Environmental Policy | AtisSun Solar Insider News

Veterans advocate military’s progress with energy efficiency and renewables

Published on Jul 27 2012 // 10000 Strong: Solar Jobs for Veterans, energy efficiency, Environmental Policy, environmental sustainability, transportation

Operation Free, a national energy independence advocacy campaign run by veterans, wants those who have never served on active duty in the U.S. armed forces (roughly 99.5% of Americans) to be educated on the military’s progress with energy efficiency and renewables. This “coalition of veterans”...

Utah ready to turn 19,000 acres into solar developments

Published on Jul 26 2012 // Environmental Policy, environmental sustainability, solar electric

On the heels of a major announcement from the Obama administration on Tuesday, Utah is disclosing details about the 18,658 acres identified by the Department of the Interior and the Energy Department as prime locations for expedited solar energy projects in the state. The acres are in the Escalante Valley...

Obama administration announces huge solar developments on public lands

Published on Jul 25 2012 // Environmental Policy, environmental sustainability, solar electric

The Obama administration is moving forward with plans to open up public land to renewable energy projects. On Tuesday, the Department of the Interior and the Energy Department announced solar projects on public land in six southwestern states. It will also block other projects that could be potentially...

Mitt Romney would end wind production tax credit if elected

Published on Jul 24 2012 // Environmental Policy, wind energy

Iowa generates 20 percent of its electricity with wind turbines and employees 7,000 people in the wind industry. That’s why the fate of the federal wind production tax credit is important to voters in the state–and why news from staffers that presidential hopeful Mitt Romney would hasten...

Nevada fire station hosts largest off-grid solar array in the state

Published on Jul 21 2012 // Environmental Policy, solar energy

Even though the Red Rock Canyon Fire Station, located in Nevada, is under the control of the Bureau of Land Management, that didn’t mean that it was able to jump through all the bureaucratic hoops necessary to connect the station to the grid. The fire station serves the Red Rock Canyon National...

Federal loan guarantees in the post-Solyndra era

Published on Jul 20 2012 // business, economy, Environmental Policy, renewable energy, solar energy

Critics of the U.S. Department of Energy’s practice of extending loan guarantees to American renewable energy companies often cite failed solar manufacturer Solyndra as the poster child for the program–and as proof that the practice is too risky to continue. Republican Presidential candidate...

Construction begins on Maryland’s largest solar farm, located in Hagerstown

Published on Jul 10 2012 // Environmental Policy, solar electric

In the midst of the brutal heat wave that hammered the East Coast last week, officials in Maryland broke ground on Saturday for the 160-acre solar farm that will be situated on land that is part of the Maryland Correctional Institution. The 20MW solar plant, located in Hagerstown, MD, will go a long...

Proposed wind farm on Maryland’s Eastern Shore still looking for county’s approval

Published on Jul 07 2012 // Environmental Policy, wind energy

“Frustrated would probably be the best word.” That’s how Rex Simpkins, Somerset County Commissioners president feels about lengthy approval process for a wind farm proposed on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. A recent study conducted by the University of Baltimore found that such a development...

Detroit coalition fights against increased renewable energy target

Published on Jul 04 2012 // Environmental Policy, environmental sustainability, renewable energy

Renewable energy advocates in Michigan are conducting a signature drive so that an ambitious renewable energy mandate will make its way to the ballot for voters in November. But the mandate has come under fire from a powerful group opposed not only to the signature drive, but to an increase in renewable...

Germany no longer world-leader in solar energy, according to latest reports

Published on Jul 01 2012 // economy, Environmental Policy, solar energy

As recently as last year, Germany was the world-leader in solar energy, claiming 20 percent of the global solar market. But the country’s position has dropped dramatically in recent months to a mere 6 percent as several factors threaten the country’s clean energy future. Thousands of jobs...