Concentration of CO2 in the Atmosphere

Michigan Senate votes to override local decisions on wind, solar energy

From Bridge Michigan:

Wind turbine farms have caused local controversies throughout Michigan. After a Senate vote Wednesday, permitting power for the projects will likely soon shift from local communities to the state’s Public Service Commission. (Bridge file photo)

The Senate Wednesday approved bills to shift permitting authority over wind, solar developments to the […]

Why did Ida cause so much less damage than Katrina? Because government did its job

Carl Pope

“A version of this article appeared in Salon“

The most significant images from Hurricane Ida’s devastating landfall on the Gulf Coast are the ones we are not seeing: no refugees huddled in the Superdome, no shots of block after block of New Orleans under water, no miles of overtopped and crumbling […]

Ecological Economic Growth – An Imperative Policy Path

Antarctic sunset. NOAA photo.

By Roy Morrison

The fact that it was warmer in parts of the U.S. and Europe in February 2018 than at the North Pole should get more than our passing attention. It is time to pursue a global agenda for dramatic and healing change an emergency basis. It is […]

Power When the Grid Goes Down

Power lines downed by storms are an all-too-familiar sight lately. Wikimedia Commons

By Nancy Rae Mallery

If you have, or plan to have, a solar photovoltaic system, it is important that you address the question of what will happen when the grid fails. Without planning specifically for grid failure, most net-metered […]

A Few Notes on Greenfield, MA

Clair Chang and John Ward of the Solar Store of Greenfield. Photo courtesy of Clair Chang.

By Green Energy Times Staff

Over the years, Greenfield has been a leading community in energy, efficiency, and sustainability. Five from recent history might be taken as representative.

The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA), which had originally […]

Sustainability Programs at Greenfield Community College

Court Square, Greenfield, MA

By George Harvey

Greenfield Community College (GCC) has a set of sustainability programs. A Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency option prepares students to work in energy and efficiency industries, and leads to an Associate of Arts degree (AA) or to a certificate. An Environmental Science/Natural Resources option can start a student […]

Net Zero Award for Home in Greenfield, MA

This home in Greenfield won the NESEA 2015 Zero Net Energy Building Award. Photo courtesy of NESEA.

By George Harvey

The home of Hannah Smeltz and Spartan Giordano of Greenfield won the North East Sustainable Energy Association’s (NESEA) 2015 Zero Net Energy Building Award. One thing interesting about the project is that it […]

Co-op Power

By George Harvey

Co-op Power is a grassroots member-owned co-operative focused on sustainable energy. By combining purchasing power of its members, it provides efficiencies of scale to make renewable power and products available inexpensively. It has a commitment to having a responsible presence in the community, based on economic and racial equality and a concern […]

Northeast Biodiesel Will Soon be Operational

Northeast Biodiesel in Greenfield, MA. Photo courtesy of Co-op Power.

By George Harvey

At long last, Co-op Power has raised the money needed to open the Northeast Biodiesel plant in Greenfield, Massachusetts.

They started working on the idea over ten years ago, and have worked hard through many changes of fortune to bring […]

Greenfield is Green

Community Aggregation

Court Square, Greenfield, MA

By George Harvey

Massachusetts started a ball rolling when it passed the nation’s first Community Choice Aggregation Bill in 1997. This gave market groups and communities the ability to combine purchasing to get better rates for their residents. Under the system, a community can get all its […]