单选题
The clean-energy business is turning into the next big investment boom, in which risks are lightly ignored. Until recently, recalls Charlie Gay, a 30-year veteran of the solar-power business, venture capitalists were far too busy catering to captains of the information-technology industry to waste time on "hippy-dippy tree-huggers" like himself. But now the tree-huggers are in the ascendant and the IT barons are busy investing in clean-energy technology.
Investors are failing over themselves to finance start-ups in clean technology, especially in energy. Venture Business Research reckons that investment in the field by venture capitalists and private-equity firms has quadrupled in the past two years, from some $500m in 2004 to almost $2 billion so far this year. The share of venture capital going into clean energy is rising rapidly.
Clean-energy fever is being fuelled by three things: high oil prices, fears over energy security and a growing concern about global warming. The provision of energy, the industry"s cheerleaders say, will change radically over the coming decades. Polluting coal and gas-fired power stations will give way to cleaner alternatives such as solar and wind; fuels derived from plants and waste will replace petrol and diesel; and small, local forms of electricity generation will replace big power stations feeding far-flung grids. Eventually, it is hoped, fuel cells running on hydrogen will take the place of the internal combustion engine which is available everywhere. It is a bold vision, but if it happens very slowly, or only to a limited extent, boosters argue that it will still prompt tremendous growth for firms in the business.
Analysts confidently predict the clean-energy business will grow by 20%～30% a year for a decade. Jefferies, an investment bank that organized a recent conference on the industry in London, asked participants how soon solar power would become competitive with old-fashioned generation technologies: in 2010, 2015 or 2020. About three-quarters of those present, one visitor happily observed, were "cheque-writers". This "megatrend", the keynote speaker advocated, "may be the biggest job and wealth-creation opportunity of the 21st century."
Such exaggeration might remind people of dotcom bubble. But clean-energy advocates insist growth is sustainable because of the likes of Mr. Schwarzenegger. The Governor is a hero in green circles because of his enthusiasm for environmental regulation. He easily won reelection partly because he seized on global warming as a concern and signed into law—America"s first wide-ranging scheme to cap green-house-gas emissions.
单选题
According to the first two paragraphs, we can learn that ______.