I read this news, and understand perfectly now why Dubya's suddenly on his renewable energy kick: the Carlyle Group's getting into it:
The Carlyle Group is set to boost its investment in the renewable energy sector as demand from U.S. state entities is rising, the firm's founder and managing director, David Rubenstein, said on Wednesday.I'm sure that's just coincidence... right?
"We intend to be much more active in the wind, power, solar energy, biomass and geothermal areas," Rubenstein said.
"We think it's an extremely attractive area in which to invest, particularly because many states in the U.S. now require that utilities buy a certain percentage of their energy from solar, biomass, geothermal or wind power sources," he told Reuters at a private equity conference in Frankfurt where he also predicted that some buyout firms would go public within the next several years.
To meet the energy demand, Carlyle, one of the world's largest private equity firms, is raising a fund that will invest in renewable energy infrastructure, sources familiar with the matter said.
Carlyle declined to comment on the fund. Rubenstein did, however, say the firm was set to launch a hedge fund within the next several weeks after announcing the move last year.
Categories: greenblogathon2006, Dubya, CarlyleGroup, politics, nepotism, renewable, energy
