Another in a series of miniprofiles of sustainability-minded people who are working to reduce humankind’s footprint on the planet. They're "mini" not only because they're short, but because all the questions are 10 words or less, and the answers are requested to match. (Please, no counting.)

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.

The idea was developed at Los Alamos. Hyperion Power, which has leased the technology, says its first unit will be installed in 2013. The devices will go for about $25 million each.

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.

So let's take a poll. How many of you would be more pro nuclear if it was painted green? Never mind all that poisonous-for-practically-ever waste, or the massive subsidies that would be needed to build the plants. You just want them to look nicer.

Another in a series of miniprofiles of sustainability-minded people who are working to reduce humankind’s footprint on the planet. To recap, they're "mini" not only because they're short, but because all the questions are 10 words or less, and the answers are requested to match. Please, no counting.

AMY BAUMAN, Somerville
Owner, greenGoat

GreenGoat helps contractors and architects pare building-material waste, in part by repurposing what previously would have been discarded. “If we need to write specification language, we do that. If they need a waste management plan, we do that. And if the building owners need us to help them get the downstream vendors right, we do that too,” Bauman says

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.

Another in a series of miniprofiles of sustainability-minded people who are working to reduce humankind’s footprint on the planet. To recap, they're "mini" not only because they're short, but because all the questions are 10 words or less, and the answers are requested to match. Please, no counting.

ELAINE STRUNK, Cambridge
Director of green, The Lenox

Elaine says her job has a dual focus: “I look for a return for the business, but also a return for the environment.” She has a degree in environmental policy, worked for the city of Phoenix in urban planning and architecture, and worked in environmental education. “I used to work with kids. Now I work educating staff and guests."

Green epiphany: “These were values that my family held. When I went to college, they didn’t have any recycling, so I’d save it up and take it to my sister’s house a couple of towns over.”

My default position on corporations is pretty lefty, that they are not unlike stiff dicks — driven to get what they want, not caring about anything else. Pretty much of all them are chartered for self-preservation with blinders to social interests or social costs.

But I've been opening to a more nuanced position, based on the experiences of Adam Werbach and Wal Mart, and to a lesser extent, the writings of Joel Makower.

Lubber is president of Ceres, a national coalition of investors and public-interest groups focused on environmental issues. Yesterday she was one of the Globe magazine's "earth angels," briefly profiled with five others as part of the issue's green focus.

Today, she's an op-ed contributor, making excellent points that will one day seem so obvious that everyone will wonder why, and rue, that they weren't conventional wisdom.

She says it better than I will, since, like, it's her idea, but essentially she contrasts Wall Street's behavior that necessitated today's proposed bailout with its broad-based ignorance of the hidden carbon risks in its investment strategies.

If you want the Prager who knows and values the outdoors, you want my brother, Richard: National Outdoor Leadership School, Outward Bound Minnesota, solo Appalachian Trail hiker from Georgia to Maine, scaler of all the 4,000-plus-feet peaks in New Hampshire, New York State School of Forestry graduate degree, all before age 25, and 10 years (maybe it was only 5) as president of the Simsbury (Conn.) Land Trust.

Me, I got nothin', as JS would say. But two disparate sources this week made a strong case for the need to reconnect with nature, as if life depends on it. Like all of us, I'm a work in progress, but I'm starting to believe.

The more trusted source was a Ph.D. biologist I met this week, Dayna Baumeister, a cofounder of the Biomimicry Guild in Montana; she gave a speech Wednesday night at the Boston Public Library, and a two-day workshop with colleague Tim McGee through the BSA on Thursday and Friday.

Another in a series of miniprofiles of sustainability-minded people who are working to reduce humankind's footprint on the planet.

BRIAN BUTLER, 40, Somerville
Owner, Boston Green Building
BGB is a general contractor specializing in sustainable building. "Our focus is making general contracting as green as it can be, given the scope of a given client’s resource and projects," said Butler, who is married with a son.

Green epiphany: I was working on a very high-end project and asked the general contractor if they had incorporated any green features. This was a $4 million project, and he hadn’t done anything! And it really pissed me off."