Georgia Unanimously Passes a Solar Bill
In exchange for allowing solar leasing and strong net-metering, utilities get to charge
Deforestation Rises in the Amazon Again
One thing everyone agrees on (if you’re not a logging, palm oil, soy or cattle company) is that preserving what’s left of the world’s forests is Job #1 for climate change and biodiversity. Since the mid-2000s, deforestation of the world’s tropical forests dropped about 25%, according to the UN, but new research shows that patched over the long term trend – it accelerated 62% over the past 20 years. And after cheering a 70% decline of deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon, clearing is rising again. Satellite data reveal an alarming rise of 63% in the Amazon in the second half of 2014, after rising 29% in 2013, according to Mongabay. Apparently, Brazil’s economic downturn lowered the value of its currency, making soy and beef more profitable for export, stoking deforestation, explains Mongabay. The government is responding by expanding policing efforts, but what’s really needed are payments and other incentives for farmers and ranchers to maintain and increase forest cover, experts say. And the key Forest Code was loosened in 2012. In some good news, Brazil caught the person responsible for about 20% of deforestation in recent years. Ezequiel Antônio Castanha could face up to 46 years in prison for operating a […]
Canada Leads the World … On Forest Degradation
Canada's Boreal Forest is the largest intact forest left in the world, but Harper has shifted priorities toward extraction so completely that the country leads the world on forest degradation.
Sell Off All Public Lands! That's What Republicans Want
It sounds too preposterous to be true, but they actually voted in favor of it.
Closing Coal Plants Don't Need Replacements, Thanks to Energy Efficiency
Dozens of coal plants will be retired in the next few years, and because of rising energy efficiency, they can be replaced with smaller energy sources.
Algae Industry Moves Beyond Research to Commercialization
The industry expects algae biofuels to compete on price with fossil fuels by 2020.
Tribes Fight Climate Change With Ancient Farming Techniques
Native American tribes are passing traditional farming practices to the next generation, which will have to deal with the consequences of climate change.
Sonoma Clean Power Chooses Floating Solar For First Major Project
The new clean power authority's first large project places floating solar arrays on waste treatment ponds.
Sunrun Plans An IPO
Less well known than competitor SolarCity, Sunrun has more than 60,000 customers.
Does This Surprise You?! Coal Companies Lie
Falsifying water samples isn't a joke, nor is the difference between what coal companies tell the public and the SEC.