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Business Green: Four US cleantech industry groups have clubbed together to issue a wish list for renewable energy development under the presidency of Barack Obama. The Solar Energy Industries Association, National Hydropower Association, Geothermal Energy Association and American Wind Energy Association have issued a set of requests for the next session of Congress, including calls for a nationwide carbon cap-and-trade system and enhanced tax credits for their industries. The group also wants ...

Business Green: The government moved to tighten its climate change bill still further last night, tabling amendments designed to extend the reach of the feed in tariff and limit the extent to which carbon credits from overseas can be used to count towards UK emission targets. The bill is now expected to receive its final vote this week and is on track to receive Royal Assent on 27 November, making the UK the first country to feature legally binding emission reduction targets on the statute ...

Guardian: There should be a moratorium on the expansion of all UK airports if the government's ambitious targets to cut CO2 emissions by 60% by 2050 are to have any chance of success, according to a leading climate scientist. Kevin Anderson, a climate scientist at the University of Manchester's Tyndall Centre, said that technologies will not arrive quickly enough to offset the projected increase in air passenger numbers and that the only practical solution for the industry is to curb the demand ...

Guardian: The government last night moved to tighten its commitment to the 80% reduction of carbon emissions by the year 2050, introducing a safeguard that a limit be placed on reductions achieved by buying international offsetting credits. During what will probably be the last few days of scrutiny before the climate change bill becomes law, the government made concessions in the House of Commons and the Lords, surprising green campaigners by tabling a further amendment to the energy bill - ...

Business Green: Fresh from securing $1m in additional funding, San Francisco software start up CarbonFlow has announced that it is just a month away from releasing the first version of its software platform, designed to make it easier and more cost effective for firms to partipate in the booming carbon offset market. The latest investment was provided by venture capitalist @Ventures and follows a $2.9 million round earlier this year from Clean Pacific Ventures, OVP Venture Partners and Meridian ...

Business Green: London Mayor Boris Johnson has waded into the escalating row over the proposed third runway at Heathrow, pledging to make a contribution of £15,000 towards a legal challenge if the government grants approval to the controversial expansion plans. Transport secretary Geoff Hoon is widely expected to give the go ahead to the plans next month, despite a threatened backbench rebellion on the topic and widespread criticism that expansion of the airport will undermine the UK's climate change ...

Sydney Morning Herald: LOWER socio-economic groups and the ageing will bear the brunt of climate change in coastal areas, according to a report from the National Sea Change Taskforce. Those in temporary housing such as caravans and manufactured homes are at particular risk in the event of a natural disaster. "These housing forms are an important source of housing for low-income Australians and retirees, particularly along the coast," the report says. "Without proper insurance or ownership of land ...

<Oprah voice> It’s book contest time!!!! </Oprah voice>

This time around, I’m giving you a break from books that tell you how to market your web site. Instead, how about an awesome book that tells you how to market YOU?

Step Into The Spotlight: A Guide to Getting Noticed was written by publicity coach Tsufit (think one name, like Madonna or Cher) and is a must read–and we have 3 copies to give away!

Why should you care about this book? Well, it’s not enough to be an expert at what you do. You have to be known as an expert at what you do. This book will help you to get more publicity, more speaking gigs, more clients, better clients, higher-paying clients!

I started reading this book on the way back from PubCon and was actually glad when my connecting flight was delayed–it let me finish this engaging and easy to read book.

How to enter this contest? Simply leave a comment below and we’ll randomly pick 3 winners (deadline for entry is 6pm ET this Wednesday).

That’s all you need to do! And, if you don’t win, you can grab a copy from your favorite bookstore or online.

The natural gas industry refuses to reveal what is in the mixture of chemicals used to drill for the fossil fuel

It seems like forever since we did a Pilgrim’s Picks. Taking a look around the news today, it’s saturated with either Jerry Yang resigning or Mark Cuban’s SEC charges–both of which we’ve already covered.

Until I find something fresh and interesting, you can consider these Picks your amuse bouche yeux.

• Google brings voice search to the iPhone. Matt Cutts gushes over it–just days after gushing over Google’s Android phone (which doesn’t yet have voice search).
• Did Microsoft’s taste for revenge lead to Jerry Yang resigning?
• Forge–a non-profit that helps African refugees–is running out of money. Boris Mordkovich–having recently sold Search Marketing Standard–has jumped in to help them raise money. He wants your help too!
• If you’re looking for a enterprise-scale web site uptime service, then you might want to check out AlertSite. While not free, I’ve tested it and was impressed with the many features it offers.
• Want a quick, easy, and free way to compare your web site with your competition? Check out ReviewMyWeb–it’s pretty and pretty cool.

Revenues of the PC maker hit $33.6 billion, with adjusted earnings of $1.03 per share. That's "another solid quarter," CEO Mark Hurd says, as it digests EDS.

Every day that goes by, I become a bigger fan of setting up an XML Sitemap file for Google and the other search engines to chew on. I think Sitemap files are important for sites to take full advantage of being indexed in Google. Clearly, submitting a Sitemap file is just one small step you need to do to enjoy ranking well in Google. You can often submit a sitemap file and Google won't index all your pages. We discussed this topic yesterday with My Pages Are Dropping Out of Google: What Do I Do?

What I find interesting is not only does a Sitemap help you tell Google about your pages, it also gives Google another document to index and include in their search results. Yes, Google may index your XML sitemap file and rank it in the search results. For example, a search on inurl:sitemap.xml returns Google's XML Sitemap towards the top of the search results for me:

That being said, hundreds of Sitemap files are indexed and in the search results. They typically only come up for very specific searches, that likely won't impact the normal searcher.

Two Google Group threads are discussing this. One, JohnMu of Google replied to, saying:

It does look like we have some of your Sitemap files indexed. It's possible that there is a link to them somewhere (or perhaps to the Sitemaps Index file). At any rate, I wouldn't worry about this since these are generally not URLs that will come up in the search results, so apart from people like you who look at the details, nobody will really be seeing them.

If you really don't want them to show up in the Google results, you have a way out. Here is how according to JohnMu:

If you do want to have them removed from the index, you could have your server send a "x-robots-tag" HTTP header tag with the contents of the file. Since they all appear to be originating from a single script, I imagine adding this would be fairly easy. For more information on the "x-robots-tag", please see our blog post.

Is Google indexing your Sitemap file? Do you care?

Forum discussion at Google Group.

Google Analytics is now offering Flash tracking. The tracking code is translated into ActionScript 3 programming language. While Google Analytics has been able to provide workarounds in the past, this new feature simplifies the way to track Flash, Flex, and AS3 Content.

Sprout, a company that helps businesses create rich media content, used the code to track videos across MySpace and iGoogle. The Google Analytics team talked to them about their experience:

What do you think of the announcement? Leave us a comment and let us know.

Related Reading:
Google Site Search Integrated with Adobe Community Help
Adobe Provides Flash Technology to Google and Yahoo for Better Indexing

Google Maps for Mobile has become an essential tool for maybe mobile warriors. I have spotted a Google Groups thread that asks Google if they would be willing to allow users to download maps to the application and then use those maps while being offline or not connected to the Internet.

This comes in handy when you:

1. Don't have a data plan but have wifi
2. Your internet connection is in a dead zone
3. When you are on an airplane with airplane mode on

Google Maps Tom, an official Google Maps representative has almost confirmed Google is working on it. He said:

There have been a number of posts in this group specifically requesting this functionality, and we're working to meet your needs - but for now, Google Maps for mobile requires a data connection for use.

How soon? Who knows, but it does seem like Google is working on this.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

We have questioned if Google limits how much an AdSense publisher can earn in the past. We even ran a poll where the majority of publishers felt Google did not have a glass ceiling for AdSense earnings.

Now, a WebmasterWorld thread pulls out a quote from the new AdSenseAdvisor that Google does not cap publishers. Let me quote you:

I 100% guarantee that there are no earnings caps on AdSense accounts. I will swear it on a big stack of Google search results. No earnings caps.

That is believable to me. Do you believe it?

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang hoped an advertising deal with Google would boost revenue and keep Microsoft at bay. Instead, he ended up resigning soon after the Justice Department, thanks to Microsoft lobbying, blocked the deal.

Jerry Yang, from what I hear about him, is a kind, gentle, caring and giving person. To see the news that he is stepping down form the CEO role, for the betterment of the company, is sad but yet necessary. It is sad, cause he is a good guy, but if it was anyone else, I don't think I would be upset about it. Don't get me wrong, Yahoo needs a new CEO to step in and get the company back on track.

Between all the back and forth with Microsoft and Google, all leading to failure, it is a necessary step. Jerry Yang replaced Terry Semel as CEO in June 2007.

I like Mack's take at the WebmasterWorld thread, where he said, "I think Jerry's main problem was he was to attatched. In business you realy need to think with the head, not the heart. Yahoo! was clearly his "baby"."

Overall, I don't think anyone is surprised. Most wonder what took so long and many are not too confident about Yahoo's future.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld, Sphinn and DigitalPoint Forums.

If there is anyone who is representative of all the potential, all the excess and all the celebrity that the Internet economy has offered up to this point, it’s Mark Cuban. His flamboyant style keeps him in the news in one way or another and his mounds of cash from the sale of Broadcast.com to Yahoo! during the first internet gold rush has allowed him to live a life that most can only dream of (if that’s your sort of thing). Well, today that dream life may be looking more like a nightmare as the SEC investigates charges of insider trading by Mr. Cuban.

Today’s front page of the Wall Street Journal features Cuban in his classic “I can’t believe that idiot referee just made that call against my team and I will have his head on a platter” pose. Are there any other pictures of this guy out there other them him pitching a hissy fit on the sidelines of an NBA game? His less than adult behavior has helped him ring up more than $2 million in fines during his tenure as the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. Considering his wealth that is just ‘throw around’ money but still why couldn’t he just feed some hungry kids rather than acting like one.

It appears that his impetuous nature has garnered him the 2 words that may actually be worse than ‘IRS audit’ and those are ‘SEC investigation’. Yikes, aren’t there usually big fines and jail time associated with those things? All of this stems from a 6% stake in Mamma.com which was sold by Mr. Cuban following some information that was given to him by the company’s CEO, Guy Faure. The details seem to be many but the one that stands out is the arrogance of this guy and his handlers. His lawyer, Christopher Clark had this to say:

We’re shocked. We find it incredible that with all the important issues that the SEC has to address with regards to today’s economy they’ve sought to bring a $750,000 case relating to a he-said, she-said about one trade against a person whose integrity has never been questioned before with regard to the securities markets.

Funny how he needed to qualify how Mr. Cuban’s integrity has never been questioned about the securities markets because it is questioned everywhere else due to his childish antics. Granted, the details seem a bit sketchy and the case may be one that doesn’t deserve this kind of attention but this guy thrives on attention. In his case, is online reputation monitoring or any type of reputation monitoring needed because nothing is secret with him? At what point does the persona end and the person begin? It will be interesting to see if this dings Mr. Cuban in any way since he has recently suffered some embarrassment about publically stating his desire to buy the Chicago Cubs but apparently not being able to raise the money he said he could.

So what’s the internet marketing angle? I would say it’s more of an internet angle in general. You need to be careful about what you put out there at any level because people are watching. Attitudes and actions are now monitored at a level unheard in modern times. I suspect that Mr. Cuban should have taken the more relaxed attitude he displayed on his blog last summer when he wrote:

Is there anything more fun than sitting around, growing your hair, drinking a Bud while listening to Jethro Tull and pondering how to change the balance of power in the search world and unseat Google?

Uh, Mark? This is reality checking in with you. Unseating Google appears to be the least of your concerns (and probably pretty far removed from reality). Maybe a few less alleged insider trading moves and some time off to try to exhibit some good behavior would be better?

It's an entry-level model, but it's new and highly rated among buyers.

IBM's lawsuit against former executive Mark Papermaster, who is trying to join Apple, underscores how companies can enforce restrictions on their employees.