BP On Trial: “Gross Negligence” in Oil Spill

Yesterday in New Orleans, a trial began to assess whether BP was grossly negligent during the 2010 BP oil spill.  Suffice to say, BP was not only grossly negligent, but the spill itself was grossly gross.  The federal government estimates that 4.1 million barrels of oil were spilled into the gulf of Mexico, making it […]

Solar Power can be Cheaper than Coal?

Let’s face it, why are our governments (and the voters they answer to) continuing to push for dirty energy at a time when it is known that a 2ºC increase in global temperatures would drastically change the world as we know it?   Money.  Coal and fossil fuels have been the cheap energy source we’ve been […]

Pressure Mounts Against the Keystone XL

Activists across North America are mobilizing and taking action against the Keystone XL Pipeline.  Last month, the pipeline had to go around an 85-day tree sit protest in Texas.  Last week, Keystone blockaders took to the trees once again 150 miles south, in Diboli, Texas.  Of course, Quoting Gandalf (“You shall not pass!”) was a […]

The Absurdity of the Tar Sands and the Keystone XL –Join the Action in DC!

TransCanada Corporation’s proposal to construct the Keystone XL pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska has been a topic of serious political contention for the past few years.  The proposal provoked public responses and a series of protests from a wide range of actors from Canada, America and around the globe. The pipeline was […]

Bicycle Culture in Copenhagen: An Example To All Cities

In the pursuit of sustainable cities, we have much to learn from the Danes.  The post-World War II development boom in North America was based around cheap oil and the automobile, so our cities today remain designed around an automobile economy.  Sustainable urban planning, however, needs to make alternative, low-impact transportation both easy and desirable.  […]

Innovative Solar Systems in Rural Bangladesh

Clean energy access for everyone is not as unreachable or unreasonable as the oil companies would have us believe.  A perfect and extremely inspirational example comes from one of the poorest regions in the world: rural Bangladesh.  In rural communities, one thousand solar home systems are being installed per day with the help of the […]

Energy Lessons from Germany

Comparing U.S. energy policies with Germany is bewildering.  While Germany is making every move possible towards carbon neutrality, the U.S. continues to invest all of its resources into the fossil fuel industry.  In the U.S., legal technicalities and tax laws discourage individuals from investing in clean energy, and 98% of U.S. renewable energy capacity is […]