Renewable energy might be clean, but it's not always reliable if the Sun ducks behind clouds or the wind slacks off. To counter that variability, the grid will need to combine a range of different sources, such as solar, wind, … Continue reading →
Members of a local energy-efficiency initiative collectively reduced their carbon impact by more than 10,200 metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2016, according to an annual report from San Antonio 2030 District, which is leading the effort. The initiative, led … Continue reading →
Last week, I walked into the San Antonio City Council Chambers to present the Council members with nearly 700 petition signatures urging them to press forward with their pledged commitment to develop a Climate Action Plan for the city. While … Continue reading →
Climate change debates aside, the raw numbers show San Antonio is becoming much hotter, much more often. What does this mean to our city, and to a state where nearly 40 percent of the labor force is working outside? Most … Continue reading →
The country’s energy mix is under scrutiny. A report commissioned by Energy Secretary Rick Perry acknowledges that low natural gas prices—not renewables—are behind the recent closure of coal energy plants, and that the grid has managed to withstand the increasing … Continue reading →
It's time to discredit the false choice between environmental protection and economic growth, that climate change is simply an ideological choice and giving government more authority to address it would stimulate a “regulatory onslaught,” damaging the U.S. economy and subvert … Continue reading →
When Gov. Abbott issued his call for a special legislative session this summer, he only included one environmental issue: eliminating local tree protection ordinances in over 110 Texas cities. This gave Texas environmentalists a unique opportunity to organize an all-hands-on-deck … Continue reading →
The program offers just one example of the continuing efforts at the local level to rethink a largely carbon-based power system. The initiatives are driven by financial advantages as well as environmental ones. Green Mountain’s chief executive, Mary Powell, sees … Continue reading →
A $500,000 grant from CPS Energy will allow researchers at University of Texas in San Antonio to dive into San Antonio’s climate inventory and, for the first time, develop the framework for a local climate action plan to improve air quality and reduce … Continue reading →
With four major cement manufacturers in the area, is San Antonio ripe for using and developing carbon capture biomimicry tech to ward-off more than $1 billion in EPA non-attainment air quality and health costs? At least until these cement-making bacteria can … Continue reading →
Even without conflicts of interest, is this Appointee really what we need in an already prone group of group thinkers? Two senators are challenging a Trump EPA appointee, saying her lobbying record appears to prevent her, under Trump’s own ethics … Continue reading →
San Antonio is the state's leader in solar energy capacity, according to a recent report assessing local "smart" policies across America. Within the last decade, growth in the solar energy industry has brought numerous businesses and new initiatives to San … Continue reading →
Editor’s Note: I stumbled across this piece by Graham some time in 2013, not long after it was published, and it set off more than one lightbulb moment for me. Up to that time I’d considered permaculture an intriguing subculture. … Continue reading →
Starting yesterday, the 2017 eLab Accelerator teams has convened at the Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah to accelerate their initiatives with the support of nationally renowned expert faculty and eLab’s specially trained facilitators. At Accelerator and beyond, projects from across … Continue reading →
Could fresh, healthy, affordable food be the future of urban neighborhood development? In Detroit, Michigan, “the first sustainable urban agrihood” in the U.S. centers around an edible garden, with easily accessible, affordable produce offered to neighborhood residents and the community. … Continue reading →
WASHINGTON — Over the past decade, the U.S. government has spent tens of billions of dollars to speed onto the market the energy technology that many believe is the future — from solar panels to industrial-size batteries to modernized nuclear … Continue reading →
What is the Social Responsibility of Business?Ever since Milton Friedman famously proclaimed “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits” (NYTimes 1970), pundits have pondered whether his purist interpretation was really the only way.Profit is certainly a lot … Continue reading →
More than a year ago, RMI announced it would focus on community-scale solar. Now, as we enable power purchase agreements (PPAs) at prices 40 percent below median bids, we are seeing increasing interest in community-scale solar, and we are expanding … Continue reading →
President Trump signed another executive order on Friday aimed at eliminating regulations. The Washington Post has reported that the Trump administration may announce a number of executive orders in the coming days. The rumored targets—the Clean Power Plan, the Clean Water Rule and the federal coal … Continue reading →
The San Antonio River Foundation (SARF) received a generous $1 million gift from H-E-B to help construct Confluence Park. The donation will be received over the course of five years. "This generous gift from H-E-B caps a momentous year and … Continue reading →
