Category Archives: sustainable energy

The BREATHE Act would defund police — and fund environmental justice

As the U.S. enters another month of sustained protests against anti-Black racism and police brutality, organizers are working to turn the protests’ energy into legislative action. This week the Movement for Black Lives, a nationwide coalition of Black organizations formed in December 2014, released a summary of a new legislative proposal that aims to defund police police forces around the country and give funding and support to Black communities looking to create their own models of public safety. They’re calling it the BREATHE Act.

“We crafted this bill to be big,” said Gina Clayton Johnson, the executive director of Essie Justice Group and one of the act’s creators, during a virtual announcement event reported by New York Magazine’s The Cut. “We know the solution has to be as big as the 400-year-old problem itself.”

The proposal is divided into four sections that each address different approaches to sustainable public safety: The first two sections call for the divestment of federal resources from policing and incarceration, as well as federal grant programs for alternative community-led approaches to non-punitive public safety.

The proposal’s third section, however, demonstrates that environmental justice is central to the proposal’s vision. It calls for the creation of a grant that will fund solutions for environmental justice issues that affect Black communities around the country. The grant would fund “clear, time-bound plans” for states to ensure universal access to clean water and air that satisfies Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. The section also calls for for the creation of clear state plans to meet 100 percent of their electricity demand with “clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources.” Funding for community-owned sustainable energy projects would be subsidized by the grant. Disaster preparedness would also be prioritized.

Environmental justice often intersects with other public health issues for Black and brown communities. In recent months, for example, it’s become clear that Black and Latino communities in the U.S. suffer higher mortality and hospitalization rates from the novel coronavirus. This May, Democrats in Congress introduced the Environmental Justice COVID-19 Act to look at the connection between air pollution and disproportionate COVID-19 outcomes for these communities.

The BREATHE Act has not yet been translated into actionable congressional legislation, but Democratic Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley both expressed their support for the proposal during a virtual meeting this week.

“The BREATHE Act is bold…. It pushes us to reimagine power structures and what community investment really looks like,” Tlaib said during a recent call with activists. “We can start to envision through this bill a new vision for public safety. One that protects and affirms Black lives.”

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The BREATHE Act would defund police — and fund environmental justice

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Meet the conservative answer to the Green New Deal

The American Conservation Coalition (ACC) might be the only environmental group on the planet that thinks the United States shouldn’t rejoin the Paris climate agreement. Started by a bunch of college Republicans in 2017, the nonprofit’s mission is to “empower conservatives to re-engage on environmental conversations.” “Environmental conservative” might sound like an oxymoron, but it’s not such an unusual phenomenon these days. Republicans, especially young Republicans, are starting to come around to the idea that the planet is warming and humans have something to do with it.

Those Republicans began bucking the party line right around the time that the Green New Deal — the progressive proposal to transition the United States economy from fossil fuels to renewable energy, and enact a host of social justice policies along the way — became the reigning environmental philosophy on the left.

On Tuesday, the ACC released its answer to the Green New Deal with a plan called the American Climate Contract. The contract champions policies with bipartisan support, existing climate and environmental legislation in Congress, and free-market principles. It doesn’t include many of the trappings of the climate change platforms floated by progressive thinkers and groups. You won’t find a carbon tax, the aforementioned Paris Agreement, or language about “solving” the climate crisis in the contract.

“We don’t think that there is a silver bullet approach to climate change,” Quillan Robinson, the vice president of government affairs for ACC who recently became its first-ever lobbyist, told Grist. “So there’s not a laundry list of policy things that we can do that, if we check all those off, climate change will be solved.”

Instead, ACC aims to hit refresh on the climate narrative by getting back to what the group considers the first and most important step in the effort to address the crisis: reducing emissions. Robinson says he’s happy to talk about health care or accessibility to education — two issues woven into the Green New Deal — “but if we’re gonna talk about climate change, let’s focus on climate change,” he said.

In order to do that, ACC’s climate contract suggests passing some of the climate and environment legislation stalled in the House and Senate right now (in no small part due to GOP leadership, which, as anyone who hasn’t been living under a boulder knows, has been a massive impediment to climate action so far). The Carbon Capture Modernization Act, for example, would incentivize the use of carbon capture and storage technology for coal plants by extending existing tax credits to coal companies that opt to retrofit their plants. The Expanding Access to Sustainable Energy Act would require the Department of Energy to award grants to rural energy cooperatives for renewable energy projects. In all, the group cites 14 bills that Congress could act on in the short term.

In the long term, the group advocates for investing heavily in clean energy research and development — an approach that some congressional Republicans have already voiced support for. It calls for expanding the nation’s nuclear energy portfolio, investing in carbon capture technology for all kinds of power plants,, and planting more trees — all things Republicans in Congress have said they support.

But the contract goes beyond what congressional Republicans have already endorsed. It proposes expanding battery storage capabilities; getting the federal government to invest in modern, green transportation infrastructure; and exporting American-made electric vehicles to developing countries to help reduce global emissions. It even suggests restoring and protecting ocean habitats (to better store “blue carbon” — the carbon sequestered in marine plants), something Senator Elizabeth Warren called for in a primary climate plan called the Blue New Deal. The plan has some components that would make congressional Democrats squirm, too: It advocates for building out pipeline infrastructure, exporting more natural gas, and deregulating the energy market.

“The contract makes a lot of sense,” Alex Trembath, deputy director of the Breakthrough Institute, a research center that focuses on technological solutions to environmental problems, told Grist. Trembath praised the plan’s focus on technology and innovation. “It’s not the end-all-be-all of climate policy, but it creates another policy platform — another way of thinking about the problem — that might get Republicans who weren’t enthusiastic or supportive of climate and clean energy policy to the table in a way that hasn’t been possible before.”

Not all climate hawks are as enthusiastic. “This ‘contract’ has some good ideas, like expanding renewables and restoring wetlands,” Jamie Henn, co-founder of 350.org and an organizer of the Stop the Money Pipeline campaign, told Grist, “and some really terrible ones, like building more pipelines and wasting money on carbon capture and sequestration.” Carbon capture proponents have been criticized for promising too much too soon — the technology isn’t where it needs to be in order to put a serious dent in carbon emissions, researchers say. Henn thinks that the only way to bend the emissions curve is to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy by the end of this decade.

“The more we keep pushing forward, the more the right will keep running to catch up,” he added. “Now isn’t the time to compromise.”

For Robinson, though, compromise is the name of the game, especially in the aftermath of a pandemic. Stimulus legislation presents a significant opportunity “to figure out what the win-wins are in terms of getting Americans back to work, creating economic prosperity, but also addressing these important environmental issues and moving us forward in the fight against climate change,” he said.

“Let’s identify what we can agree on, work on the policies that fit with that, and then continue to move forward.”

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Meet the conservative answer to the Green New Deal

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Q&A: How Can I Monitor My Solar Power System?

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In the early days of solar-powered electricity, solar system owners installed panels but received little information on how the system was performing. The system’s solar inverter might have a read-out of real-time system production, but it was hard to get any details. If you were away from the system during the day, it was tough to know how it performed.

It is helpful to have answers to some basic questions about the performance of your solar power system. Are all of the solar panels producing the same amount of power? How much energy is the system producing over a month or year? Are any issues hindering power production? It used to be very difficult to know, and lack of information also made the warranties less valuable.

If your panels weren’t producing as much power as expected, how would you know?

Welcome to Solar System Monitoring

Now, many solar systems come with monitoring capabilities. This allows home and business owners to analyze solar panel output, with both real-time and historical data.

In many cases, information on each solar panel’s output is available, making it easy to pinpoint and troubleshoot problems. Monitoring helps determine if the equipment is running properly, allowing solar technicians to identify and troubleshoot issues.

There are a variety of solar monitoring systems, and most are associated with solar inverters. Common brands of solar inverters include Fronius, SolarEdge, SMA America, Enphase Energy, and Tigo Energy. Each of these companies typically offers proprietary monitoring software that integrates with their inverters.

Another option is a plug-in that adds monitoring capabilities to your existing solar system. Sense, for example, makes a solar monitoring tool that plugs into a Wi-Fi network to track solar power production and your energy use.

Doesn’t my power bill show how my solar system performed?

No, utility bills are not an accurate way to calculate total solar energy production.

Most electric utilities do compensate their customers for surplus solar energy. This means that there will be a credit line on your bill for solar energy that is fed to the power grid. This number quantifies surplus power from your solar system, not total energy production.

For example, if your refrigerator and air conditioner are running in your home, the solar electricity will power these devices first. Then, the surplus electricity goes to the grid. The utility bill only shows the surplus and won’t reveal how much electricity the appliances were using. This is why monitoring your solar system is crucial. It calculates total solar system production and not merely what is fed to the power grid.

How can I access solar monitoring data?

Data access varies a bit by the platform, but most have apps and online portals to access the data. This means that you can view real-time and historical data with just a few clicks.

Most solar systems that are installed today have monitoring capabilities. Some portals also allow you to sign up to receive alerts if the solar system isn’t performing correctly.

Solar monitoring is a great way to identify production issues early on, such as faulty wires or solar panel issues. Real-time data makes it easier to identify problems quickly before they cause a significant decrease in solar energy production.

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Q&A: How Can I Monitor My Solar Power System?

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Can Growth in Sustainable Energy Reduce Natural Resources Overspend?

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Globally, we are consuming resources faster than the Earth can replenish them. If we think of these resources — such as timber, water, and clean air — like an allowance, then we spent our allotment for 2019 on July 29. We are over-fishing, extracting, mining, polluting, depleting, and harvesting resources across the globe.

We reach Earth Overshoot Day, the day when annual consumption exceeds the Earth’s capacity to renew itself, earlier and earlier each year. This means that we are consuming more resources than ever before — and at an increasing rate. For example, Earth Overshoot Day occurred in September in 2000, while in 1980 society overshot in November.

“It’s a pyramid scheme,” said Mathis Wackernagel, CEO and founder of Global Footprint Network. “It depends on using more and more from the future to pay for the present.”

Another daunting thought is that many people throughout the world consume far fewer resources than people in developed countries. Thus, one person in the United States will consume as many resources as 35 people in India. We would need 5 Earths to sustain us if the whole world lived like Americans. For comparison, we would need 3 Earths if we all lived like Germans, or 2.2 Earths if we all lived like Chinese. If the whole world lived like Indians, we would need 0.7 Earths to sustain us — in other words, we wouldn’t consume resources faster than our planet can replenish them.

Per capita carbon emissions in the United States are nearly double that of other wealthy nations, and roughly twice as many Americans are obese as our European counterparts. In other words, Americans could live a very comfortable life but consume far fewer resources.

What can be done to reverse this trend? It will take a political and cultural shift. Thankfully, there are many actions that we can all take to move in the right direction.

Calculate Your Ecological Footprint

A great way to get started is to calculate your personal ecological footprint. This can help pinpoint areas for improvement. Some of the easiest ways to reduce your impact are to use renewable energy, to reduce overall energy consumption, eat fewer animal products, buy less new stuff, live in a smaller home, drive less, and waste less food.

Celebrate Clean Energy Production Gains

Although the concept of Earth Overshoot Day is quite daunting, there is also good news about conserving resources. U.S. power generation from renewables  (that is, biomass, wind, geothermal, solar, and hydropower) surpassed coal in April 2019, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Wind and hydropower comprise the lion’s share of renewable energy production, but solar energy production is increasing. Renewables now comprise 23 percent of U.S. power generation compared to 20 percent from coal. This trend is helpful for reducing carbon emissions and resource consumption.

Power production from coal has decreased from its peak a decade ago, and another 4.1 gigawatts of capacity is expected to be retired this year. Meanwhile, much of the growth in renewable energy is attributed to growth in wind and solar energy capacity. In 2018, 15 gigawatts of capacity came online. To put this big number in context, 1 gigawatt of power is equal to the energy production from 3.125 million photovoltaic (PV) panels or 412 utility-scale wind turbines. It is enough energy to power 110 million LED lights.

This happened for a variety of reasons. The price of renewable energy is decreasing, people and companies have been demanding cleaner power.

Determine Your Electricity Mix

There are many simple items we can do to cut our personal ecological footprints, which can make a big difference collectively.

A great place to start is by examining where your power comes from and finding greener sources of energy. The power mix varies largely by subregions of the country. Some areas use more wind and hydropower, while some areas still use a lot of coal — and this has a big impact on our ecological footprint. The Environmental Protection Agency provides this information by subregions.

If your area uses more fossil fuels for power generation, then you will generate more emissions when consuming electricity. Look into how to offset your dirty-energy emissions.

Switch to Clean Power

Many utility companies offer optional programs to source more renewable energy. This is a great way to support clean energy without installing solar panels. CleanChoice Energy has a website to find out more about programs offered in your area.

Consider Going Solar

Installing solar panels on your roof is a great way to go green. In many states, homeowners can save money by going solar rather than purchasing power from the local utility company. As utility rates increase, going solar becomes more lucrative. Installing a solar system is also a great way to increase your property value.

Visit the EnergySage website for free solar quotes from local solar energy contractors.

Join a Community Solar Project

Unfortunately, many homes aren’t ideal for solar panels. Renters, condo dwellers, low-income households, and people with shaded roofs might not be good candidates for solar. In some cases, community solar farms or solar gardens are a great option.

Solar gardens are solar energy plants that are owned by a community of people or a third party. These projects allow a group of people to use the solar power that is generated nearby without having solar panels on their property. In many cases, the energy from community solar farms costs less than what people otherwise pay the local utility company. It often works like a subscription where you pay more to the solar farm but have a lower electric bill.

The prevalence of community solar farms varies a lot by state because some states have policies that make it difficult to develop such projects.

Launch a Clean Energy Campaign

If your utility company generates a lot of power from fossil fuels, consider launching a campaign to get your utility to use more clean power. Change.org is a great platform to utilize to gain momentum behind this project. You can also urge your state politicians to create stringent renewable portfolio standards. These state-wide regulations vary greatly by state and require utilities to increase their use of renewable power sources. If you live in an area with a weak standard, consider launching a campaign for stronger standards.

When will Earth Overshoot Day occur next year? Ultimately, it depends on our collective actions. Let’s get started to reduce our impact in 2020.

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Can Growth in Sustainable Energy Reduce Natural Resources Overspend?

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A Q&A with the policy wonks who wrote Jay Inslee’s climate plans

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A Q&A with the policy wonks who wrote Jay Inslee’s climate plans

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Top Ways the World Will Manage Climate Change (Beyond Reusable Water Bottles)

We all know we need to do our part to manage climate change?well, almost everyone knows this scientific fact. We know we need to drive less, recycle, stop using plastic, eat organically and opt for less packaging and reusable bags. And, if you?re like me, you?re trying to do all of these things. But, what if we ? as citizens, business owners, policy makers, or government leaders – knew the most important ways to manage climate change? Then, we could be sure we?re each doing as many of them as possible to make the greatest difference.

The group Project Drawdown ranked the most effective climate change solutions, dividing the many activities under categories such as the best ways to manage climate change based on food, movement of people and goods, homes and cities, land use, electricity use, waste management and empowering women.

Here are some of the top-ranked selections under each of the categories:

Under Project Drawdown?s food category, the organization ranked eating a plant-based diet, throwing away less food, composting waste and cooking over cleaner stoves among the top solutions. Check out my blog, ?New Study Found Plant-based Diet Reduces Heart Failure Risk by 41%? to not only help climate change but to help improve your health, too.

Project Drawdown also looked at the way we move people and goods around the planet and found that we could all help climate change by flying less and flying on more fuel efficient planes when we need to fly. It also recommended that we invest in high-speed trains, ship goods more efficiently and drive electric cars. It seems to me that there is an obvious trend toward decreasing our use (and waste) of fossil fuels and decreasing emissions of these greenhouse gases.

The homes we inhabit and the cities we live in also contribute to climate change and it astounds me that so many town, city, state and national governments continue to institute laws, regulations and policies that restrict people and communities that want to ?go green.? From outdated building codes to front yard vegetable gardens, government officials need to get informed before they get their heels in to support the status quo. Some of the top-ranked ways to fight climate change under the ?Our Homes and Cities? category include green roofs, smart thermostats and LED lighting, as well as designing (or redesigning) cities to be more walkable.

The United States has lost millions of acres of prime agricultural land to development in the last few decades. That doesn?t include wilderness lands that have been developed or opened up for development by governments that don?t understand climate change science. Project Drawdown ranks the protection, preservation and restoration of important ecosystems like coastal wetlands and tropical forests, as well as the return of lands to indigenous peoples as top ways we can combat climate change. The organization also ranked the planting of bamboo because of the plant’s rapid growth and capacity to absorb greenhouse gases at a much higher rate than most plant and tree species.

Our rapid pace of development also leads to challenges with materials and waste management. Top-ranked solutions in these areas include building with greener cement compounds. Cement is ubiquitous in our lives and most of us don?t give it a second thought. But the cement industry is the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide on the planet next to two countries (China and the U.S.), not two other industries. Cement making requires huge volumes of water (another climate change alarm bell) that could be used for drinking and growing crops, and it creates large amounts of dust that increase respiratory problems. Its negative impacts on the natural environment are innumerable. While we must address this massive threat, Project Drawdown also suggests we demand government and industry clean up chemicals in our air conditioning and refrigeration. On a more personal level, we can do a better job of recycling or repurposing more of our household goods and cutting back on rampant consumption.

It is almost impossible for most people today to imagine life without electricity even though its widespread use in society is less than a century old. Electricity generation and use is often sold as ?clean energy? but its impact on climate change is real. Among the top-ranked solutions regarding electricity use, Project Drawdown included wind, wave and solar power as better ways to generate electricity. As an added bonus, none of these energy generating options have been proven to cause cancer despite the ?windmill? claims of a high-ranking government official. Project Drawdown also included nuclear power in the rankings but the images from Chernobyl remain a horrific reminder of the dangers of this form of energy generation.

Last but not least, kudos to Project Drawdown for recognizing that empowering women will have a positive impact in our fight against climate change. Increased access to education, increased access to family planning and closing the gender gap in small-scale farming are some of the solutions the organization ranked high.

Check out all the rankings and let us know what things you are doing to combat climate change and help the planet.

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Dr. Michelle Schoffro Cook, PhD, DNM shares her food growing, cooking, and other food self-sufficiency adventures at FoodHouseProject.com. She is the publisher of the free e-newsletter World?s Healthiest News, founder of Scent-sational Wellness, and an international best-selling and 20-time published book author whose works include: Be Your Own Herbalist: Essential Herbs for Health, Beauty, & Cooking. Follow her work.

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Top Ways the World Will Manage Climate Change (Beyond Reusable Water Bottles)

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Henry Red Cloud is planting hope with 100,000 saplings

On a crisp and rainy May morning on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Henry Red Cloud recounted his team’s strategy for planting more than 1,000 ponderosa pine saplings in six short hours. Over coffee, he detailed the day’s agenda, location, and logistics with six staff members and three volunteers — a small crew compared to most planting days.

“There’s no getting to the burn-site,” he said. “There has been too much rain, so we will go over to one of the residential sites.”

Six years ago, Henry watched a wildfire rip across 25,000 acres of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation land only 20 miles from his home. Since that time, he says he’s noticed an increase in erosion and landslide events thanks to more sustained moisture over the spring and summer months.

Six years ago, a wildfire ripped across 25,000 acres of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation land. Now, indigenous activist Henry Red Cloud is working with a team to reforest the burn site.Grist / Alex Basaraba

“Due to climate change, we now have the potential to see rain all summer long,” he said.

A member of the Oglala Lakota Sioux and a fifth-generation direct descendant of the Lakota warrior Chief Red Cloud, Henry Red Cloud is focused on resiliency — both through reforestation of the land and teaching tribal communities about sustainable energy. In partnership with the organization Trees, Water, and People, a non-profit based out of Fort Collins, Colorado, Red Cloud and his team have planted more than 100,000 ponderosa pines on Pine Ridge over the past six years. Once they reach maturity, the trees will help prevent landslides, support biodiversity, and provide windbreak and shade for community members.

Hannah Eining, an employee of the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) meticulously cares for ponderosa pine seedlings at the CSFS tree nursery. Located in northwestern Fort Collins, Colorado, the nursery team harvests native tree seeds from the Black Hills, raises them into saplings, and transports them back to Pine Ridge for planting.Grist / Alex Basaraba

Indigenous-led efforts like Red Cloud’s may play an important role in developing an effective global response to the threat of climate change. According to a new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, released Monday, which outlines the impacts of global warming and offers strategies to stave off the worst of them: “Many scholars argue that recognition of indigenous rights, governance systems, and laws is central to adaptation, mitigation, and sustainable development.”

Located in northwestern Fort Collins, the Colorado State Forest Service tree nursery supports the growth of 50 different native tree species.Grist / Alex Basaraba

While tribal innovators like Red Cloud may be on the front lines of combatting climate change, tribal communities are among those most at risk. Today, Native American reservations face unique and disproportionate impacts associated with warming, such as the loss of culturally significant food, medicines, and knowledge, as well as reduced access and rights to water.

“Reservations were put on land nobody else wanted because it was too hot, cold, or windy,” Red Cloud says.

On Pine Ridge, the increasingly harsh conditions exacerbate high poverty rates and inadequate housing. In general, the average tribal household spends a higher percentage of its financial resources on electricity and heat than any other in the country. Winters can be long and cold here, and about 30 percent of people live without electricity.

Eriq Acosta, the national program director of Trees, Water, and People helps transport another load of ponderosa pine tree saplings to be planted on the sacred Wounded Knee Massacre site located on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.Grist / Alex Basaraba

By learning how to build and install small-scale solar furnaces, lighting systems, and water pumps, Red Cloud hopes individuals are able to bring these tools back to their own communities. Only five hours north at Standing Rock Reservation, Red Cloud and his team provided workshops on small-scale solar and off-grid renewable systems to hundreds of activists at the Dakota Access Pipeline Water Protector camps during the brutal 2016-17 winter.

According to a recent report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, tribal lands across the U.S. (including Pine Ridge) have vast potential for renewable energy and much of those resources have not yet been harnessed. Investing in renewable technologies, Red Cloud says, provides jobs, energy savings, and economic opportunity.”

Henry Red Cloud’s work involves more than planting trees. Through the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center, he provides workshops on small-scale solar and off-grid projects to more than 40 tribes across the U.S.Grist / Alex Basaraba

At his training facility, the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center, Red Cloud’s workshops range from do-it-yourself solar air furnace builds and straw bale home construction to wind turbine use and reforestation techniques. Inside a large Quonset hut warmed by a wood-burning barrel fireplace, the center provides staff, volunteers, and guests with cozy dormitory-style accommodations, hot showers, and a family-style dining area. The walls and ceiling are brightly decorated with art and photos. The white dry-erase board showcases diagrams and scribbles highlighting effective reforestation techniques leftover from the prior week’s training.

Recently, Red Cloud was nominated for the prestigious Oceti Sakowin Fellowship with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. And at 59, there are no signs of him slowing down. Whether it’s in preparing a new team of volunteers to plant saplings or leading a workshop on residential-scale solar furnaces, Red Cloud says he plans to continue to work towards building a more resilient and sustainable future for his people and for indigenous communities across the United States.

“That is my role,” he says, “to share my knowledge and to help bring awareness.”

Volunteers plant the new saplings on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation Tribal lands. Over two months, nearly 75 volunteers assisted Henry and his team in planting around 33,000 saplings.Grist / Alex Basaraba

As the rain began to let up outside the center, Red Cloud climbed into his truck for the short drive to the greenhouse. The thousands of vibrant, green saplings covered every available space on the floor and counter, their pungent aroma slowly covering the staleness of the damp, moldy greenhouse air with the sharpness of fresh pine.

To Red Cloud, this work is about supporting economic opportunity and resiliency to climate change. He hopes that it empowers people to carry forward a vision shared by his ancestors to build a better life for the next generations — “a new way to honor the old ways,” he says.

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Henry Red Cloud is planting hope with 100,000 saplings

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For climate activist Henry Red Cloud, old ways, new urgency

On a crisp and rainy May morning on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Henry Red Cloud recounted his team’s strategy for planting more than 1,000 ponderosa pine saplings in six short hours. Over coffee, he detailed the day’s agenda, location, and logistics with six staff members and three volunteers — a small crew compared to most planting days.

“There’s no getting to the burn-site,” he said. “There has been too much rain, so we will go over to one of the residential sites.”

Six years ago, Henry watched a wildfire rip across 25,000 acres of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation land only 20 miles from his home. Since that time, he says he’s noticed an increase in erosion and landslide events thanks to more sustained moisture over the spring and summer months.

Six years ago, a wildfire ripped across 25,000 acres of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation land. Now, indigenous activist Henry Red Cloud is working with a team to reforest the burn site.Grist / Alex Basaraba

“Due to climate change, we now have the potential to see rain all summer long,” he said.

A member of the Oglala Lakota Sioux and a fifth-generation direct descendant of the Lakota warrior Chief Red Cloud, Henry Red Cloud is focused on resiliency — both through reforestation of the land and teaching tribal communities about sustainable energy. In partnership with the organization Trees, Water, and People, a non-profit based out of Fort Collins, Colorado, Red Cloud and his team have planted more than 100,000 ponderosa pines on Pine Ridge over the past six years. Once they reach maturity, the trees will help prevent landslides, support biodiversity, and provide windbreak and shade for community members.

Hannah Eining, an employee of the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) meticulously cares for ponderosa pine seedlings at the CSFS tree nursery. Located in northwestern Fort Collins, Colorado, the nursery team harvests native tree seeds from the Black Hills, raises them into saplings, and transports them back to Pine Ridge for planting.Grist / Alex Basaraba

Indigenous-led efforts like Red Cloud’s may play an important role in developing an effective global response to the threat of climate change. According to a new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, released Monday, which outlines the impacts of global warming and offers strategies to stave off the worst of them: “Many scholars argue that recognition of indigenous rights, governance systems, and laws is central to adaptation, mitigation, and sustainable development.”

Located in northwestern Fort Collins, the Colorado State Forest Service tree nursery supports the growth of 50 different native tree species.Grist / Alex Basaraba

While tribal innovators like Red Cloud may be on the front lines of combatting climate change, tribal communities are among those most at risk. Today, Native reservations face unique and disproportionate impacts associated with warming, such as the loss of culturally significant food, medicines, and knowledge, as well as reduced access and rights to water.

“Reservations were put on land nobody else wanted because it was too hot, cold, or windy,” Red Cloud says.

On Pine Ridge, the increasingly harsh conditions exacerbate high poverty rates and inadequate housing. In general, the average tribal household spends a higher percentage of its financial resources on electricity and heat than any other in the country. Winters can be long and cold here, and about 30 percent of people live without electricity.

Eriq Acosta, the national program director of Trees, Water, and People helps transport another load of ponderosa pine tree saplings to be planted on the sacred Wounded Knee Massacre site located on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.Grist / Alex Basaraba

By learning how to build and install small-scale solar furnaces, lighting systems, and water pumps, Red Cloud hopes individuals are able to bring these tools back to their own communities. Only five hours north at Standing Rock Reservation, Red Cloud and his team provided workshops on small-scale solar and off-grid renewable systems to hundreds of activists at the Dakota Access Pipeline Water Protector camps during the brutal 2016-17 winter.

According to a recent report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, tribal lands across the U.S. (including Pine Ridge) have vast potential for renewable energy and much of those resources have not yet been harnessed. Investing in renewable technologies, Red Cloud says, provides jobs, energy savings, and economic opportunity.”

Henry Red Cloud’s work involves more than planting trees. Through the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center, he provides workshops on small-scale solar and off-grid projects to more than 40 tribes across the U.S.Grist / Alex Basaraba

At his training facility, the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center, Red Cloud’s workshops range from do-it-yourself solar air furnace builds and straw bale home construction to wind turbine use and reforestation techniques. Inside a large Quonset hut warmed by a wood-burning barrel fireplace, the center provides staff, volunteers, and guests with cozy dormitory-style accommodations, hot showers, and a family-style dining area. The walls and ceiling are brightly decorated with art and photos. The white dry-erase board showcases diagrams and scribbles highlighting effective reforestation techniques leftover from the prior week’s training.

Recently, Red Cloud was nominated for the prestigious Oceti Sakowin Fellowship with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. And at 59, there are no signs of him slowing down. Whether it’s in preparing a new team of volunteers to plant saplings or leading a workshop on residential-scale solar furnaces, Red Cloud says he plans to continue to work towards building a more resilient and sustainable future for his people and for indigenous communities across the United States.

“That is my role,” he says, “to share my knowledge and to help bring awareness.”

Volunteers plant the new saplings on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation Tribal lands. Over two months, nearly 75 volunteers assisted Henry and his team in planting around 33,000 saplings.Grist / Alex Basaraba

As the rain began to let up outside the center, Red Cloud climbed into his truck for the short drive to the greenhouse. The thousands of vibrant, green saplings covered every available space on the floor and counter, their pungent aroma slowly covering the staleness of the damp, moldy greenhouse air with the sharpness of fresh pine.

To Red Cloud, this work is about supporting economic opportunity and resiliency to climate change. He hopes that it empowers people to carry forward a vision shared by his ancestors to build a better life for the next generations — “a new way to honor the old ways,” he says.

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For climate activist Henry Red Cloud, old ways, new urgency

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Are Electric Cars Really Greener?

Electric cars are kind of a divisive issue. Those who drive electric vehicles often wax poetic about how much better they are for the environment while others, like the author of this Politico piece, like to point out all the ways that electric cars aren’t as green as they are made out to be.

What’s the truth about electric cars? It’s complicated.

Let’s talk about batteries.

On the one hand, the battery for electric cars is an environmental issue in its own right.

The rare, lightweight metals used in the batteries and throughout the cars often come from?not so eco mines?that are hugely environmentally polluting. Plus, as few as 5 percent of the lithium batteries used in electric vehicles actually get recycled (in the EU), which means they just sit in landfills and leach toxins into the environment. However,?Tesla claims to have a battery recycling plan that is actually cost-effective for both manufacturers and?recycling plants, which could improve the battery issue.

And while the manufacturing of electric cars produces more carbon emissions than manufacturing a gas-powered car, one look at Musk’s solar-powered Gigafactory puts that argument to rest.

Electric vehicle production may be secretly more dirty than you’d expect, it’s something that innovative companies like Tesla are working?to?tackle. When it comes to?of fueling electric vehicles, though, they’re as green as you make them.

The way you charge your electric car matters.

According to the author of Politico?s recent piece, increasing the number of electric vehicles on the road will actually increase pollution. The idea is that new models of internal combustion vehicles are actually extraordinarily efficient, which is true.

?Today?s vehicles emit only about 1% of the pollution than they did in the 1960s, and new innovations continue to improve those engines? efficiency and cleanliness,? according to author Jonathan Lesser.

When comparing that sort of low?emissions pollution with the pollution caused by traditionally-powered electric vehicles, yes. A new gas-powered car is probably greener than a new, grid-powered electric car right now. But that only factors in electric vehicles charged through the grid.

Solar power, one of the cleanest and most independent forms of renewable electricity, needs to be taken into?serious consideration. The author relies on a projection regarding?the increase of renewables pumped into the grid, which may hit 30 percent by 2030–not enough to keep things clean for electric cars. But that bleak outlook only takes into account our existing infrastructure.

We need to ditch fossil fuels.

When considering the environmental cleanliness of new gas cars versus electric cars, one big factor that needs to be taken into consideration is the importance of getting our planet off of a dependence on fossil fuels.

While less-polluting gas cars are wonderful, they are still gas cars. They will always only be powered by oil and gas. An electric car, on the other hand, can be powered just as easily by?wind or solar as by fossil fuels, if the infrastructure were?there to support it.

And that’s why we need more electric cars. Sure, as they currently exist?they may not be as pristine and clean as we like to believe, depending on how you fuel them. But the renewable energy infrastructure will not grow around them unless there is a demand.

We need people driving clean electric cars to push towns, cities, and states to enact widespread projects to provide clean sustainable energy for the surge in electrically powered vehicles. That’s how we will begin to cut off our dependence on polluting fossil fuels.

Solar is the future (and the present) for electric charging.

I have always associated electric cars with solar charging. The vast majority of electric car charging stations I see?are solar powered. Even?certain grocery stores?have implemented free solar charging stations to reward?environmentally-conscious customers while they shop.

While I?can’t speak for the whole country, buying an expensive electric vehicle like a Tesla only makes financial sense if the electricity is very affordable–as it is at many?solar charging stations, including long term use of a personal solar station at home.

Granted, not everyone will exclusively use solar to power their cars. With the rise in popularity of luxury electric vehicles, it is natural that those who are less eco-minded but desire to indulge?their wealth will?buy a fancy electric car and not discriminate between renewable charging stations and fossil fuels. But that?doesn?t mean electric cars are actually worse for the environment. It means we need to make it easier for the indiscriminate to cleanly charge them.

Our infrastructure needs to grow and evolve in tandem with our vehicles. An electric car is a move towards cleaner energy. It should be charged that way, too.

Related on Care2

Keyless Cars are Killing People
The Dos and Don’ts of Washing Your Produce
Is Eco Toilet Paper Worth the Extra Cost?

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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Are Electric Cars Really Greener?

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Is Bernie Sanders the only one still talking about climate change?

This story was originally published by HuffPost and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

The Democratic Party omitted any mention of climate change in its rebuttal Tuesday to President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address.

In his speech, Democratic Representative Joe Kennedy of Massachusetts didn’t bring up global warming, sea-level rise, or the surge in global greenhouse gas emissions, which threaten to become worse as the Republican White House ramps up fossil fuel production to unprecedented levels.

The 37-year-old former prosecutor and grandson of Massachusetts Democrat Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968, lamented the Trump administration’s “all-out war on environmental protection,” made a passing reference to a “coal miner” and lionized Americans with the courage to “wade through floodwaters, battle hurricanes, and brave wildfires and mudslides to save a stranger.”

Yet, like Trump, the Democrat neglected critical milestones in the climate crisis in his speech. Last year marked the world’s second-hottest year on record. The U.S. racked up a record $306 billion in climate-related damages. And fossil fuel emissions hit an all-time high as the rate of carbon dioxide pollution began increasing for the first time in three years.

Drew Hammill, a Democratic spokesperson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This comes against the backdrop of Trump dismantling U.S. policies to reduce greenhouse gases and slashing funding for research. The president, who has long mocked scientists’ warnings on climate change, announced plans to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, which has been signed by every other nation on Earth. In October, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the repeal of the Clean Power Plan, the federal government’s only major policy to reduce emissions. In his inaugural State of the Union address, Trump declared an end to a “war on American energy.” He took credit for the boost in fossil fuel exports that began under President Barack Obama, and he celebrated the end of a “war on beautiful, clean coal,” a bizarre statement at odds with the continued closures of coal-fired plants and the high-profile failure of a carbon-capture coal plant last year. The president noted “floods and fires and storms,” but did not mention the overwhelming scientific consensus that a warming planet has made the weather events worse.

The GOP remains the only major political party in the developed world to oppose the widely accepted science behind human-made global warming as a platform issue. Yet Democrats’ criticism has focused more on their opponents’ climate denialism than on policies to drastically curb emissions, leaving the party without any grand vision to address what they routinely call the greatest environmental challenge of a lifetime. A tax on carbon ― the policy proposed by Reagan-era economists and nominally supported by Big Oil ― remains the foremost idea on the table.

Kennedy’s dynastic roots and impassioned speeches defending health care laws have made him a rising star in the party. While he isn’t known for his environmental stances, he earned a 96 percent lifetime score on the League of Conservation Voters’ ranking.

Even the State of the Union statement issued by Rhode Island Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, considered one of the most hawkish Democrats on climate issues, snubbed climate change. He did, however, rail against the Trump administration’s plans to open nearly all federal waters to oil and gas exploration, noting that the proposal put “the local commercial fishing industry and the Ocean State’s coastal economy in harm’s way.”

By contrast, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent, pointedly skewered Trump for ignoring climate change.

“How can a president of the United States give a State of the Union speech and not mention climate change?” he said in his own rebuttal. “No, Mr. Trump, climate change is not a ‘hoax.’

“It is a reality which is causing devastating harm all over our country and all over the world, and you are dead wrong when you appoint administrators at the EPA and other agencies who are trying to decimate environmental protection rules and slow down the transition to sustainable energy.”

Sanders is scheduled to participate in a “Climate State of the Union” on Wednesday evening hosted by the environmental group 350.org.

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Is Bernie Sanders the only one still talking about climate change?

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