San Jose Mercury News: Over the past year in California, multinational corporations, private investment firms and even the Department of Defense have pumped more than a billion dollars into, of all things, algae. This recent influx of funds for research and development of this humble organism is also one of the clearest indicators to date that California is headed in the right direction when it comes to fighting climate change. Algae, it turns out, can produce hydrocarbons and shows great promise as a source of …