Climate Energy

Memo to the White House: Closing coal plants is a good thing

Rather than running away from the closure of a coal plant, the White House should be throwing a big party every time a coal plant closes.

Your tax dollars subsidize the sh*t out of coal

If you're a fan of a certain dried-leaves-boiled-in-water-related political party, you might believe that renewable energy is the recipient of huge amounts of government largesse, and that the first thing we should do once we get our guy or gal into office is slash all that wasteful spending.

But wait! It turns out coal gets way, way more subsidies for electricity generation.

When will we see solar panels on the White House?

Bill Mckibben reminds President Barack Obama that he promised to put solar panels on the White House by the end of spring. He only has a week left.

American Electric Power threatens firings to stop pollution controls

The Kammer Power Plant, which spewed 364 pounds of mercury in 2009, is one of the AEP’s plants slated to be closed. Photo: OZinOHCross-posted from the Center for American Progress. This post was coauthored by Valeri Vasquez, special assistant for energy policy at the Center for American Progress. On June 9, American Electric Power (AEP), […]

Rage of a dying dinosaur: Why is AEP really shutting down five coal plants?

American Electric Power's shutting down five of its coal plants because they aren't profitable. But rather than admit that, it's putting out press releases blaming the "job-killing EPA."

Don’t you dare blow up this mountain: Defending a historic spot against Big Coal [VIDEO]

Hundreds of activists from around the country joined local unionized coal miners in standing up to the coal industry last week, marching for five days and 50 miles through West Virginia. Their protest culminated on Saturday at Blair Mountain, the site of a violent clash in 1921 between 15,000 striking coal miners and a hired […]

Oregon town gets a lot of solar for a little money

The upfront cost has always been the biggest barrier to solar photovoltaic adoption, and one Oregon town has found an innovative way to help its citizens buy down that cost.

Obama administration to put $250 million toward smart grid

As exciting as alternative energy is, all the wind turbines in the world are not going to replace dirty energy unless the power they generate can get to consumers. That requires a better, smarter power grid than the U.S. has now. The Obama administration has been reasonably supportive of that goal, packing $4.5 billion for […]

Labor and enviros join up in W.Va. to fight mountaintop coal mining

For the first time in years, mining unions are finding common cause with advocates who are seeking to end mountaintop-removal coal mining.

Turning toward the sun for energy

One key component of the Plan B climate stabilization strategy is solar energy. Solar is even more ubiquitous than wind energy and can be harnessed with both solar photovoltaics (PV) and solar thermal collectors. Solar PV — both silicon-based and thin film — converts sunlight directly into electricity. The growth in solar cell production climbed […]