Wind turbines

Climate Change & Conservation eNews

Renewables

Solar And Pollinators
Center for Pollinators in Energy at Fresh Energy

The evolution of rural solar: from panel monocrops to multiple land uses

Time is running out to have a meaningful impact on climate change (to save the lands and waters we love), but the solutions are here. You and your land trust can help people understand both the importance of and the need for changing the paradigm. Check out American Solar Grazing Association for webinars, resources, and conversations with farmers on solar, grazing, and farm viability.

In farming, companion planting of certain crops in close proximity can provide an array of benefits: from pest control, to flavor enhancement, to increased productivity.

The same concept can be applied to rural solar projects, which have the opportunity to integrate with other land uses, such as crops or pollinator-friendly plantings, and create win-win outcomes for rural communities…

Recognizing the increasing compatibility of solar with rural land conservation, Michigan recently amended its farmland preservation rules to allow solar development on protected farmland, provided that the solar project met the state’s pollinator-friendly standards…

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Fast Transport
Rocky Mountain Institute

New report suggests the speed of the energy transition is rapid

That the world is engaged in a profound transition in the way we use energy is undeniable. The era of carbon-intensive energy derived from the burning of fossil fuels is coming to an end, and a cleaner, more reliable energy future based on renewables like wind and solar will be the new normal. How long this change will take is, however, still a matter of fierce debate…

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Rainbow Over The Dunes
Luna Anna Archey/High Country News

Is a big win for conservation a blow to climate action?

Instead of thinking of this a long-term conservation funding stream, we will need to view it as a short-term opportunity to catch up on the conservation work needed as we accelerate efforts to transition off fossil fuels within the next 15-20 years. Some conservation-minded folks are already raising the issue. This very thoughtful article in High Country News that notes the challenge of this situation.

On July 22, Congress passed the biggest public-lands spending bill in half a century. The bipartisan bill, called the Great American Outdoors Act, puts nearly $10 billion toward repairing public-lands infrastructure, such as outdated buildings and dysfunctional water systems in national parks…

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Fossil Fuels Engrained
ENEL

Making the change: breaking our fossil fuel habit

Instead of thinking of this a long-term conservation funding stream, we will need to view it as a short-term opportunity to catch up on the conservation work needed as we accelerate efforts to transition off fossil fuels within the next 15-20 years. National Geographic cites a report that suggests this is possible.

An iceburg melts in the Arctic; saltwater seeps into the Florida Everglades, the sun bakes a lakebed in Bolivia, trees die in the mountains of Germany, and bush fires sweep across southwest Australia. Although thousands of miles apart, these events are connected: they have all been intensified by climate change primarily caused by our burning of fossil fuels. Since ancient times, humans have burned wood, peat, and oil for heating, cooking, and light. In the U.S., as elsewhere, coal powered the industrial age until the discovery of vast amounts of underground petroleum in the mid-19th century. American industrial might was built on energy derived from fossil fuels—the decomposed remains of plants and animals found in the Earth’s crust. These fuels contain carbon and hydrogen, and it is carbon that is the problem.

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american flag
Creative Commons

House passes major conservation bill, sending it to Trump’s desk

There's been some encouraging conservation news of late, with bipartisan support for the Great American Outdoors Act. According to The Hill, President Trump is expected to sign the bill which would provide $900 million, annually, in federal oil and gas revenues for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which helps secure land for trails and parks.

“The House on Wednesday approved a major public lands conservation bill, sending it to the White House, where President Trump is expected to sign it into law.

The measure passed in a 310-107 vote.

The bill, known as the Great American Outdoors Act, would provide $900 million in federal oil and gas revenues for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which helps secure land for trails and parks…”

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Cornell
Creative Commons

Cornell University divesting from fossil fuels to focus on alternative energy, renewables

Is your land trust, or other companies in your community, evaluating their financial investments? Large investment firms and universities are transitioning for both economic and mission purposes.

The investments for this category are expected to decrease to zero over the next five to seven years as the investments mature, according to Bob Howarth, a Cornell professor of ecology and environmental biology who helped lead the divestment efforts and now heads the University Assembly.

Instead of investing in fossil fuels, the university will grow its $6.9 billion endowment portfolio by investing in alternative energy and renewables…

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Chickens And Solar
Jeff Henderson

A new vision for farming: chickens, sheep, and…solar panels

Farm viability is critical. “You’re seeing farmers sell off land and transition it to solar,” says Greg Barron-Gafford, an associate professor at the University of Arizona who studies the impacts of large-scale land-use change. “Our hope is this could allow us to keep more food production in areas that need energy production.”

When Jackie Augustine opens a chicken coop door one brisk spring morning in upstate New York, the hens bolt out like windup toys. Still, as their faint barnyard scent testifies, they aren’t battery-powered but very much alive.

These are “solar chickens.” At this local community egg cooperative, Geneva Peeps, the birds live with solar power all around them. Their hen house is built under photovoltaic panels, and even outside, they’ll spend time underneath them, protected from sun, rain, and hawks…

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Indigo Bunting
Clark Rushing

Warming climate is changing where birds breed: Study

People love birds. Your climate communication and engagement strategy can connect around what's happening to them—and how to help. You can also help dismantle misinformation about renewables and birds.

[Clark] Rushing explained, “There’s a real risk that, if these declines continue at their current pace, many species could face extinction within this century. Neotropical migrants are vulnerable to future climate change, putting them at risk of greater declines.”

Neotropical migrants already fly thousands of miles each year to breed, so why can’t they go just a bit farther as the climate warms?

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Solar Panels
Judy Anderson

About the Solar Energy Technologies Office

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) supports early-stage research and development in three technology areas: photovoltaics (PV), concentrating solar power (CSP), and systems integration with the goal of improving the affordability, performance, and value of solar technologies on the grid…

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Ag And Solar
Dennis Schroeder/NREL

Farmer’s Guide to Going Solar

If you are looking for information to share with farmers about dual-use (compatible) solar, this might be something to consider. You could then link to additional sources relevant to your region.

A growing number of farms and agricultural businesses are looking to solar to power their daily operations. Thanks in part to the Solar Energy Technologies Office’s investments, the cost of going solar has declined, enabling more installations across the country. Consider these questions to help [farmers] determine what’s best …

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