Warren Buffett may be the world's greatest value investor. He has made billions of dollars identifying well-run companies overlooked by the market, buying equity in them and holding those shares for the long term. While many investors are running scared, Warren Buffett is investing big. He spent $5 billion in the last few months and bought value at a good price. He is finding opportunity in an economic downturn.

American Electric Power Company Inc. has joined the “Pickens Army.”

The Columbus-based utility on Thursday said it signed on as a corporate sponsor of the Pickens Plan, an energy initiative launched by Texas energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens. The plan calls for cutting the U.S. dependence on foreign oil, boosting the usage of renewable energy and constructing a new power grid. A high-profile element of the plan is a push to develop plug-in electric cars and heavy-duty fleet vehicles that run on natural gas.

Texas' growing energy needs require new power plants of all types and continuation of a deregulated power market despite high electricity prices, according to recommendations Wednesday from the governor's competitiveness council.

Texas will require 2 percent more energy every year, which means it will need dozens more natural gas, coal and nuclear plants and more wind power to maintain a safety margin, the council said. Texas also needs plants to replace older ones that will be mothballed.

An online preview of a the book, The Impact of global Warming on Texas, 2nd Edition, is now available to the public. The book offers comprehensive and understandable assessments of what is currently known about the impacts of climate change in Texas. The books will be published later this year by the University of Texas Press to access the online preview edition go to Texas Climate.org

Texas Renewable Energy Resource Assessment is a reference tool for anyone seeking to understand the current Texas renewable energy resource assessment environment. Texas remains at the forefront of the nation’s energy industry. The direction Texas takes in renewable energy will help mark the path for the nation. Texas is well positioned to benefit from the increasing diversification of the nation’s renewable energy portfolio.

Could gasoline be more green than biofuels, the farm-grown darlings of Iowa farmers and Willie Nelson?

The counterintuitive, provocative question has been posed by several University of Texas researchers in a pair of recent papers that look at how much water is required to produce fuels such as gasoline and ethanol.

The papers underscore the trade-offs at play as the United States plots its energy future.

Gov. Rick Perry told energy experts that as a matter of foreign and economic policy, the nation must reduce its dependence on foreign oil by building a deeper, more diverse energy portfolio.

“America’s national security and economic stability are seriously threatened by the fact that we rely on other nations for 70 percent of our oil supply.” Perry told the Clean Carbon Policy Summit and Project Expo, hosted by the Clean Coal Technology Foundation of Texas Oct. 10.

Perry said that to attain energy diversification, Texas must foster collaboration between government, industry and academia to promote clean coal as well as other alternative energy technologies.

Faced with an aging workforce and a growing demand for skilled workers in emerging markets like China and India, companies in the West are grappling with a talent crunch of unprecedented scope. According to experts at Wharton and The Boston Consulting Group, firms are increasingly questioning their workforce requirements and quality, training and development, and wage levels. Responses include over-hiring to meet future needs, upgrading training in concert with universities and in-house corporate schools, and extracting greater productivity through innovation.

A nuclear energy renaissance is in full swing in the Lone Star State. Luminant Generation recently filed a federal permit to build two new reactors at its Comanche Peak nuclear plant in Somervell County. That makes six new nuclear reactors pending statewide, which would more than double the state's production of electricity from virtually carbon-free nuclear power.

Texas is the second most populous state in the nation with more than 23 million people, many of whom are busy driving cars, working to support their families and heating and cooling their homes. As the population of Texas grows, the people of this great state are using more energy than ever before, facing higher energy costs and looking for cheaper solutions. The fact is – whether measured at the pump or on your electric bill – the energy that drives our lives will remain expensive long into the future.