Silicon Ranch’s holistic approach to solar development
January 9, 2023Update from the What’s Working Department: As reported by Canary Media’s Julian Spector, Tennessee-based solar energy pioneer Silicon Ranch raised another $600 million in equity investment to further its holistic brand of solar development. The company, which was launched in 2011, remains independent despite the industry trend toward consolidation. Silicon Ranch takes a capital-intensive approach to development, purchasing,…
How To Electrify Everything
April 19, 2022As humanity blindly bolsters its addiction to burning fossil fuels in the face of climate disaster, it can be easy to look away and give up hope. What, after all, can one person do? Our need for energy is fundamental and deeply intertwined in every aspect of our lives. As a civilization, how can we…
Volts newsletter: “There is no ‘moderate’ position on climate change”
June 30, 2021From David Roberts’ Volts newsletter: “Perhaps the most politically difficult aspect of climate change is that, after decades of denial and delay, there is no longer any coherent “moderate” position to be had. To allow temperatures to rise past 1.5° or 2°C this century is to accept unthinkable disruption to agriculture, trade, immigration, public health, and basic…
Climate Change Resources and Reporting
May 13, 2021A brief list of reliable resources to be updated regularly: The New Yorker: Bill McKibben’s “Annals of a Warming Planet” weekly column; a broad view exploring the latest news and the societal impacts of the climate crisis. Heated: “…a daily newsletter dedicated to original accountability reporting and analysis on the climate crisis…” from investigative journalist…
The Politics of Climate Change
February 17, 2021As extreme weather events become increasingly common, it is clear that climate change is primarily a political problem. We know what to do, stop burning fossil fuels, and when we need to do it, right now. We have the technology to transition the energy sector and the markets favor renewable energy. Lack of political will…
The Great Australian Inferno
January 24, 2020This is a compelling interview with Kevin Rudd, former Australian PM. He discusses the fires in Australia, the science that predicted these events over a decade ago and the political and media forces that are standing in the way action. The Great Australian Inferno – Outrage and Optimism You can listen to Outrage and Optimism…
The Recycling Illusion
December 18, 2019For decades the plastics industry has promoted the myth of recycling. We have been lulled into believing that the plastics we toss into the blue bins are magically recycled into new materials. In fact, only plastics with industry numbers 1 and 2 have any chance of being recycled and most of those products end up…
Coming together to fight climate change
August 17, 2016A recent AP piece argues that climate change is the most polarizing current social issue because it stimulates our intuitive tendencies toward collective action or individualism. The logic makes sense but that isn’t what happened in WWII. The country came together and galvanized its resources to fight a global threat. In The New Republic Bill McKibben…