Renewable Energy Gains Greater Opportunity in US Clean Power Plan
After a year of being pummeled by opponents, Obama’s final carbon reduction plan emerged this week with an even stronger push for renewable energy.
Wind and solar energy are centerpieces of the Clean Power Plan, the United States’ first ever rule to reduce carbon dioxide from power plants.
The rule not only makes renewables one of the plan’s three central building blocks, but also creates special incentives to spur communities to build renewables more quickly than required.
The revised version of the rule comes after a year of review, hundreds of meetings and 4.3 million public comments delivered to EPA. It requires that states come up with plans to cut carbon pollution from power plants by 870 million tons, or 32 percent below 2005 levels, in 2030.
Solar Rollers Student Team Sends Email Back from the Future
A team of future high school graduates has developed technology capable of sending emails and digital attachments back from the future. The group call themselves the “Photon Farmers” and they are the future winners of the 2017 Solar Rollers energy education competition.
Republican Texas Bows to California and Backs Energy Finance Plan
Jim Keffer is Republican state lawmaker in Texas with a permit to carry a concealed weapon and doubts about whether human activity is causing global warming.
Ten Clean Energy Stocks For 2015: Marching Ahead
My Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2015 model portfolio added a second month to its winning streak, with a 6.1 percent gain for the month and a 5.7 percent gain for the year, despite a continued drag by the strong dollar. If measured in terms of the companies' local currencies, the portfolio would have been up 7.5 percent for the month and 10.5 percent for the quarter or year to date. For comparison, the broad universe of US small cap stocks rose 1.5 percent for the month and 4.0 percent for quarter, as measured by IWM, the Russell 2000 index ETF.
What Americans Think About Climate Change in Seven Maps
Researchers at Yale have unveiled a new interactive map that estimates public opinion on global warming right down to the county level.
Green Mutual Funds and ETFs May Recover in 2015
Alternative energy mutual funds are continuing to recover from a slump which started in fall 2014. Annual returns range greatly, though, from a high of 15.6 percent for Brown Advisory Sustainable Growth (BIAWX), to a low of -15.8 percent for Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy (GAAEX). The large 12-month drop by GAAEX was precipitated by painful losses in some of its top weighted holdings.
China’s Pollution Assault Boosting Solar, Electric Vehicles
China’s efforts to combat pollution are gaining momentum after President Xi Jinping pledged in March at the annual session of the National People’s Congress to punish violators of the nation’s environmental laws with an “iron hand.” Here’s what’s happening and what to expect.
It Turns Out That You Can’t Divide Americans Over Renewable Energy
In our second annual survey on American homeowners’ attitudes toward clean energy, one thing is resoundingly clear. In a nation divided on climate change, immigration policy, and so many other issues, Americans are overwhelmingly united in their support of renewable energy.
China’s Shandong Province Forwards BIPV Efforts
The government of Shandong province, China has recently disclosed progress in its energy efficiency efforts. To date, the province has planned efficiency conversions of existing residential buildings representing 19.5 million square meters of space.
US Climate Commitment Should Spur Other Countries to Act