Green Energy

By Matthew Kahn | (The Conversation) | – – In mid-November, while Americans were preoccupied with election returns, China sent some of its clearest signals yet that it will continue to pursue an international leadership role on issues including climate. At an international climate change summit in Marrakech, the Chinese government reasserted its commitment to […]

Climate Change

Get some Climate attitude: Ban Coal and forget about Carbon Capture

contributors

By Lili Fuhr | ( Project Syndicate ) BERLIN – Mainstream politics, by definition, is ill equipped to imagine fundamental change. But last December in Paris, 196 governments agreed on the need to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels – an objective that holds the promise of delivering precisely such a transformation. Achieving […]

Environment

Yemen & Dubai may be at War, but both are going Solar Big Time

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – There is big news on the solar energy front, with the price of panels and installation falling rapidly and popular adoption of it for novel purposes. It occurred to me after I made this list that two of the stories, about Yemen and Dubai, concern countries […]

Climate Change

Welcome to Masdar City: the ultimate experiment in sustainable urban living

contributors

By Susan Lee | (The Conversation) | – – Ten years ago in the United Arab Emirates, a new settlement was started from scratch, with the aim of becoming “the world’s most sustainable city”. Masdar City was designed to be zero-carbon and zero-waste, home to a population of 40,000 people, with an additional 50,000 commuters, […]

Environment

5 Signs that Wind Power in the US is suddenly going Massive

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Iowa Utility Board has approved a $3 bn. MidAmerica wind farm project which will be the country’s largest, due to come on line in 2019, and which will generate enough electricity to power 800,000 homes! I looked this up, and there are only about 1.2 […]

Featured

The Green Current: A Superhero

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | Informed Comment | (Graphic Novel) | – – Ali Saleh was an ordinary American teenager at Dearborn High. His father, Dr. Mahmoud Saleh, who had been born in Egypt, was a photovoltaic engineer. He made an epochal discovery that would make solar panels highly efficient and almost free. A coworker in […]

Environment

Top 5 Ways Green Energy is already Helping American Workers

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – As we celebrate American workers (I prefer to honor workers today rather than the abstract “labor”), let’s remember where their future lies. And that is, in part, in the renewable energy sector. “Solar Energy in the United States: A Decade of Record Growth” The rapid growth […]

Environmentalism

Florida: Politicians in Big Oil’s Pocket Beware, The People want their Solar

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Florida voters have overwhelmingly passed Amendment 4, which exempts solar panels and solar equipment from extra taxes. Before this, if someone put up solar panels on their house in Florida, as we did in Michigan, and it caused the value of the house to increase […]

Climate Change

In Boon for EVs, Solar Panels, California will roll back CO2 Emissions to 40% Below 1990

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The California legislature worked on a carbon dioxide emissions reduction bill for a year, and is finally sending it to the governor for his signature. It is one of the more ambitious pieces of CO2 legislation by any US state, more resembling policies of the European […]