U.S. drops to 3rd in clean-energy investment

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By Timothy GardnerPosted 2011/03/29 at 1:21 am EDT

WASHINGTON, Mar. 29, 2011 (Reuters) — The United States fell one spot to third place in clean-energy investment last year as the lack of a national energy policy hurt purchases in wind and solar power and other technologies, a report said on Tuesday.

China came in first and Germany second, according to the report "Who's Winning the Clean Energy Race" by the Pew Charitable Trusts, an independent, nonprofit group.

In the previous year the United States had fallen from the top spot to second place, behind China.

A comprehensive energy bill died in the Senate last July. Washington also has failed to pass national mandates for utilities to produce minimum amounts of clean power that environmentalists and some analysts say would boost confidence for alternative energy companies to invest in the country.

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http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre72s0t6-us-renewables-report-pew/

Heard yesterday at a talk that China is ceasing export of certain rare earths because they are planning to use their entire supply for domestic wind turbine production....