Energy

Hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, is a controversial method used to extract natural gas and oil from shale rock formations. It is controversial because it can cause big environmental problems, including poisoning local water wells. A new report looks at companies that use fracking. The joint report by As You Sow and investment advisory firm Boston Common Asset Management reviewed the 30 biggest …

There is a movement that has the potential to help the world reduce greenhouse gas emissions. That movement is the rapidly growing divestment from fossil fuels. More than 1,000 institutions that represent over $8 trillion in assets have committed to divestment. By the end of 2014, only 181 institutions with $50 billion worth of assets committed to divestment. There are over 43 cities that …

The Green New Deal introduced into Congress is effectively dead, but that does not mean that ambitious plans to tackle climate change are dead in the U.S. States, cities, and counties have developed plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with commitments to 100 percent clean energy.

Over 95 percent of U.S. coal ash ponds are unlined. Nearly all of them are leaking toxins into groundwater that is considered safe to drink by the EPA.

The light-emitting diode, more commonly known as an LED light bulb, is incredibly efficient. They use at least 75 percent less energy and last 25 times longer than incandescent lighting, according to the Department of Energy. Widespread use of LEDs could save about 348 TWh, which is equivalent to the annual electrical output of 44 large electric power plants and savings of over $30 billion. …

Besides warming climate by intensifying the greenhouse effect, modern coal-fired power plant emissions are the biggest source of ultra-fine particles (UFPs)

Eliminating the use of coal to generate electricity would be the single biggest step the U.S. could take in meeting its U.N. Paris Climate Agreement GHG emissions reductions goals, according a new study from Portland State University. Accomplishing this would require a wholesale shift in the U.S. power generation mix to "natural gas, efficiency, wind, solar power and biofuels."