See photos of the event.

Business innovation was the buzz at “A Different Shade of Green: Celebrating California’s New Tech Revolution,” CLCV’s June 1 event in Redwood City. We honored former California State Treasurer Phil Angelides, former California State Controller Steve Westly, and venture capital firms Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers—entrepreneurial investors who are leading the charge to develop green technologies and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

All told, the honorees have directed and invested billions in state pension funds and private capital in environmental technologies. And their remarks sent a powerful message about the urgency of global warming.

Listen to their speeches using the links below (after the break).

Our first foray into Silicon Valley drew guests from around the state and some from as far as Washington, D.C. Notables include Congressman Jerry McNerney, Gene Karpinski, Executive Director of the national LCV, Secretary of State Debra Bowen, and beloved former legislator Byron Sher.

Representative of innovation on the horizon, a prototype 100% electric Tesla Roadster was on display. The sports car can accelerate from 0-60 in about 4 seconds. We also featured an exhibit from Sunpower, a company that is advancing solar technology by making higher efficiency solar panels.

CLCV earned its share of honors at the event as well. Steve Westly praised CLCV as “the single most powerful environmental group in California.” Phil Angelides thanked CLCV “for raising the bar of environmental expectation, [and] for showing passion and commitment to a sustainable economy and planet.”

Angelides captured the spirit of the event: “We’ve shown that in a free enterprise society, capital can be an important force for progress; that capital can play a role in shaping the contours of an economy that’s sustainable, provides broad wealth, provides good jobs, and provides an engine for all our success both environmentally and economically for the decades to come. But now, the nature of the challenges requires that all of us… think bigger and bolder than ever before.”

Listen to the honorees’ speeches and the keynote address:

• Winston Hickox keynote address: Winston Hickox, CLCV Board member and former CLCV Board chair, was Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) for five years. Recently, he’s helped the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) design and implement a series of Environmental Investment Initiatives, leveraging the state’s billions of dollars in pension funds to encourage greener investing.
• Vinod Khosla acceptance speech
• Ray Lane acceptance speech
• Phil Angelides acceptance speech
• Steve Westly acceptance speech