Business Network

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Sonoma County’s Redwood Hill Farm & Creamery shows sustainability is sound business

Jennifer Bice

by Jane Bender, The Climate Center Jane Bender is president of The Climate Center. Powering the Bottom Line (nbbj.news/powering) is a recurring column from that Santa Rosa-based organization. In 1978, Jennifer Bice took over her parents’ small goat dairy. Today, her award-winning goat milk yogurt, kefir and artisan cheese are sold nationwide, and she has expanded … Read more

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LA Times breaks story on California’s overbuilt electricity system

SUTTER ENERGY CENTER in Yuba City was hailed as the nation’s cleanest power plant when it opened in 2001. It closed indefinitely a year ago because the state has little need for its electricity. (David Butow For The Times)

The article below, published in the Los Angeles Times, demonstrates the need for a shift in our current energy system to better align the needs of California residents and businesses with the goals of energy providers. Currently, the main objective of private California utilities is to maximize shareholder profits. In the Community Choice Energy model, … Read more

Categories Business Network Clean Energy
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Energy Policy Leader Update: Hans-Josef Fell

Hans-Josef Fell, Energy Guru of the German Parliament

In 2010 I invited Hans-Josef Fell, at the time a German Parliamentarian, to visit Sonoma County to talk about the policies he successfully advocated for, which helped lead Germany in the transition to renewable energy. I caught up with him again in 2012 at the annual InterSolar conference in San Francisco shortly after he had … Read more

Categories Business Network Clean Energy
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Former Republican EPA Secretary discusses Trump’s climate denial, but not GOP’s

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

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Local group lays out strategies for 100% clean energy communities

Sonoma County aerial

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

Categories Business Network Clean Energy Community Choice Energy
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Fiasco in Congress – a sign of things to come?

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

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Trump Consideration of Tillerson

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

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Donald Trump’s interview with the New York Times offers hope on climate

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

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California civic leaders champion climate change

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

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