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Solar Grove

Is it me or is this a way-cool and efficient use of a parking lot?

Kyocera recently installed its first public "Solar Grove" consisting of 25 "solar trees" that converts a 186-vehicle parking lot into a 235 kW solar electric generating system. The system's 25 solar trees form a carport in a Kyocera employee parking lot, utilizing a total of 1,400 Kyocera KC-187G solar photovoltaic (PV) modules and 200 custom-manufactured, light-filtering PV modules.

Pictured here:

(via TH c/o GCC)

Turns out the Apollo folks don’t like it either

Beneath the fold is an op-ed written in reaction to the energy bill by Robert Borosage and Joel Rogers. Borosage is co-director of the Campaign for America's Future and co-founder, with Rogers, of the Apollo Alliance.

A letter from a dozen green groups to Congress

Yesterday, a letter opposing the energy bill was sent to Congress, signed by the following environmental groups: Alaska Wilderness League, American Rivers, Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, Friends of the Earth, National Audubon Society, National Environmental Trust, Natural Resources Defense Council, Public Citizen, Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, U.S. PIRG, and Union of Concerned Scientists.

The full text of the letter is below the break.

Dirty Financing: Havana Nights

Environmental groups unanimous in distaste for energy bill Yesterday, a letter signed by reps from more than a dozen environmental organizations was sent to Congress with a strong message about […]

Energy bill is (surprise!) also a budget hole

The CBO sent this letter [PDF] to Joe Barton, Chairman of the Energy Committee, to let him know that yes, indeed, the energy bill will be putting a hole in the budget. The CBO estimates that the bill will reduce revenues by over $2 billion a year in 2008 and by a total of $12 billion over the period from 2005-2015.

However, I don't know that the CBO included this lovely addition from one Tom Delay. That story isn't really getting too much press this morning -- the Boston Globe is probably the most widely circulated paper running a story.

A debate over environmental priorities never gets at the real point

J.H. Adler points us to a debate in the pages of Foreign Policy between Bjørn Lomborg and Carl Pope. Since I read the whole thing, here's the highlight reel, so you don't have to:

Pope: "The global environmental dilemma teems with both risks and opportunities."

Lomborg: "Yes, we have problems. But we have solved many more. Yes, we can solve those that remain, but not all at once. We need priorities."

P: "True, we need priorities. ... Having priorities doesn't always mean Sophie's choice."

L: "I'm glad you agree that we need priorities. But I worry that your commitment is rhetorical."

P: "No, Bjørn, Sophie's choice is avoidable."

L: "... You insist that there are no real trade-offs between the environment and prosperity. ... It is not that environmental projects are not worthwhile. ... Often, there are other, better projects that must come first."

P: "... You keep posing artificial choices... It is simply not the case that the world -- or the United States -- does only one thing at a time."

L: "Advocacy groups understandably want to focus on headline-grabbing issues ... But when we emphasize some problems, we get less focus on others."

P: "Bjørn, you ignorant slut ... "

Okay, that last one was an embellishment.

CAFTA at midnight

Speaking of DeLay scumbaggery, it looks like the Republicans are going to hold a vote on CAFTA between midnight and 2am tonight. They're hoping that some of the moderate Republicans who oppose this legislative turd will stay home and that DeLay and his posse can bully the rest into supporting it.

You think this is how a majority behaves when it's proud of its legislation?

Jeff has a nice round-up of sources on why CAFTA is no good for the environment. It's also no good for free trade, or anything else really. The substantive stakes are not huge, but it's a great example of the bankrupt process by which the Republican majority passes legislation these days.

Update [2005-7-27 22:34:9 by Dave Roberts]: It just passed -- never mind arm-twisting moderate Republicans. Fifteen Democrats voted for this hunk of junk, and that put it over the top. The D.C. rot is bipartisan.

(See also Ezra.)

Delay sneaks $1.5 billion in direct subsidies to oil and gas companies in energy bill, after confere

Rep. Tom DeLay just inserted a $1.5 billion chunk of pork into the energy bill. For what, you ask? The oil and gas industry.

Worse, he snuck it in after the bill had left conference committee, so committee members had no chance to consider (or reject) it.

An enormous direct subsidy from taxpayers to one of the most profitable industries in the world, implemented in total contravention of the democratic process, by a Representative whose district stands directly to benefit. The mind really does boggle.

Rep. Henry Waxman just sent a letter (PDF) of complaint to Rep. Dennis Hastert. Some excerpts:

Coaxing residents to urban cores

The flight from the inner city (it may not be happening after all, but there are definitely new incentives for it now) has left urban planners looking for ways to coax residents back to urban cores. Free municipal wi-fi could be just what they need.

While its effect might not be as direct as some city planners might like, municipal wireless, as proposed in Philadelphia, is worth a shot. It also presents some interesting questions about free goods.

Somewhat tangential economic discussion below the fold.

Another voice from the global South criticizes the tone deafness of Western aid orgs

Forgive me for highlighting a piece that does not explicitly tackle environmental issues. But this Washington Post op-ed on foreign assistance, by former Eritrean finance minister Gebreselassie Yosief Tesfamichael, contains lessons for conservationists, if we choose to hear them.