Economy & Business

Critics complain that "McMansions" have ruined neighborhoods. The McMansion fad fizzled with the real estate bust -- but could it return?

"As the credit freeze tightened its grip on the economy, the market for green construction -- at least in some respects -- remained strong overall, according to the U.S. Green Building Council and insurers of green construction projects. ...Still, as fewer and fewer banks proved willing to lend money for upfront construction costs, many smaller green builders have been forced to find new ways to see their projects through to completion."

"The chairman of agribusiness giant Monsanto demanded Monday that his counterpart at DuPont -- his firm's leading competitor in the seed business -- appoint a special committee to investigate what he said was a pattern of covert attacks on Monsanto's business practices by DuPont."

The Southern Utes, one of America's wealthiest Indian communities, is investing in an unusual biofuel startup based on algae. Respect for the earth is a key part of the business model.

"Two of China and the United States' largest electric utilities signed a memorandum of understanding in Beijing today to share information and explore potential initiatives to produce cleaner power from coal and renewable resources such as wind."

"It takes a smart and politically well-connected company like Nestlé to get a drought-stricken state like Florida to give it tens of millions of dollars worth of water to resell at enormous profits to its neighbors in states like the Carolinas and Georgia."

It took awhile, but the U.S. Midwest finally has recognized that the industries that once powered its economy will never return. Now leaders in the region are looking to renewable energy manufacturing and technologies as key to the heartland’s renaissance.