Today, the U.S. Senate caved. They passed the One Big Bullshit Bill, carrying out one of the most destructive attacks on the American people in history. It will send us deeper into a debt spiral, make us a global pariah where energy is concerned, throw millions of people into poverty, medical debt, and despair, and … More An all-out assault on America’s future
On Monday night, I joined State College Borough Council to give an update on the Centre County Solar Working Group’s power purchase agreement. I gave a spicier update to the State College Area School District later that night. For most people, the Borough presentation was a boring affair about final document signatures, a PJM queue … More Hallelujah! The solar PPA moves on!
Over the last ten days, I’ve been in Aotearoa, New Zealand as part of a climate research, education, and capacity-building team from Penn State. It has been a joy to be here a second time and learn more about forests, fire, carbon, and biodiversity as well as Māori culture and practices, national and local government, … More Ten days focused on people, land, & climate in Aotearoa
From PennEnvironment: On Monday, January 27, ten governmental entities in Centre County have officially entered into a 15-year contract to supply their operations with renewable energy from a nearby solar project. It is believed that this cooperative solar purchase agreement is the first of its kind in Pennsylvania. “The ten members of the Centre County … More Ten Centre County governmental entities have signed on to a historic solar agreement
The day before my first birthday–July 7, 1977–a climate memo was prepared for Pres. Jimmy Carter. It was titled “Release of Fossil CO2 and the Possibility of a Catastrophic Climate Change.” It recognized the pending impact from warming caused by the amplification of the greenhouse effect from exponential fossil fuel combustion. Carter saw it. I … More 7.7.77: A prescient note on climate change to Jimmy Carter
I want the lessons of the Centre County solar power purchase agreement (SPPA) working group (WG) to be as accessible as possible. As readers know, 10 of central Pennsylvania’s local governments are finalizing the largest-by-member SPPA in the Commonwealth and maybe the country. This entry is my first deliberate crack at it. Here, I will use the World … More Early lessons from the Centre County solar power purchase agreement
State and local governments will persist in climate action. That’s the conclusion of a recent piece in Grist. We have virtual certainty the incoming Trump administration will withdraw from the Paris Agreement, leading to widespread worry about other nations’ commitments to reduce emissions and achieve the 1.5° or 2° C temperature goals. But there are lots of … More State and local governments will persist in climate action because it works.
In the last week, we’ve had more wins for the power purchase agreement. Last Tuesday, the Centre County Commissioners voted 3-0 to enter. On Monday, the State College Borough voted 6-1 to join. Tonight, Last night, Patton Township’s Board voted 5-0. They join the State College Area School District and Harris Township. All told, there are about … More Some lessons from the PPA: Openness. Honesty. Skepticism. Trust. Consistency.
Taking a moment here to think about the solar power purchase agreement today from the point of view of the “mindful ecological citizen.” I want to understand how our democratic system allowed it to take shape. It would be (maybe will be) fascinating to retrospectively examine how the working group and project management team moved … More Three sets of questions about the solar PPA
If we want to decarbonize our communities, one of our best pathways is to decarbonize the electricity generation sector. But who gets to plug in and in what order? That’s why we have grid operators who regulate which sources of power–solar farms, wind farms, natural gas power plants, nuclear power plants, battery facilities, hydropower plants–get … More Do natural gas & nuclear get to jump the line?
Peter Walks for Democracy 