Additional stories  

Biomass Cogeneration Replaces Coal-Fired Power at Savannah River Site
AIKEN, South Carolina, March 13, 2012 (ENS) – A new biomass cogeneration facility was opened Monday at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in Aiken to replace an old, polluting coal-fired power plant at one of the nation’s nuclear weapons …

Decade-long Grassroots Campaign Shuts Two Chicago Coal Plants, March 2, 2012 (ENS)  

Closed Plants
  

 

Ten Carbon Majors Support Global Climate Deal

oil rig

September 7, 2015, ens-newswire.com | “Ten of the world’s largest fossil fuel producers support an international deal at this year’s UN climate conference, COP21, in Paris that will limit climate warming to 2 degrees Celsius, according to the nonprofit Carbon Disclosure Project, CDP.”

Robert Brothers shared a link to GoodNews FortheEarth‘s Timeline.
Anglo American, BG Group, and BHP Billiton; as well as Italy’s Eni SpA, Russia’s Gazprom, Spain’s Repsol,…
ens-newswire.com
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The California Assembly Passed a Bill Wednesday that Prompts the State’s Public Employee Pension Funds to Divest From Coal

September 3, 2015 | “The California Assembly passed a bill Wednesday that prompts the state’s public employee pension funds to divest from coal. The bill passed the Assemby with a vote of 43 to 27, and will require the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) — which combined are responsible for $476 billion in assets — to remove all holdings in companies that get at least half of their revenue from coal mining. The divestment would have to be completed by July 2017. If signed into law, the measure would be the first of its kind in the United States.”

Good news for the Earth
If signed into law, the measure would be the first of its kind in the country.
thinkprogress.org
 COMMENTS:
Robert Brothers ~ “Yay California! ‘The California Assembly passed a bill Wednesday that prompts the state’s public employee pension funds to divest from coal.'”

End Mining Within 100 Feet of Streams

August 28, 2015, action.biologicaldiversity.org | “For decades legal loopholes have allowed coal companies to mine directly through streams, harming imperiled species like the Colorado pikeminnow and eastern hellbender salamander, and poisoning downstream waterways for people.  But at least the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement has proposed a new Stream Buffer Zone Rule that would restrict all mining within 100 feet of streams.”

A court victory in 2014 against exceptions made by George Bush in 2008 requires that a new strict rule be adopted.
For decades legal loopholes have allowed coal companies to mine directly through streams, harming…
action.biologicaldiversity.org

Coal Is No Longer King in America, Says EIA Report

July 2, 2015, ecowatch.com | “Coal is no longer king in America. That’s the latest findings from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), which provides independent statistics and analysis of the energy sector. Coal lost its number one spot as the nation’s top electricity source for the first time on record this April.”

The stock prices of our three biggest coal companies have dropped over 95% since January of 2010. But our use of coal dropped less than 10% in the same period. So a giant drop in stock value was precipitated by a modest drop in business volume. However…
The key take-away is that stock price is determined by investors’ perception about the future of the company’s product, not by the present business performance.
The investors fled from the industry in droves because they didn’t see a future in it. —Kent Minault, activist, Beyond Coal
U.S. Energy Information Administration reports coal lost its number one spot as the nation’s top electricity source for the first time on record this April
ecowatch.com
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10 States Leading the Clean Tech Revolution

June 22, 2015, ecowatch.com | “What’s the state of clean technology in America? Think renewable energy (wind, solar, hydro power, etc.), adoption of electric vehicles, green building and many other factors. As shown by this new nation-wide index, some states are rising above the pack compared to others.”

STATUS REPORT: “11 states now generate more than 10 percent of their electricity from non-hydro renewable energy sources, with three of these states—Iowa, South Dakota and Kansas—exceeding 20 percent.”
Clean Edge, a clean-tech research firm, has released their annual US Clean Tech Leadership Index, ranking all 50 states for their clean tech efforts.
ecowatch.com
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Northwest tribes are a growing obstacle to energy development

May 28, 2015, www.hcn.org | “On May 13, a tribe in Northern British Columbia turned down a Malaysian energy company’s offer of nearly $260,000 (CAN $319,000) for each member as compensation for building a natural gas export terminal on ancestral lands. The Lax Kw’alaam First Nation said no to the $1.15 billion package after the community unanimously voted against the terminal last week over the risk to local salmon habitat.”

Lax Kw’alaam First Nation said no to the $1.15 billion package after the community unanimously voted against the terminal last week over the risk to local salmon habitat.
B.C. tribal members turned down $260K each in order to stop a gas terminal.
hcn.org

    Nancy BrophyMike H AngelMaryska Azzena

China’s reduction in CO2 emissions in just four months totals the entire greenhouse gases emitted by the UK over the same period

May 17, 2015, www.independent.co.uk | “China has dramatically cut its carbon dioxide emissions since the beginning of the year, with its reduction equalling the UK’s total emissions for the same period.  The huge decline in China’s emissions can be attributed to the country’s falling coal consumption, which decreased last year for the first time this century.”

Bank of America dumps coal mining

BoA_Breaking_v6.pngMay 6, 2015, www.ran.org | “After years of pressure on Bank of America, they just announced a new coal mining policy: ‘Our new policy … reflects our decision to continue to reduce our credit exposure over time to the coal mining sector globally.’  Translation: Bank of America is dumping coal mining!”

GoodNews FortheEarth shared Rainforest Action Network‘s photo.

” Thanks to Evelyn Messinger for letting us know about this!
After years of pressure on Bank of America, they just made a big announcement: they’re dumping coal mining! It’s is a huge moment. Bank of America has gone from…”

Church Of England Divests From Coal And Tar Sands, Citing ‘Moral Responsibility’

May 1, 2015, thinkprogress.org | “The official Church of England announced Thursday that it had divested its holdings of all investments in tar sands and thermal coal companies. The mother church of the world’s Anglican Communion divested a total of $18.42 million in coal and tar sands investments from its holdings, a move that the church said is part of a larger goal of helping the globe make the transition to a lower-carbon economy.”

Robert Brothers shared a link to GoodNews FortheEarth‘s Timeline.
“Climate change is already a reality,” a church leader said in a statement.
thinkprogress.org
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President Obama’s Earth Day Focus: Climate Change

ObamaApril 22, 2015, ens-newswire.com | “Climate change is the greatest threat that faces humans today, and as a nation, the United States must ‘act before it is too late,’ declared President Barack Obama in his 2015 Earth Day Proclamation. ‘The United States is committed to our role as a global leader in the fight against climate change,’ he proclaimed.”

President Obama’s Earth Day Focus: Climate Change
WASHINGTON, DC, April 22, 2015 (ENS) – Climate change is the greatest threat that faces humans today, and as a nation, the United States must “act before it is too late,” declared President Barack Obama in his 2015 Earth Day Proclamation. Visiting the Everglades today, Obama said, “Climate change can no longer be denied.”