Tag: <span>clean energy</span>

Solar for All, and All for Solar!

Have you been unable to participate in sustainable and clean energy trends because the costs are so high? Are you a renter and unable to convince your landlord to install solar on your apartment building? Do you find that you’re living paycheck to paycheck, barely able to afford your energy …

Sustainability at the Local Level: A Conversation With Jason West

This spring I had the pleasure of speaking with Jason West, the Director of Sustainability for the City of Albany, New York, about his fascinating career trajectory and his thoughts on sustainability, particularly at the local level.  Biography Jason served as the Mayor of New Paltz, New York for two …

Mud Houses: Affordable Housing for the Rich? – By CJ Kelley

In Marfa, Texas, prior to 2017, a house made of adobe bricks was appraised in the same way as any other house made of any other material. Now, following an update by the county tax assessors, inhabitants of adobe structures pay 57% more in taxes than other homeowners.   Let’s …

Green Jobs Growth in New York State

by Elise Ferguson, Hannah Lyons-Cavazos, and Tara McElhinney The Green Jobs Landscape Through its adoption of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) in 2019, the state of New York has crystallized its commitment to renewable energy and climate justice into law. As a state with enormous energy requirements, …

Transparent Solar: The Technology of the Future?

  What if your phone, your car, your home and office could be charged by the sun? Transparent solar technologies have the potential to transform cities from massive energy consumers to energy producers.   What is “transparent solar” anyway? Transparent solar is cutting-edge technology that absorbs and utilizes light energy …

Fighting Climate Change, One Utility Bill at a Time

I recently started work  for the data team at Bright Power, a company with a mission to help meet and track energy efficiency needs for various multifamily building clients in an effort to combat climate change. What drew me to Bright Power was their clear commitment to that mission, so …

Transforming Ain’t Easy

How does one transform a market? Who comprises a market? What does market transformation even mean? If there’s anyone to turn to answer these questions when it comes to the energy efficiency market, it’s the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT), a D.C. based non-profit that works to develop the market …

A Bright Tomorrow Thanks to a Brown Yesterday: Placing Solar Farms on Contaminated Sites–by Jake Duncan

Whether you come from a tightly packed urban neighborhood or from the rural rolling hills, you’ve probably seen a barren, possibly trashed area that’s lain dormant for decades. It could be an old, derelict industrial site or a landfill that’s full to the brim with your community’s waste. These are …

How data management is more challenging, and satisfying, than climbing mountains–by Holly Kistner

When I started graduate school at Bard College’s Center for Environmental Policy (CEP), I also started my student employment with Bard’s Office of Sustainability as the “energy intern.” Less than a year ago, I would have laughed at the prospect of me working with energy data. Me? I’d just spent two …

Microhydropower: Part of New York’s Clean Energy Future?

Hydropower has a long history in New York State. There are more than 6,000 dams in New York, some dating back to the 1700s. Even through the industrial revolution of the 19th century, dams were the main source of power for running mills and powering machinery. As electric power replaced …