"Energy efficiency is the lowest cost and cleanest way to address future energy needs."

"At the end of the day what the world needs is an arms race on what country can become the most energy efficient."

"And industries already understand the profit motive of doing things more efficiently," Schock said. "With energy efficiency alone, we could cut carbon dioxide emissions at a reasonable cost by probably one-third."

"We are really attracted by the size and potential of this market," Mr Urquhart said. "This sector is proving to offer a lot more opportunities than we first thought."

"[Green design] turned out to be one of the best investments we've made," noted Kurtz. "We estimate we have saved between $3 and $4 million over the last 10 years in energy costs, compared to what we would have spent if EMU ranked in the middle of the pack for energy efficiency."

“The situation the company finds itself in now is a significant amount of uncertainty about what climate change regulation might do to the cost of coal plants. Coal projects are no longer viable.”

"The more I learn about global warming and watch the drought affect ranchers and farmers, I see that it's wind energy, not coal plants, that can help with rural economic development. Besides, do we want to roll the dice with the one planet we've got?"

"Nearly half of Americans now believe that global warming is either already having dangerous impacts on people around the world or will in the next 10 years -- a 20-percentage-point increase since 2004. These results indicate a sea change in public opinion."

It's very likely the investment decisions many are making, to build long-lived high-carbon-dioxide-emitting power plants, are decisions we'll all live to regret.

Nobody in their right minds should be building a coal plant.