Nicholas Parker would like to take this opportunity to loudly and clearly dispel any misconception that he is a tree hugger. As chairman of the trade group Cleantech Venture Network, Mr. Parker helps venture capital invest in technologies aimed at improving energy sources or providing alternatives by promoting the concept, providing research and sponsoring conferences that marry investors and entrepreneurs. The broad, loosely defined environmental category - known as cleantech - includes companies with ideas in solar power, fuel cells, batteries, water, pollution control, recycling, even farming. But make no mistake, Mr. Parker said. ‘This is not the venture equivalent of socially responsible investing,’ he insisted. ‘This isn’t about creating a few shekels for a community group.’ It’s about money, Mr. Parker said. And venture capitalists are clamoring to get in. In the first two quarters, venture capitalists invested $379 million in 30 cleantech companies, according to the National Venture Capital Association. That is up from $230.8 million in 27 companies in all of 2005. The fervor is so strong, some critics say, that the cleantech label is being attached to concepts that only marginally fill the bill, and the phenomenon is eliciting gentle mockery […]