The windmill that stands tall beside I-93 in Dorchester is about to get a companion north of the city, in Medford.

The city is erecting a 100-kilowatt turbine at the McGlynn Middle School, with help from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and Mass. Energy, among other funders.

Joel Gordes, whom I know of through NESEA, says that if taxpayers are going to give $34 billion to bail out the Big 3 US automakers, one of the conditions should be that they must stop pursuing their selfish lawsuits against state regulations on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

At Mass. Energy's annual meeting Wednesday night, solar vet Henry Vandermark told me about of SolarWave Energy, a venture he has in start-up that provides a real-time, remote monitor for solar systems. 

As I understand it, Vandermark will sell his service to installers, as a constituent of their warranty services, allowing them to make service calls before a crisis, and avoid making business calls when they may not be necessary. 

According to Noah Bierman at the Globe, Boston-area commuters stayed with the T in October, even though gas prices had declined from their outrageous highs.

It will take at least another month to know if that is just a blip or if it signifies a long-lasting change. But it's promising news.

Friend and former colleague Beth Daley of the Globe writes this morning about Canadian wind power, whose prospects may be considerably better than our own.

Some fear that a flood of clean power from Canada will undercut New England's efforts to become a national leader in green energy and technology.

Writing at offgrid.com, Nick Rosen discusses micro-nuclear plants, which, the story says, could power 20,000 homes for 10 years or more.

The devices, said to be only a few feet across, would be buried well underground, have no moving parts, and be powered by low-energy uranium that would be difficult to enrich into nuclear weapons. All the steam, to run turbines, and waste would be contained underground.

On the NYT's Greenbiz blog, an entry says that pro-nuclear interests are trying to rebrand the industry, in part by seeking ways to make the plants more good looking.

I kid you not.

OK, so now we have the guy we wanted in the White House. So what is the outlook for clean tech?

Martin Lamonica, green-tech writer at CNet, surveys the landscape. I am always informed by Martin's writing.

[added] Greenbiz.com covers some of the same ground, but also looks at how voters reacted to clean-energy referenda nationwide.

Shannon Koenig and I met this morning to talk about conservation. We met through Sustainable Arlington, a grassroots effort to promote planet-friendly consciousness and practices in our town.

The auction last Thursday brought in more than $38 million altogether, and the state intends to spend its portion on energy-saving efforts.

Here's more from the Globe's Erin Ailworth.