Green Leaf Report

Recently the Texas Public Utilities Commission gave initial approval to adding nearly $5B in transmission lines to the state, expected to help bring West Texas wind to the major Texas cities.  I asked my friend Vanessa, who has worked in the wind industry for years, if she thought the approved package is a good […]

It’s become quite a popular movement to reduce your personal carbon footprint and minimize your impact on the earth.  But that isn’t the lack of impact I refer in my title- I’m concerned about our government’s apparent desire to do nothing of any importance to help the environment.  Please read Bucking Court, EPA won’t […]

Fast Company and BusinessWeek are currently running opposing articles on T. Boone Pickens and his wind/water plans for North Texas. The Fast Company article addresses his plans for a $10B wind farm in the panhandle and mentions the water project as almost an afterthought, while the BusinessWeek article talks about the $100M Pickens’ has […]

  Dr. James Hansen originally spoke in front of a Congressional committee on global warming in 1988.  He’s updated his warning with an eye-opening report on the current risks facing our planet.  The part that keeps running through my mind is where he suggests the heads of fossil fuel companies should be tried for their […]

We’re surrounded by big and small wind companies at the WindPower 2008 show, but many of the exhibitors at the show are also from the non-profit, educational and government realms.  This huge cross-section of the industry really inspires hope that a lot of very intelligent people together will help break some of the dependencies […]

Today, on the first full day of the WindPower 2008 conference, we attended press conferences and worked the exhibition floor some more.  The expiring federal production tax credit (PTC) is getting a lot of attention and a lot of press.  If this tax credit does not get extended this year, the wind energy industry […]

A coworker recently emailed me with a burning request - I’ve never heard an environmental word from her in all the years we’ve known each other, but it seems that she’s just snapped.  It was a very long email that she sent, but the gist of it was she and her husband are inundated […]

*The title is meant to be sung to the Barney tune of “If Raindrops were Gumdrops.”
Every night my son and I share a bowl of ice cream, and I’ve noticed a parallel between my household’s ice cream interaction and the global economic demand and supply of oil. In this story:

I will represent the American economy. […]

The debate continues on whether the US is on the edge of a recession, if we’re already in one, or if everything is fine and business continues as usual.  I was interested to read Alan Greenspan’s views coming out of the Cambridge Energy Research Associate’s energy conference  in Houston.  The hook of his comments appears related to the […]

My entire week has been brightened by this announcement from Morgan Stanley, Citi and JPMorgan- Leading Wall Street Banks Establish The Carbon Principles:
“Three of the world’s leading financial institutions today announced the formation of The Carbon Principles, climate change guidelines for advisors and lenders to power companies in the United States. These Principles are the […]

The average useful life span of a plastic grocery bag is estimated at about 20 minutes.  Even with recycling, more energy and chemical are required to process the bags for reuse, and there will always be waste of some sort from the reprocessing. China has recognized this problem and acted, leaving the US in the polluted dust:
Starting […]

The Energy Bill of 2007 did not pass the Senate with the much discussed renewable energy plans in place.  The Senate voted as follows on December 13th:
Republican Senators Voting ‘Nay’ on Cloture Vote for Energy Bill Tax Title
Stevens (AK), Sessions, Shelby (AL), Kyl (AZ), Allard (CO), Martinez (FL)
Chambliss, Isakson (GA), Craig, Crapo (ID), Brownback, Roberts (KS)
Bunning, […]

I’m very excited that the energy bill just passed in the House with renewable energy incentives in place; some of these details are listed below. It’s a good start, but we need to get this past the Senate..  Solar Nation has a coordinated letter-writing campaign: http://capwiz.com/re-action/go/GENenergyvote.  Add your voice today!
“Among its provisions, the energy […]

Atlanta I feel your pain, though North Texas didn’t get the 100 day warning last year after our two year drought.  But seriously– praying for rain?  I’m all for the power of prayer; let’s all pray that people can change their practices, respect the planet and all of creation.  But praying for a stop-gap solution […]

An old classmate of mine sent me an email the other day, following his return from a business trip this past week to Beijing; I should note that this man is an engineering manager, and does not agree with man-made climate change or any of that tree-hugging stuff (the email was a bit of a surprise):
“Coming […]

Good job, Governor Kulongoski! Recently this governor signed climate-change legislation for the state of Oregon.  Aggressive goals were put in place for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as initiatives for increasing awareness of the impacts of climate change.  Signing legislation alone won’t make the changes happen, but it’s a start.  I […]

Yesterday I read a great article about Intechra; a US firm which recycles, resells and generally takes care of portions of the huge amount of computer waste generated by our society.  I really appreciated the part about their employee visiting all end sites where the equipment is disposed to ensure the entire process is […]

For the last few weeks leading up to the 2007 G8 summit, I’ve read a lot of articles about different posturing by the US and occasional other G8 nations that don’t want to agree to emissions controls.  Bush rolled out an optional plan for developed and developing nations to perhaps follow, if they sort of […]

  Dale Julin writes an interesting article about growing pains in the solar industry: “The Utility Fox is Guarding the Solar Henhouse.” The California Solar Initiative’s earmarking of around $2B for solar energy production is a program that should be repeated across every state, in whatever form of renewable energy is most appropriate for the […]

Another Atlantic hurricane season starts today, but the fearful headlines started weeks ago.  Will this year bring another Hurricane Katrina…? I won’t belittle the effects of Katrina.  It was a nasty storm that brought a lot of damage into my home town, we lost family members also.  But I don’t believe the storm alone caused […]