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About half the start-ups working to develop and scale up the newest clean energy technologies were banking with [SVB]...It was the go-to bank for clean tech start-ups...Before the collapse, the bank boasted that it financed or helped finance 62 percent of community solar projects in America.

The Department of Energy plans to announce Tuesday that scientists have been able for the first time to produce a fusion reaction that creates a net energy gain — a major milestone in the decades-long, multibillion dollar quest to develop a technology that provides unlimited, cheap, clean power. The aim of fusion research is to replicate the nuclear reaction through which energy is created on the sun. It is a “holy grail” of carbon-free power that scientists have been chasing since the 1950s. It is still at least a decade — maybe decades — away from commercial use, but the...

The Department of Energy plans to announce Tuesday that scientists have been able for the first time to produce a fusion reaction that creates a net energy gain...It comes as the Biden administration is prioritizing fusion energy research in its climate and energy agenda.

Drivers relieved by the recent dip in gas prices may be in for a shock when the summer winds down, with energy analysts warning a fresh round of price surges could emerge as soon as October. The prospect of a new gas price jolt coinciding with midterm elections has the White House and many Democrats on edge. The price concerns are tied to the timeline for stricter sanctions on Russia that will further choke the global oil supply. J.P. Morgan has warned that in a worst-case scenario - in which Russia retaliates by shutting down its supply altogether - the...

California billionaire and liberal activist Tom Steyer will announce this week that he plans to enter the already crowded field of candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, according to a person close to him. The decision by Steyer, one of the biggest donors to Democratic politicians, was unexpected. He had traveled to Iowa earlier in the year to announce he would not run, but would instead focus on his large grass-roots campaign to impeach President Trump. But Steyer now appears to see an opening. The Democratic primary field remains unsettled. Former Vice President Joe Biden’s poor debate performance last month...

State lawmakers began moving toward a deal this week to close California's deficit with the help of steeper car fees that would cost many drivers hundreds of dollars annually, according to people involved in budget talks. Under the plan, GOP lawmakers -- most of whom have signed anti-tax pledges -- would vote to triple the vehicle license fee that owners pay when they register their cars every year in exchange for a ballot measure that would impose rigid limits on future state spending. Motorists' annual license fees would rise from 0.65% of the value of their vehicles to 2%. For...

SACRAMENTO -- California's 51-day budget impasse ended today as Republicans in the state Senate extracted enough concessions from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic lawmakers to allow the $145-billion spending plan to pass. The agreement is almost identical to the plan passed by the state Assembly on July 20. To overcome the GOP objections in the Senate, Schwarzenegger had agreed weeks ago to use his veto pen to eliminate the $700-million deficit with which the state is expected to end the fiscal year June 30, 2008.

He accused GOP lawmakers of continuing to withhold their votes, even after all their demands related to the budget had been met, in hopes of extracting other policy concessions. "All of a sudden, now we've got to work on this, we've got to work on that," Schwarzenegger said. "So they are adding things. We say today, don't keep adding things. You are hurting people. People in California are suffering. Lay off. Pass the budget." Though Schwarzenegger didn't mention Cogdill by name, he did single out Cogdill's fellow GOP holdout, Sen. Jeff Denham, a Republican whose district includes nearby Merced. Denham,...

The Republicans will present their proposed state budget before the full Senate today. It would cut numerous programs Democrats hold dear, including the elimination of an institute for labor studies at the University of California. The budget plan includes nearly $1 billion in spending reductions beyond those in the bipartisan plan approved by the Assembly on Friday. Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman (R-Irvine) made public only a few of the cuts his caucus would propose. The linchpin of the plan, Ackerman said, is a $324-million cut in the state's welfare program. The cut was initially proposed by the governor in...

Conservative activists, meanwhile, told the lawmakers to hold their ground. "You 15 are officially martyrs for all California taxpayers," Jon Fleischman, a member of the state party's board, wrote to the caucus on his blog Flash Report, http://www.flashreport.org.GOP senators have been using the blog to sound off on Perata, the governor and Assembly Republican Leader Michael Villines of Clovis. They also offered updates on the lockdown. Just before 7 a.m. Saturday, Sen. Jim Battin (R-La Quinta) sent in a posting. "We've been locked in, and there are sergeants at every exit making sure we can't leave," he wrote. "I slept...

Besieged Senate Republicans continued to block passage of a state budget Friday night even as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger publicly sided with Democrats and urged GOP senators to give up the fight. The deadlock in the Senate persisted despite the Assembly passing a budget on a bipartisan vote following an all-night session into Friday morning. The Assembly has since disbanded for a monthlong recess. GOP lawmakers complain that the Assembly spending plan does not cut deep enough and are holding out for more reductions. On Friday night, Schwarzenegger, whose role in budget talks has largely been limited this year, stepped in...

The scene may seem familiar to Californians: a Republican governor warning that fiscal meltdown is imminent unless voters approve new rules on how much money the state can spend each year. But Colorado Gov. Bill Owens isn't looking for the kind of budget cap that California Republicans want voters to approve next month. That was imposed 13 years ago. Now he is pleading with voters to lift it. The problem: Colorado's spending controls appear to have worked too well. Now some of the most strident fiscal conservatives in Colorado — long viewed as a model for others considering such restraints...

The Republican governor is pitching Proposition 76, which he calls the "Live Within Our Means Act," as the best way out of California's chronic deficits. But voters appear to lose interest when they learn of the sacrifices that will be needed to allow the state to truly live within its means. The measure makes clear that it can't be done without limiting spending on the education and healthcare programs that account for more than three-quarters of the state's general fund. "Voters like the idea of government living within its means," said Mark Baldassare, director of research for the Public Policy...

The cap on state spending that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants voters to pass in November is emerging as a centerpiece of a nationwide strategy by influential conservatives to slash government spending in state capitals across the country. Although the authors of the California proposal say they were not influenced by out-of-state groups, a loose affiliation of ideologically conservative organizations are hoping that the proposed California "Live Within Our Means Act" will help fuel a national taxpayer revolt they are working to coordinate in more than two dozen other states. "This is the next big thing at the state level," said...