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Carbon footprint mapping: A powerful tool for revealing climate solutions

You don’t have to be a climate nerd to appreciate a good carbon footprint map. Measuring carbon emissions is a little like counting calories and steps. Just as data collection has emerged as a winning tool for achieving better, life-saving health (think FitBit), so too can data inform species-saving strategies for the health of the planet. … Read more

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A New Day for Energy Efficiency

By Chris Cone, Negawatt Market Project  |  September 30, 2015 When it comes to lowering greenhouse gas emissions, nothing beats energy efficiency. Compared to generating energy (including with renewables), efficiency costs less and delivers more climate protection per dollar invested. Energy efficiency is currently undergoing a paradigm shift. New developments in data sharing/analysis protocols mean … Read more

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The Sun is Rising on a New Day for Solar in Sonoma County

by Geoffrey D. Smith The recent ‘marriage’ of Solar Sonoma County (SSC) with The Climate Center (CCP) is, well, a match made in heaven. SSC has been responsible for a significant increase in installations of photovoltaic (PV) solar throughout the region. SSC has advocated on behalf of hundreds of homeowners and businesses by connecting them … Read more

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Local Economies Benefit from Sonoma Clean Power: Town of Windsor Reports Big Savings

by Woody Hastings  |   posted July 27, 2015 The Town of Windsor recently announced that it is saving eight times more than it had expected as a result of becoming a customer of Sonoma Clean Power. Windsor was the first municipality to join Sonoma Clean Power back in May of 2013. When Sonoma Clean … Read more

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The California Independent System Operator: A High Wire Act on Solid Ground

May 20, 2015  |  by Woody Hastings Recently I visited the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) – my first visit ever. I always wondered why CAISO was located in Folsom, California. I learned that Folsom is one of the least seismically active areas in the State, yet still close to the centers of policy decision-making. … Read more

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SCWA Energy and Sustainability Tours

Upcoming Public Tours The Sonoma County Water Agency is pleased to host public tours of the Russian River water supply system, sanitation districts, and energy projects.  Please select the date of the tour you’d like to attend, and fill out the registration form.  You will be notified with additional details and directions once you have … Read more

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All in for Local Clean Energy

Community Choice emerges as a promising clean power policy in California as Petaluma joins Sonoma Clean Power in a unanimous vote of confidence    Woody Hastings At its city council meeting in the closing days of 2014, Petaluma California voted unanimously to participate in the newly formed Community Choice energy program, Sonoma Clean Power. The … Read more

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Energy Choices 1964-2014

50th Anniversary of the end of plans for a Nuclear Plant at Bodega Head, and the year of the Launch of Sonoma Clean Power  By Woody Hastings Fifty years ago in October 1964, Pacific Gas & Electric announced that it was canceling its plan to construct the first commercially viable U.S. nuclear-powered electric generating station … Read more

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Unfinished Business… Energy Choice in Rohnert Park and Petaluma – Let’s get it done this year!

By Woody Hastings September 2014 Most of Sonoma County now has some exciting new choices about where their electrical power comes from and how much they pay for it. Sonoma Clean Power, the Community Choice program that launched in Sonoma County in May of this year, offers cleaner power at rates that are 4 to … Read more