November 13th, 2012

A bipartisan coalition of governors has written to Congress to plead for the extension of the Production Tax Credit that has helped fuel the development of wind energy in the U.S..

The PTC, set to expire at the end of December, provides wind developers with a tax break that makes the business more profitable. Proponents say it’s needed to level the playing field for new energy, which must compete against subsidized fossil fuel industries like coal and natural gas.

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October 3rd, 2012

A survey of likely 2012 American voters has found that they overwhelmingly support solar power, with nine out of 10 saying the U.S. should develop more solar power.

The survey, conducted by Hart Research in early September, also found that 85 percent of voters view solar power “favorably” or “very favorably;” and 78 percent said that the government should support the growth of solar power with incentives.

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August 31st, 2012

GE turbines in Brazil (Photo:

Fast-growing Brazil has been criticized for chopping down rainforests to make way for beef cattle, soy and sugar farms.
But those days may be behind us. Brazil is fast becoming an industrial leader with a growing green conscience, as two reports out this week show.

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August 16th, 2012

U.S. wind energy workers are losing their jobs as factories pare back in apparent response to the potential loss of a tax credit that has bolstered wind development.
Losses include layoffs and planned layoffs at wind manufacturing facilities in Tulsa, Okla., West Fargo, N.D., and in Little Rock, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) reports.

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June 21st, 2012

When will it be possible for the US to be powered mainly by clean, renewable energy?
This simple question, which could tell us so much about our national economic and health prospects, has been treated by many vested interests as nearly unanswerable. The fossil fuel and power industries, our federal and state governments have stressed, at various times and places, that it is ever-so hard to predict when the US could achieve a fully realized clean energy future.

Their characterization of the clean energy landscape as amorphous and unknowable has a basis in reality. The energy revolution faces many obstacles. There’s the fact that the US has three electricity grids (East, West and Texas grids) that will need updating to accept renewables. Accomplish that and you still have to deal with multiple government bodies that must move slinky-like in the same direction. That would be the federal government, the 50 state governments, the dizzying array of local, county and utility boards and entities. Permitting new energy already can be a nightmare even when all parties are trying to facilitate it.

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May 3rd, 2012

A solar panel topped car port in Charles Town has become largest solar array in West Virginia

The 407-kilowatt system made by Oregon-based Solar World will provide about half the power for the 100,000 square-foot financial center of American Public University System (APUS), an online education provider that serves the military and public service communities

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April 5th, 2012

Natural gas is portrayed as the “bridge fuel” that will save the US from uneven electricity supply and prices as we transition off coal and oil on our way toward using renewable biofuels, solar and wind power.

A drilling rig in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo: Green Right Now)

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January 18th, 2012

It’s one of those cold, white-bright days of winter. We’ve not had many like it this January. Instead, we’ve been walking around outdoors in our shirt sleeves, sneezing from pollen allergies and having a lot of little conversations about the unusual warm “spell”.
We’re experiencing climate change, of course, and it’s not a spell, but a new norm. Nearly everyone recognizes that something’s going on. Sometimes I feel like a character in Twin Peaks, exchanging knowing glances with the neighbors over these changes we cannot speak of because it’s somehow become radical to openly declare that climate change is happening, even though people in all walks of life can see it plainly. I’m thinking about farmers, landscapers, urban planners, builders, utility managers, insurers, scientists, oceanographers, biologists, botanists, power plant operators….

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January 2nd, 2012

In Washington, the loudest voices have the biggest pocketbooks. And they’re taking the US on a death march with fossil fuels.
Unlike most advanced nations, where green energy has taken firm root, the US tarries, only half-committed to new energy while guzzling more oil per capita than any other nation. We know this habit is unsustainable. It continues because oil is profitable. And Big Oil peels off some of its largesse to buy acquiescence from Washington.
That’s a crude, but accurate assessment. No pun intended.

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December 30th, 2011

If you’re wondering what to worry about in the coming year, look no further than the eco-landscape.
Climate change, species extinctions, ocean acidification, forestry losses, soil erosion and air pollution. We humans, now 7 billion strong, are pushing the planet hard, creating a brew of intractable environmental issues that threaten our way of life, and ultimately our survival.
Grim? It doesn’t get much more so.
There were bright moments in 2011. A sampling:

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December 14th, 2011

In recent days, both the wind power and solar power advocates have been protesting the potential expiration of three key tax incentives that have helped drive the expansion of renewable energy in the US, even amid the economic stall out. With Congress and President Obama both seeking ways to trim the federal budget deficit, and the tug of oil and coal money ever-present on Capital Hill, these incentives for clean energy are being considered for the axe.

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April 27th, 2011

California’s Clean Coalition

Wind turbines in California

, an array of environmental, business and community groups, has launched a new campaign called “CLEAN California” to help keep the state on the forefront of the emerging clean energy economy.

The non-profit “Clean Coalition,” based in Palo Alto, will be promoting Gov. Jerry Brown’s call to install 12,000 megawatts of renewable energy projects across the state by 2020. That’s enough to power 7-10 million homes, depending on energy usage and who’s doing the calculations.

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