Global Climate | ModeShift

Cape Wind Awaits Federal Approval

by Keith SchneiderApril 14, 2010September 9, 20100

As the 40th anniversary of Earth Day draws closer, wind energy developers in Massachusetts are awaiting word from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar about a permit to proceed. Cape Wind, which wants to build the nation’s first offshore wind farm near Nantucket, earlier this month reached agreement with Siemens to purchase 130 turbines, a move praised by Massachusetts Democratic Governor Deval Patrick and Ian Bowles, the Massachusetts secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It’s difficult to …

Across the Big Pond Bonn Climate Negotiators

by Keith SchneiderApril 11, 2010May 4, 20100

Today diplomats and climate action specialists met in Bonn for the first international climate meeting since the Copenhagen summit in December. April in fact marks the start of an intensifying schedule of global negotiating sessions on climate action, and on the international economy. NGO climate leaders from USCAN and our member organizations are in Bonn. Among the many things they are doing is to help make the case to delegates that at the very moment …

Blocking Wood Biomass, Blocking Coal in Michigan — Does it Make Sense?

by Keith SchneiderApril 9, 2010June 29, 20111

Eartha Jane Melzer, one of the reporters in Michigan whose work merits close attention, posted a piece a week ago on Michigan Messenger that described the legal work the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council are doing to block a big new coal-fired power plant in Bay City. Here is one of the important events associated with the transition to the clean energy economy. On one hand environmental organizations are pursuing legal suits …

“Precedent Setting Achievement”

by Keith SchneiderApril 8, 2010September 9, 20100

The director of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor, and Economic Growth last week lauded Traverse City Light & Power for pursuing a renewable energy strategy that fits northwest Michiganâ€™s reputation as a green region, and â€œcomplements all the assets and progressive trends this region represents”. Stanley â€œSkipâ€ Pruss, who is one of Governor Jennifer Granholmâ€™s closest advisors and a nationally known clean energy leader, also supported the utilityâ€™s proposal to generate a portion of …

Opposition to Biomass Impedes Clean Energy Development

by Keith SchneiderApril 4, 2010September 9, 20102

Mode Shift has reported the clean energy transition is being impeded by civic opposition to wind projects, solar projects, new transmission lines, and geothermal projects.Â This post is the latest in the series and focuses on wood biomass. The Portland Oregonian, in an article in March, counted 18 states where wood biomass energy proposals are encountering stiff civic resistance. One of those states is Michigan, where a plan by Traverse City Light & Power to …

Spreading Ticks and Other Climate-Related Actions

by Keith SchneiderApril 1, 2010April 1, 20102

Just in time for April Foolâ€™s Day, the National Wildlife Federation today released its analysis of shifting habitats of ticks and other migrating critters with a tongue in cheek title, â€œThey Came from Climate Change.â€ â€œThe horrifying hordes of Climate Invaders are upon usâ€“creeping up from lower elevations, attacking from foreign countries, and settling into areas where once they were unable to survive,â€ notes the marketing copy. The current vibe is irony and humor. The …

Koch Industries Finances Climate Denier Factions

by Keith SchneiderMarch 31, 2010March 31, 20100

The work to achieve a climate and energy bill in the United States is moving with considerably slower momentum this spring than it did at the same time last year. A number of factors contribute, not the least of which is the time and focus that the White House and Democrats in Congress devoted to enacting a national health care bill, which passed earlier this month.Â Another factor is the flagging U.S. economy and the …

New Transmission Lines Invite Public Uproar in 7 States

by Keith SchneiderMarch 29, 2010September 9, 20100

On March 2 more than 60 residents of Canyon City, Idaho appeared at a public hearing to consider a new 500-kilovolt transmission line that might run through their county. Most weren’t happy about it. “They brought us in late and they haven’t fulfilled their public involvement responsibilities,” said Ken Holliday, a rancher. The public concern that residents displayed about Idaho Power’s 250-foot corridor, and the 150-foot tall towers that would command its route, is a …

Resistance to Solar Energy in California, Southwest

by Keith SchneiderMarch 28, 2010September 9, 20101

The Solar Energy Industries Association last week made public a national poll that found strong citizen support for adding the energy of the sun to the nation’s portfolio. The timing of the results was meant to coincide with the Federal government’s review of big solar thermal projects proposed on public lands in the West. The poll, though, masks another emerging clean energy trend in the desert. A good number of citizen activist groups are pushing …

In Washington, Climate and Energy Moves A Bit

by Keith SchneiderMarch 25, 2010March 25, 20100

Now that passage of health care legislation proved that Congress is still capable of acting on big ideas, Washington this week was aflutter with action on the climate and energy bill. White House Legislative Affairs Director Phil Schiliro, and the president’s energy and climate adviser, Carol Browner, met mid-week with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Topic: developing a strategy to corral the 60 votes needed to pass the measure in the Senate. The same day …