A group of businessmen on Monday launched a new coalition to urge the federal government to make a major investment in electric transportation, pointing to electric cars as the best way to confront the nation's dependence on imported oil.

What follows is a roundup of corporate earnings reports for Thursday, Oct. 29.

The decision of several major companies to quit the Chamber of Commerce over carbon emission regulation underscores the concern—and confusion—within Corporate America about how it will impact the bottom line.

A powerful U.S. senator on Tuesday called for tough trade protections that may complicate global climate change talks, while U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon traveled to Washington to push for progress on a deal.

Exelon, one of the country’s largest utilities, said Monday that it would quit the United States Chamber of Commerce because of that group’s stance on climate change. It was the latest in a string of companies to do so, perhaps a harbinger of how intense the fight over global warming legislation could become.

Amid a growing split in the business community over climate policy, Pacific Gas and Electric, a major California utility, is withdrawing from the United States Chamber of Commerce, citing “fundamental differences” with the chamber’s approach to global warming.

More factories that make materials used in solar panels have opened, and the global demand for them has fallen, reports the New York Times.

Venture capital is starting to move away from its infatuation with alternative energy and returning to one of its traditional strengths: applying information technology to improve the efficiency of energy consumption.