An EcoGeek at CES: oh, the contradictions!

Las Vegas is full of strange contradictions. I chuckle to myself every time I pass the little placard by the door that says "Please Conserve Energy - remember to turn off the lights when you leave."

I'm staying at the Luxor, which is topped by a cluster of 39 Xenon lights, putting out 30.2 billion lumens and drawing 273 kilowatts... and all it's doing is pointing straight up into the night sky.

It is some consolation that the carbon from my hotel stay is being offset by the Consumer Electronics Association, but not much. To take my mind off all this I rode a driverless electric monorail to the show this morning... over a sea of Hummer limousines and idling taxicabs. Oh well :)

I'm meeting a lot of industry execs who are engaged and excited to be moving their companies towards a greener, more sustainable future.

Titles like "Vice President in Charge of Sustainability" and "Director of Environmental Concerns" are common at the panels I've been attending, and these aren't people in the marketing department - they're managing waste streams and improving efficiencies.

What I've been hearing again and again is that this is coming from the consumers - companies are literally embracing green tech and sustainability in order to compete in the marketplace, and are afraid of going out of business if they don't.

We'll have some interviews with industry leaders and government officials up soon, as well as some with the interesting people drawn to the Dell ReGeneration booth, so keep checking back for updates!