William K. Reilly, a Republican and one-time head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was recently interviewed by Christian Schwägerl of Yale e360. Reilly is dismayed that a climate change skeptic has been named to lead his former agency, but he insists environmental progress can be made. Reilly, who was head of the EPA under … Read more
by Andy Ferguson, North Bay Clean Energy Forum How can communities quickly transition from using fossil fuels like natural gas and gasoline to using renewables like solar? A community group called the North Bay Clean Energy Forum has released a new white paper describing specific strategies to rapidly make this switch. The group envisions that … Read more
What can we glean from Tuesday’s debacle? House Republicans attempted to gut an independent ethics committee. They were met with such public outcry – plus a negative tweet from Trump – that they abandoned their plans. Let’s hope that this episode foreshadows the ability of a vocal public to impact what happens in Washington DC. Imagine … Read more
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to choose ExxonMobil chief Rex Tillerson to be secretary of State, according to MSNBC host Joe Scarborough. This is very disturbing when we think about what it means for climate protection, as well as Trump’s personal interests. Exxon has numerous partnerships with Rosneft, Russia’s state-owned oil company, and has lost more than … Read more
In an interview with the New York Times on Tuesday, Donald trump provided some hope to climate protection advocates: “On climate change, Mr. Trump refused to repeat his promise to abandon the international climate accord reached last year in Paris, saying, “I’m looking at it very closely.” Despite the recent appointment to his transition team … Read more
While the national stage is looking rather bleak, in California there’s plenty to be grateful for when it comes to climate protection champions in public service. Governor Jerry Brown has been leading climate protection efforts for several years. In September of 2016, he signed SB 32, which requires California to slash greenhouse gas emissions to 40% … Read more
The Climate Center (CCP) developed the Business for Clean Energy (BCE) program six years ago because we believe that business drives innovation and can play a crucial role in helping to address the climate crisis. The BCE program provides a network and resources to support our members in incorporating sustainability into their businesses and keeping … Read more
Overview During the 2015/16 two-year California legislative session, which came to a close on August 31st, The Climate Center engaged on several important bills with climate and energy implications. Below is a run-down of some of them, and how they fared in the legislature. Note that at the time of this update, several of the … Read more
(First printed in the North Bay Business Journal – July 25, 2016) According to Stacey Lawson, CEO of Ygrene Energy Fund, the property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing program is poised for takeoff, and Ygrene is positioned to serve a large part of that market. The YgreneWorks PACE program allows residents to finance energy efficiency … Read more
