"How will the recession affect the green economy?"

I've been hearing that question, or some version thereof, for months now, from reporters, associates, and others. The askers all seem to have the same concern: that an economic downturn will slow, perhaps even stop, the growth of green business practices and strategies.

Will it? No one really knows, of course. On the one hand, a slowing economy could make products that charge a premium -- hybrid cars, organic foods, and rooftop solar panels, for example -- out of reach for some newly budget-strapped consumers. On the other hand, Wal-Mart is pushing hard to make energy-efficient, organic, and less-toxic products available and affordable to its lower-income shoppers, potentially shrinking the premium and making some products more affordable.

What about the greening of company operations -- for instance, investments in energy efficiency and waste reduction -- as well as R&D into new cleaner, greener technologies and products? They certainly could be slowed or stopped by tough economic times, but there are mitigating forces there, too. For one, companies just might be incentivized to make such investments now: what better time to become more efficient than during tough times? And R&D budgets tend to operate on longer time horizons, potentially less susceptible to the vagaries quarterly earnings cycles. However, as our U.K. colleague James Murray reports this week, the tightening credit markets could become a short-term problem for some early-stage clean-tech companies.

As I said, no one really knows. Do you? I'd love your thoughts or observations on how tightening credit and slowing economic growth is affecting your company, sector, or customers. Send them to me at editor@greenerworldmedia.com.