In January, Scientific American writers unleashed an ambitious plan to halt global warming, eliminate our dependence on petroleum and the substantial trade deficit, boost the economy and create 3 million jobs, and brighten the dismal forecasts for the mid twenty-first century.
The plan is conceptually simple but would be substantial to implement:
- Construct a 30,000 square mile array of solar panels in the Southwest,
- along with concentrated solar power arrays and,
- a massive direct-current power transmission backbone to distribute electricity throughout the country.
- Excess power produced by the photovoltaic arrays would be distributed and stored as compressed air in below-ground caverns.
Development of such a system could provide almost three-quarters of the nation’s electricity by 2050.
By Gavin Hudson •
February 24, 2008
Korea’s rapid industrialization can be felt everywhere, from the coastal landscapes, which are dotted with factories, to the large cities–Seoul, Busan, and Daegu–which often have air quality so poor that skylines are swallowed in smog.
Now, the outgoing government of Korea has passed new legislation to combat this pollution and join in the international battle against climate change.
The aptly named “Act on Climate Change” will establish an emissions trading market, raise the bar for renewable energy, assist in reducing industrial, home, and vehicle emissions, and increase carbon capture.
By Mike Garofalo •
November 21, 2007
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes….
Senator Barack Obama is the junior US Senator representing the state of Illinois in the US Senate. He was elected to the Senate in 2004 and is serving in his first term. Previously, Obama had served as a 3-term Illinois state senator. Barack is married to his wife, Michelle, and they have two young daughters.
Obama, even as a freshman [...]
There’s good news for the future of green-collar employment, but it comes with a caveat: maximizing job growth in green industries will require the right public policy support. That means law-makers need to approve measures such as a renewable portfolio standard, incentives for renewable energy, public education programs and adequate funding for research and development.
If such measures are put in place, the U.S. could see as many as one out of every four [...]
By Max Lindberg •
November 1, 2007
Five Australian senior citizens who are committed to the environment, both in terms of reversing damage already done to our planet’s eco-system, and ensuring it doesn’t continue, are the subjects of today’s podcast. Their stories are featured in an article published by the Sydney Morning Herald.
More proof that individual effort, based on one’s skills and background, are empowering the groundswell of grassroots environmentalism around the world.
By Mike Garofalo •
October 31, 2007
Republican Congressman Ron Paul has been a member of the US House sporadically since 1976. He served terms of 1976 to 1977, 1979 to 1985, and 1997 to present, always serving different Congressional districts of Texas. Paul is a licensed physician and practiced for a number of years before entering politics. He is married, and he and his wife, Carol Wells, have 5 children. Paul ran for President once before, as the Libertarian candidate
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By Maria Surma Manka •
October 31, 2007
Renewable energy is big, big, big: Josh just wrote about the world’s largest wind farm possibly going up in South Dakota (yahoo!), California could see the world’s largest solar power plant, and now Singapore is in the foray with landing the largest solar manufacturing facility the world’s ever seen.
A Norwegian company called Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) will build the complex, which will be completed in different stages to incorporate wafer,
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By Max Lindberg •
October 30, 2007
I love David and Goliath stories, and the recent news from North Dakota is just that: two farmers and a publicly funded land grant university sticking it to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). As you know from an earlier article on Green Options , and my subsequent podcast Greening the Golden Years Podcast: Hemp, The North Dakota Story, two North Dakota farmers, State Rep. Dave Monson and Wayne
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By Maria Surma Manka •
October 29, 2007
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak may be the first mayor in the nation to drive a plug-in hybrid vehicle as his official city car.
Since he was first elected in 2002, Mayor Rybak’s official car has been a Toyota Prius. But the dramatically superior gas mileage of a plug-in hybrid vehicle prompted him to make the switch: he had his hybrid converted to a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, from which he expects to get
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By Max Lindberg •
October 25, 2007
She’s back, ready for another challenge and promising to stay active as an environmental protester. Betty Krawczyk is in the news again, this time planning to run for Mayor of Vancouver, BC, Canada in November of 2008. I talked with her after her release from the Alouette Correctional Center a few weeks after our first interview, and she spoke of many things: the new political party she’s joined as a
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By Mike Garofalo •
October 24, 2007
Chris Dodd is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. He is a Democrat and was elected to the US House of Representatives as part of the "Watergate Freshman Class of 1974." He served in the House until 1980, when he was elected to the Senate. Dodd is married and he and his second wife, Jackie, have two young daughters. Dodd’s father, Thomas, was a 2-term US Senator from Connecticut as well.
Dodd
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