Blogs & Ecology

Mountains in Box Elder County, Utah site of the Shoshone Nation’s planned geothermal power plant. Photo: Dave Merrill.

Image Source: Simple Solar Homesteader ebook

In one of the driest states in the U.S., it's apparently illegal to harvest rainwater (at least on a large scale) as it diverts water from someone else downstream. (Is there a private water-bottling company downstream?) Thankfully, they're not going after your garden-loving grandmother, but it does set a precedent for those who might collect it for commercial use.
::Infowars via

Image source: Fighting Goliath Film

Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars, documents how a group of citizens stood up to the proposed development of 19-coal-fired power plants in central and east Texas. Mayors, ranchers, CEOs, community groups, legislators, lawyers and citizens, who might otherwise have had nothing in common, all joined together for different reasons but one purpose: to stop the states' fast-track approval of coal-plant construction. The group eventually came to include over 36 cities and local government offices across the state.

We have a vision for the Southwest that involves solar panels and windmills -- a future of clean-energy generation and green jobs, not the smokestacks, pollution, and health problems that accompany a coal-fired power plant. However, that vision got a bit hazy recently when the U.S. EPA issued an air quality permit for construction of the Desert Rock Energy Facility, yet another massive coal-fired power plant on Navajo land in northwest New Mexico.

In Canada, tapping the tar sands has been called the most environmentally destructive project on the planet. In the United States, some equally not-so-eco-friendly technologies have been developed to extract oil from shale in Colorado. If the Interior Department has its way, exploiting U.S. oil shale is going to become less financially burdensome for oil companies. Don’t worry, the environmental impact will probably remain high.
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Around 17,000 or 20 percent of all Utah state workers will shift to a new four-day, ten-hour work schedule beginning in August as part of the state’s one-year "Working 4 Utah" pilot program to save energy and money. By shutting down 1,000 buildings statewide on Fridays, an estimated 3,000 metric tons in carbon emissions will also be cut. Admittedly, though the energy and fuel savings is not as great as telecommuting, the idea of a four-day work week is probably more ap...

Late last year we referenced the Green Goat as an initiative of online outdoor gear retailer, Backcountry.com. It helped customers find the greener clothing and equipment amongst the vast 400 brand inventory that the company offers. Unfortunately that project seems to have languished somewhat, as none of the product links seem to work anymore.

I imagine that our readers in the UK are giggling furiously at the American panic over gas prices this year as we finally begin to think about paying what those of you in the old world have been for years.

It just looks like a place with cheap fuel, doesn’t it? Image from WaynePhotoGuy

Well, then let me drop a number that will make the Americans euphoric, and probably plunge the rest of you into shock: you can fill up your entire tank for five dollars in Utah.

We knew that the 'fossil' sponsors would get around to to changing the team name and roster, since the climate change, "denialist" fronts have lost operational cover. Plus, they needed a macro-economics argument that had traction in a recession driven US election.