The most common narrative spun by opponents of regulating of carbon dioxide is that doing anything to intentionally raise energy prices is tantamount to crushing the American economy. Some of the loudest supporters of that narrative are titans of industry who argue that putting a price on carbon would effectively drive America back to the age of the horse and (more…)

Likely a result of mass protesting, the German government recently announced that their scheduled cuts in solar subsidies would be delayed and perhaps revised. Cuts for residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have been delayed until May. At that time, incentives will undergo gradual reductions each month. Cuts for solar utilities have been delayed until June. (more…)

Is there movement already under way in the world of industry which will outstrip the painfully slow progress of the political world in facing up to the challenge of climate change? Amory Lovins certainly thinks so and his recent book, Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era, explains why. Lovins is the co-founder, chairman and chief scientist (more…)

Renewable energy advocates always say that official incentive is key to promote the adoption of clean energy. Ukraine, in Eastern Europe, is the latest case in point.

According to a Bloomberg report, the country’s solar power capacity will double this year, thanks to the completion of Europe’s largest PV solar plant and (more…)

The United States is still the wealthiest nation in the world — we’re far from broke. What’s broken, though, is the way we allocate our considerable national resources. Fixing that would put our economy back on track faster than any “supercommittee” rep could posture and bloviate on Fox News. (more…)

2011 was a year of much political chest thumping but not much progress on the significant issues. Subsidies for wind energy are among the many unanswered questions and are likely victims of the challenging budget decisions. The industry has grown used to generous subsidies for wind generated electricity. The current subsides are going to expire at the end (more…)

Here’s another must-see video from Annie Leonard at The Story of Stuff, this one called “The Story of Broke.”

I hope everyone will invest five minutes and check this out. Note how much of what she’s saying sounds like what we have been saying, e.g., factoids like this: (more…)

The fact is, governments have long provided massive subsidies for the fossil fuel and nuclear industries–and despite the fact that these industries are amongst the most profitable in the world, and continue to raise prices while inflicting tremendous damage to the environment, these subsidies continue unabated. (more…)

India is the second most populous country in the world, with a whooping 1.21 billion people living in it. China is number one with 1.35 billion. For that reason, India is one of the biggest energy guzzlers in the world.

Recently, top Indian official, India’s Rural Development Minister D. M Vara Prasada, urged his (more…)

In most countries solar power is often perceived as synonymous with solar photovoltaic (PV), the classic rooftop panels that convert sunlight to electricity through solar cells. But that could be a misconception, says Environmental Protection, since solar thermal, which gets less attention than PV, actually is more efficient. (more…)