Climate Feedback: Head of climate-gate inquiry defends independence

[Daniel Cressey] Campbell added that he would be happy to excuse himself from any discussions that concern Nature. “Either you accept that the process is being as open as it can be, or you accuse us of covering up,” he added.
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Full disclosure: Daniel Cressey is an employee of Nature and is ultimately answerable to Philip Campbell.

- Bishop Hill blog - Campbell resigns

A replacement will obviously have to be found, and I am going to make some suggestions to Sir Muir as to where such a person might be found. In the meantime we still have the issue of Geoffrey Boulton, the ex-UEA man who has spoken out strongly in the past in favour of the global warming position. Although he's not as wildly inappropriate as Philip Campbell his position on the panel still makes it look somewhat unbalanced. I would suggest that either he needs to go too or he needs to be balanced with somebody of sceptical views.

Areva acquires Ausra, a Silicon Valley solar power plant start-up - latimes.com

That would be a decent payday for Ausra's investors, which include Silicon Valley venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Khosla Ventures.

2008: Ausra Heats Up With $60.6M to Build First U.S. Solar Project

The round includes Al Gore’s investment fund Generation Investment Management, as well as KERN Partners, Starfish Ventures and founding investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Khosla Ventures.

Al Gore joins Kleiner Perkins to [cash in on global warming fraud] - Nov. 12, 2007

We're sitting in the giant conference room at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, where the partners hold their weekly meetings. After loading his plate with Chinese food from a buffet, Gore is firing detailed questions at the management team of Ausra, a Kleiner-backed company in Palo Alto whose technology uses mirrors the width of a flatbed truck that focus the sun's energy to generate electricity.

Once Gore is satisfied -- sunlight lags north of South Dakota, an Ausra plant can serve 120,000 homes, and yes, smaller turbines will work fine -- he shifts from inquisitor to fixer. He was chatting with California Senator Barbara Boxer "on the way over," he reports, and he isn't optimistic that Congress will extend the tax credits Ausra has been relying on. On the upside, he offers on the spot to organize a summit highlighting the company's solar thermal technology to educate lawmakers and other policymakers on its potential. He also thinks a powwow at General Electric (GE, Fortune 500) would be beneficial, even though Ausra is a tiny customer.

"I know Immelt well," he says, referring to GE's CEO. "We ought to set up a meeting."