 2010 – The next nine months represent a bold new era for investors.

Here’s a map of the US electricity transmission grid.

The effort to work on an upgraded grid began with the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct). One of EPAct’s provisions directed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to designate energy transmission corridors that would move electricity generated in remote parts of the country to population centers. The effort petered out because it was widely disliked to begin with and would have been nearly impossible to implement in the West.

In the East, where distances are shorter, but land for transmission corridors is scarcer and much more expensive, politicians and Eastern utilities feared that wind and solar generation in the West and Midwest would cause them to miss out on the economic windfall that developing clean energy promised.

The immediate proposal under discussion involves building what is called an overlay grid of extra-high voltage lines that would, in effect, be an interstate highway system for transporting electricity from its point of generation to interconnections with local distribution grids and consumers. The plan calls for a network of 765,000 kV lines at a cost of some $100-$220 billion. Currently there are no such high-voltage lines in the US. A completely upgraded US electricity grid, including the extra-high voltage lines, could top $1 trillion.

The IOUs and their allies argue that transmission lines that merely pass through a state or region without feeding electricity to that area should not be paid for by consumers in that area. If this principle is adopted, it would have a chilling effect on the development of alternative energy-generation in the remote parts of the country where the wind blows most steadily and the sun shines most consistently. Because there aren’t enough consumers in that area to absorb all the additional planned generation, it is likely that alt energy projects would be scaled back.

The IOUs also have an ulterior motive. If alternative power sources are subsidized by everyone, it threatens what is essentially a captive market for the coal-, gas-, and nuclear-fired plants these companies have either built or have on the drawing boards. The IOUs argue that subsidized transmission distorts the price signals that are inherent in rates.

In a letter to Senators Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell, a group of utility districts argue, “Transmission planning and cost allocation must support price transparency and the access to accurate cost and price information so that the power purchasers can make informed resource purchase decisions and consumers do not end up paying more than necessary.” The letter goes on, “If developers and potential customers of the new resources don’t have to pay the costs of transmission associated with their decisions, the price signal is lost and distant resources will have an unwarranted price advantage over local, less costly ways of getting to the cleaner energy future we all desire.”

The utility districts, like the IOUs, have an ulterior motive. If clean energy can be supplied at a competitive cost, the utility districts are likely to face competition they have not had to deal with in the past.

The battle is already being waged in California, where a June ballot initiative would require that residents approve by a two-thirds majority any attempt by a public agency to enter the retail power business. The initiative, Proposition 16, responds to a law passed in California in 2002 that allows the establishment of a community choice aggregation program that could get public funding to enter the retail power market.

The sole sponsor of Proposition 16 is PG&E Corp. (NYSE:PCG), which has spent more than $30 million so far in support of Prop 16. If the proposition is approved, it will be virtually impossible for a local government to purchase electricity from a non-PG&E source.

The argument for spreading the cost of grid upgrades around to all consumers is also laced with special interests. Sunny states like Nevada and Arizona, and windy states like the Dakotas could generate enough electricity to power the US essentially forever. Politicians from those states know, however, that without a way to get that power to market, development will never happen.

Development means jobs and wealth and re-election, exactly what the Eastern politicians feared. A new wrinkle has developed, though, that might change the debate slightly. When Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last week approved the Cape Wind Project offshore of Massachusetts, the door was opened to similar development off the Atlantic coast. If that should happen, the wealth would get spread around more, and opposition from East coast politicians and utilities could subside.

That still leaves the IOUs and many utility districts opposed to spreading out the costs, but that issue could be addressed in a variety of ways that would satisfy everyone. That’s what politics is for, after all.

The pressing need in the US for a robust, modern grid that can reliably get electricity to where it’s needed does not admit an easy or cheap solution. The solution will cost billions of dollars and take years to build. Government policy, and money, have been driving what little has been done so far. But the most fundamental question is the one now being asked: do we let government policy drive development or is listening to the market both fairer and more likely to lead to the desired result?

Paul Ausick