A maglev wind turbine

In a society post-Inconvenient Truth, green has become the new black. But to some companies, 'green' can be a mere matter of adding a leaf trim to current communications efforts. Often, precious little is done to assist the environment.

Unless you are Google.

The search giant has unveiled its lofty ambition of making renewable energy — that is, energy from limitless resources such as solar and wind power — as cheap as coal, which is currently the cheapest but dirtiest nonrenewable resource on the planet.

The effort is aptly called Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal. The company expects to spend tens of millions in '08 developing and investing in renewable energy, according to a release.