If a picture paints a thousands words, and beautiful music moves the heart and soul, you'll want to watch and listen to the moving YouTube video which is linked later on in this brief article. The music is by Fusion Fable, and the song chosen perfectly fits the tone and theme of this powerful message.

Just as we can "vote with our wallets", there are other potent things we can do to address the real concerns and the unfolding of our self-made ecological crisis. Don't close your mind or your heart until you consider the facts in the video. If nothing else I know you'll love the music.

The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico may be the best thing that’s ever happened to green energy producers in the U.S – but the one that benefits the most will probably surprise you.     

As the damaged Deepwater Horizon well continues to pump out 5,000 barrels of oil per day into the Gulf, all the major stakeholders are scrambling to find a way to contain the damage. Investors in BP, Anadarko, Transocean, and Halliburton have had a rough few weeks and should be nervous about the future. The growing political firestorm that’s accompanied this ecological disaster is drastically reshaping the energy landscape in the U.S. There’s huge money to be made from the biggest structural change to the energy markets in the past 50 years, if you know where to look.    

One of the greatest environmental tragedies of all times continues to unfold, and the collateral damages are virtually inestimable. The fact that this could have been prevented is all the more onerous.

So we wanted to know how this ecological nightmare might impact the politics of energy and the usage of alternative technologies that aren't potentially so threatening. Sometimes the energy solutions put forth by both political parties are nothing but contradictory to what is good for the environment, let alone the health of the creatures of our planet.

It reminds me of Michael Jackson's haunting "Earth Song". The video and song is worth listening to again and again at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYHguBEXkac  I understand the new version from the smash-hit DVD "This Is It" is also a must-see masterpiece.

I'd almost forgotten this very important day, and how it all started about 40 years ago. Bloomberg TV was interviewing an analyst about countries that are making the most progress in the area of green, alternative energy. He claimed it was China, which is also one of the horrific, coall-burning polluters. The last time I visited there I could not believe how filthy the air was in, even along the coast. It reminded me of Los Angeles back in 1969, but even worse.

By the way, I think one of the best ways to invest in global solar energy is to use an ETF like the Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy Fund (NYSE:TAN). Check out their holdings on Yahoo! Finance and you'll see how diversified it is and yet it owns the best in that sector.

Now to happy stories and accomplishments. One of our favorite charities are Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace. They work so hard to try to protect whales and other of the great sea creatures that the world can not exist without. Sea Shepherd had the following annoucement and story.

While you are reading it, and if you saw the award-winning documentary "The Cove", you might want to consider why we would keep buying "things" that come from Japan (cars, electronics etc.) while Japan always the hideous slaughter of whales and dolphins.

Over the Easter weekend, seven nuclear reactors throughout the United States stopped operations, and natural gas prices skyrocketed by over 20%. And this was when most of the country was enjoying mild weather and businesses were shut for the long weekend.

Investing primer: The pros and cons of different funds

Why invest in a fund, a cluster of stocks, rather than the stocks themselves? The reasons are twofold.

First, a fund provides cheaper diversification for those investors with smaller amounts of capital. Buying each component of a fund spreads out your risk in the same way, but you can rack up significant brokerage fees in the process.

The second reason is true for most investors across the board: some funds can get you into sectors that otherwise present significant hurdles to play. Examples include the commercial real estate sector or the convertible bond sector, since regular retail investors would be hard pressed to purchase a commercial building or to participate in a convertible debt financing.

Many different types of funds beckon to investors now, and knowing how they work will help you maximize your gain from them. We’ll highlight three to set up the fourth: open-end funds, closed-end funds, hedge funds, and the one we like now to balance risk and reward, exchange-traded funds (ETFs).