AMBAG wants to hear from the regional business sector. How do business people envision the Monterey Bay Area in the year 2035? Congressman Sam Farr will speak to issues of how the Monterey Bay Area will grow and develop in the next 25 years on Monday, August 30 at noon at the Marina Technology Cluster (MTC) in Marina at an event designed to take input from business for the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments' (AMBAG) "Envisioning the Monterey Bay Area 2035 Regional Blueprint."

There arent that many clean-tech deals being made in the U.S., but the ones that are making it through just came off a mighty fine quarter.

Electric car manufacturers and support companies especially. The big winner of the quarter was Palo Alto EV infrastructure firm Better Place, which landed $350 million in funding.

The Golden State also dominated, according to analysis of data from Dow Jones VentureSource.

Green Building Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program interns will be earning certificates in Hartnell College's Center for Sustainable Construction program on Thursday, Aug. 12.

Alongside their instructor, Jordan Daniels of BuildingWise, LLC, a Moss Landing-based high-performance building consulting firm, 59 Hartnell College student interns have assessed eight local buildings, with the goal of helping them improve building performance and save operations and maintenance costs.

A bill by state Assemblywoman Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, to move her proposed water bond legislation from the November ballot to the 2012 general election was signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday, according to Caballero's office.

Here are some tips on greener shopping for school supplies from the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit advocacy organization.

Art supplies: Many contain toxic chemicals not suitable for children. Paints should be water-based to avoid solvents and colored with natural, nonmetal pigments. Avoid polymer clays that stay soft at room temperature or can be hardened in a home oven -- they're made from polyvinyl chloride and often contain phthalates...

Local entrepreneurs David Britton, Jim B. Abendschan and Cabrillo College librarian Topsy Smalley are promoting a library revolution, "a grassroots business model to create millions of sustainable jobs" by transforming libraries into hubs of civic change and environmentally-minded entrepreneurship.

"We want to have the infrastructure in place to implant entrepreneurialism," said Britton, who has started and run four high-tech companies and is currently also involved in organizing the local Santa Cruz Tech MeetUp programs. He hopes the Library Hub project will help the cash-strapped libraries as well as build a stronger economy.