Originally published on Home Solar PV. Even though the price of solar panels has dropped over the past few years, a solar energy system for your home will still cost $20,000 – 30,000. Most of us don’t have that kind of money just sitting around: if we do have those kind of assets, they’re tied
Originally published on Home Solar PV. Seen an advertisement recently promoting “free solar installation” or “free solar panels” for your home? Figured it was probably some kind of shady deal with lots of catches involved? Perhaps, and you’re smart to investigate further. But don’t necessarily write those claims off, either: the offer of “free solar
Originally published on Home Solar PV. You can be forgiven for not wanting to live next door to a traditional power plant. They’re big, noisy, and smelly, and even with the most modern of pollution controls, you probably still don’t want your family breathing whatever’s coming out of them. When it comes to coal or
Solar power is green and clean, but how does it work? We walk you through the inner workings of a solar panel.
Heard much about the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico lately? Probably not… once the caps were in place on the well, the media largely moved on to other stories. Even the current slew of political advertising doesn’t seem to try to make much hay out of the US’ largest environmental disaster. But
Unless you live in an eco village or other form of intentional community, you’re probably curious about the lifestyle. You’ve probably already got some images stuck in your head (I know the commune from Easy Rider always comes to my mind). You may even cling to a few stereotypes. But, as you’ve seen here at
So, what do you know about Barack Obama’s and John McCain’s energy and environmental policy proposals? Probably the basics: Obama supports spending $150 billion over ten years to kick-start the “green economy.” Both support cap-and-trade systems to address climate change. McCain’s become a strong proponent of opening up more offshore areas to oil and gas
Editor’s note: Lots of books on oil and its role in US economics and politics coming out these days (imagine that!). Our friends at Eco-Libris have the scoop on yet another one: Lisa Margonelli’s Oil on the Brain. This post was originally published on Monday, June 16, 2008. Oil? Yes, oil! Some of you must
Editor’s note: This is the last post in the “Human Interaction with Nature” series from students in Professor Simran Sethi’s “Media and the Environment” course at the University of Kansas. Our own Adam Bowman (who’s training is in videography) created this two-part wedisode on “the current debate about how to manage a growing Grizzly Bear
Editor’s note: The fourth part of the “Human Interaction with Nature” series takes a look at efforts to recover endangered animal species. This post was written by Denzyl Janneker, and originally published on Friday, May 9, 2008. Baraboo, Wisconsin and Basra, Iraq might have nothing in common, but fighting a war and killing endangered species
Editor’s note: Part two of the “Human Interaction with Nature” series focuses on human impacts on fauna. This post was written by Lindsay Crupper, and originally published on Friday, May 9, 2008. While it is obvious that climate change affects humans across the globe, it also affects the animal kingdom as well. For millions of
Editor’s note: Is planting trees a valuable tool for fighting climate change? Or is it a feel-good activity without much effect? Our friends at Eco-Libris point to another study which argues tree-planting can work in sequestering carbon dioxide. This post was originally published on Friday, May 16, 2008. There is an ongoing debate on the
Editor’s note: For the last few months, we have run a number of guest posts from students in Professor Simran Sethi’s “Media and the Environment” course at the University of Kansas. We’ve all been pretty impressed with the work these students have done, so we were delighted to agree to publish a small-group final project
By Anthony J. Gerst The war-torn and ravaged nation of the Democratic Republic of Congo is a rather confusing issue. A rapid-fired crash course on the subject brings up some interesting facts, however. This nation has basically been at war since 1998, and the result has been an estimated 3.5 million deaths. There are more
By Max Lindberg She moves from one challenge to another, always keeping in mind her passion for righting what she sees as environmental wrongs. 78-year-old Betty Krawczyk was released from the Alouette correctional center in Vancouver, BC, Canada on September 26th, to a welcoming party of supporters and the press, and proceeded to hit the
By: Gavin Hudson Most of us never question our decision to buy and drive cars because we identify cars with our culture. “Driving is what people do.” That’s been the unspoken motto of the last handful of generations and it’s the lesson we’re teaching our children. Handing over the keys to the car is our
By: Anthony J. Gerst From Patagonia to the not-so-frozen Russian Tundra, unto the Brazilian tropical savannahs, the planet, “she be a changing, mate.” I consider it an honor to be writing for Planetsave. It is the freedom of pure expression that is the net-gem to be found here. Normally, when writing for this page, I
