Greentech Leaders, Government Officials Gather in Washington

With the conference in President Bush’s backyard, "a lot of people are looking to see some hard commitment from this administration on climate change," Zindler said.

On Thursday, Bush claimed during a press conference that he had done more for renewable energy than any of his predecessors.

Indeed, some greentech advocates cheered in December when the president signed an energy bill that will increase fuel-economy standards in 2020 and require fuel producers to use at least 36 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022 (see President Signs Energy Bill).

But many others were disappointed that the incentives were cut from the bill, and environmentalists have long been infuriated by the lack of a U.S. commitment to curb greenhouse-gas emissions (see Senate Rejects Green Incentives to Pass Energy Bill).

In December, the United States was blamed for holding up international efforts to create a climate-change-fighting road map after 2012, when the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol expires (see Bali Summit Yields Plans to Plan).

Perhaps the greentech industry will get a better sense of Bush’s commitment to renewable energy at the conference; that is, if he shows up. The WIREC conference agenda currently has "TBD" next to a keynote address by Bush scheduled for Wednesday.