In a big win for renewable energy, the cost of solar and wind power has plummeted in recent years, making it the same price as traditional fossil fuels in about 30 countries, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum (WEF). The cost of solar energy has dropped 80% since 2009, and wind energy has dropped by 30% in the last three years. This shift means more countries have reached “grid parity” — where the cost of fossil fuels and renewable energy are the same.
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Last, week, under the cover of a media bliss-out except among Koch Brothers funded right-wing channels, the House of Representatives passed a bill which would effectively repeal future standard setting under every important environmental, public health, consumer protection, labor standards, occupational safety and civil rights law on the books. The bill, called the REINS Act, requires that any future major regulation adopted by an Executive Agency—say a new toxic chemical standard required by the recently enacted Chemical Safety Act, or a new consumer protection rule about some innovative but untested kind of food additive—must be approved by a specific resolution in each House of Congress within 70 days to take effect.
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China has announced that it will invest $361 billion in renewable energy through the end of the decade — another signal that the world’s most populous nation is serious about combating climate change. The investment, Reuters reports, will continue China’s shift away from coal and other dirty fuels. In addition to fighting climate change, investing in clean energy should help China address its air-pollution problems. Major cities like Beijing are often blanketed in smog, due largely to coal burning and other industrial activity.
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The American electorate has picked one of the most powerful climate change deniers on the planet as the steward of U.S. environmental strategy for at least the next four years. The good news is that sustainable business leaders have more clarity about what to expect from the next administration. It’s now time to prioritize what comes next. Here are three considerations that should be central to Trump-era sustainability strategies — and not just those that relate to energy.
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Love is the most powerful force in the Universe. With it, anything is possible. The stories of the healing power of love are all over the Internet. They’re the kind of feel-good stories that make you pause during the day and realize that there is so much more to life than our day-to-day routines and responsibilities, and that there is a greater power in our lives. Sometimes they even make you cry.
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Communications strategist and linguist George Lakoff has often warned that the Left communicates through policies and the presentation of factual data while the Right deals in moral themes and a focus on values. Lakoff has suggested that campaigns must appeal to a moral vision, and one that understands the needs and longings that are common to all of us. As for policies, he would focus on themes and legislation that can simultaneously address many of these common needs and longings. He calls such campaigns “strategic initiatives” and, a decade ago, pointed to one — the Apollo Project, a major investment in alternative energy that would simultaneously have created jobs and challenged climate change. A new suggested initiative for progressives is a “Make America Beautiful Again” campaign which is first a jobs program.
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With or without Donald Trump‘s help, the North Carolina municipality of Boone is calling on the whole state – and the United States at large – to encourage green jobs and transition to 100 percent clean energy across all energy sectors. The resolution was approved by a 5-0 vote by Boone Town Council on Thursday. This makes Boone the first town in the country to officially demand that the U.S. completely ditch fossil fuels to “avoid climate catastrophe.” The country’s total transition to clean energy is not as far-fetched as it seems. Boone’s resolution was inspired in part by the research of renewable energy expert Dr. Mark Z. Jacobson, a Stanford University professor and cofounder of The Solutions Project, a state-by-state roadmap to convert the country to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050.
Continue reading... →With great jubilee, as a gift to you I have put together highlights from my video interviews of Women Game Changers from my summit this year for you to savor through the holidays. These women have met it all. They’ve been bruised, banned and barred. And all the while, they’re committed, conscious and charismatic human beings that have put their lives and their labors on the line to make this world a better, more sustainable, more loving place.
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It’s getting easier to bike to work in Chicago. The city added 100 miles of new bike lanes over the last five years, and, by 2019, plans to add another 50 miles of “better” bike lanes, including lanes with curbs to protect riders from cars. Now the city is beginning to consider going further, with a series of floating, solar-powered bike paths along the edge of the Chicago River. Architecture firm, SecondShore, hopes to run a pilot project, perhaps by the summer of 2017, in Chicago’s 33rd Ward, giving riders a chance to experience a half mile of a basic iteration of the path, and giving the designers feedback on the system.
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If you didn’t know, the majority of the apparel we wear is made by women in developing countries, in unpleasant and cruel environments. This is a reality. The good news is we can do something about it! With this perilous situation, there are vast amounts of potential for the fashion industry to empower and uplift women. But, it’s going to take a lot of work. What you can do about it? Educate yourself, shop ethically and empower designers.
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