Pleased to point folks to the first of a regular series of columns I'm going to be writing for Mass High Tech, Boston's leading tech business paper.  Should be a good way to share a bit more about what's going on in this region in particular, as the local cleantech cluster grows quickly.  But a little tip to everyone:  Be careful when someone else edits a headline for you, the original headline was supposed to be "New England needs more experienced entrepreneurs in cleantech".  A positive call to action to all those experienced entrepreneurs out there to come join us in the sector.  It was NOT "New England clean tech needs more experience," the headline actually used, which could probably be read a number of different, arrogant-sounding ways...  Oops.  Sorry. Guess the editor of this column you're reading right now (me) has been spoiling the author of the column (me) on such things up until now... Anyways, on with today's deals and news:

• GM is making an undisclosed amount of investment into Mascoma. This follows on the heels of their previous investment in Coskata.

• Here's a very nice column on Dave Danielson, a smart Boston-area cleantech investor (and one of my fellow co-leads of the local REBN chapter).

• VentureWire is reporting that new, Midwest-focused cleantech venture firm Clean Wave Ventures is seeking to raise a $100mm first-time fund.  They'll be focusing on Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.

Other news and notes:  NPR's take on the current challenges facing ethanol policy -- the striking thing is how the policymakers seem to have honestly been blindsided by all this controversy.