Bill McKibben, the environmental author-turned-activist, knows his movement is troubled. But he’s committed to protecting the environment, so he trudges forward, battling setbacks, death threats and what he sees as his primary enemy: the fossil fuel industry. In 2008, he launched the grassroots campaign 350.org, and last year played a pivotal role in raising public opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline project. But he’s concerned he’s fighting a losing battle against climate change.
Solar power should be cheaper than coal, gas and nuclear by 2018
You’ve probably seen the terms ‘grid parity’ float by on these pages of Treehugger plenty of times in articles about solar and wind power. That’s the term that describes what clean energy advocates consider as something of a holy grail — the point where a particular form of renewable energy becomes as cheap to generate as the market standard in a given region. It’s when solar panels produce electricity as cheaply as does a coal-fired power plant, for instance. And in a handful of places around the world (Italy and Germany among them) it’s already happening.
Oil production raises health concerns
Steve and Jacki Schilke spent six years searching for their dream home, a 160-acre ranch here in northwestern North Dakota. It wasn’t much to see – an old farmhouse, a few rundown outbuildings and a slice of prairie. But for the Schilkes, it was a chance to return to country life. But trouble was in store.
