Tag: business

  • Google Invests $80 Million in 6 New Solar Projects

    November marks another month and another substantial renewable energy investment for Google. The Web company has plans to invest $80 million in six solar facilities under construction in California and Arizona. The announcement comes a little more than a month after Google invested $103 million in Silver Ridge Power’s 265.7-megawatt (MW) Mount Signal Solar project. To date,…

  • California’s Cap-and-Trade Program Upheld in Court

    [caption id="attachment_312347" align="alignright" width="360"] Photo courtesy of Shutterstock[/caption] The Sacramento Superior Court upheld California’s cap-and-trade program just five days before the fifth scheduled carbon auction. The California Chamber of Commerce and Pacific Legal Foundation filed lawsuits claiming the one-year-old program, which auctions off the right to emit greenhouse gases, was unconstitutional. The court sided with the state, which…

  • Light Rail Benefits Economy and Environment—Why Oppose It?

    By Rob Perks [caption id="attachment_312310" align="alignright" width="360"] Photo courtesy of Shutterstock[/caption] I recently returned from a transportation conference in Raleigh, North Carolina on the economic benefits of building a light rail system to connect the Triangle region (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill). The event—dubbed the “Transit Makes $ense” summit—was organized by the area’s leading “good growth” advocacy group WakeUP Wake…

  • Powering the Planet: How Do We Balance Energy, Water and Climate?

    By David L. Chandler [caption id="attachment_312271" align="alignright" width="360"] Photo courtesy of Shutterstock[/caption] In deciding how best to meet the world’s growing needs for energy, the answers depend crucially on how the question is framed. Looking for the most cost-effective path provides one set of answers; including the need to curtail greenhouse-gas emissions gives a different…

  • Walmart Under Fire for Failing to Meet Climate and Energy Promises

    A Washington DC organization simply can’t forget what the country’s largest employer said in 2005. That’s when Walmart Stores Inc. pledged to be a leader in environmental sustainability amid the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Eight years later, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) issued a report stating that Walmart didn’t live up to that promise…