Highlighted here are the following: PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy (PBW), Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy (TAN), Market Vectors Solar Energy ETF (KWT), First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge US Liquid (QCLN) or the Market Vectors Global Alternative Energy ETF (GEX).

It's deja vu all over again. The parallels and similarities between the development and evolution of the "green," alternative, renewable energy industry closely tracks that of the now more mature technology industry of prior decades. Both industries emerged with myriad small companies -- too many to be realistically successful -- all competing for market share with widely accepted products.

Both industries rely on first-to-market technological innovations. Stocks in both industries feature high volatility with seemingly daily market moving news. High-flying valuations become value stocks, and vice versa, at any time.

If history is any guide, over the coming decades there will emerge a handful of market leaders in alternative energy, much like the flagships of technology such as Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOG), Oracle (ORCL), IBM (IBM), Yahoo! (YHOO), Sun Microsystems (JAVA) and others. Some renewable energy small-cap start-ups will grow up to become large-cap industry flagships while the majority will remain also-rans.

In his Inaugural Address, President Obama's pledge of a stimulus package to increase energy independence by weaning America off foreign oil recalled a similar initiative by the Nixon Administration. Some readers may recall President Carter in a wintertime televised national address wearing a sweater and asking the Nation to turn down their thermostats. The call for greater energy efficiency has been a long-time coming. It seems that presidential promises to improve U.S.