Mexico Goes Greener

Mexico to Replace Oil Power Plant With Latin America’s Largest Solar Farm

By Ari Phillips

Last week President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited Mexico for what’s traditionally called the “Three Amigos” meeting. In the daylong rendezvous, energy issues were slated to play a major role, with Obama and Harper jockeying for room when it comes to the impending decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline that would bring dirty crude oil down from Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast.

However, Mexico also has some major energy changes in the pipeline, and after decades of state-run oil company PEMEX having sole purview over fossil fuel extraction, international investment and companies will now be let into the mix after recent constitutional reforms. This will increase oil flows from America’s southern neighbor into those same Gulf refineries as Keystone XL might. At the same time renewable energy has started to take off in Mexico, with construction of the biggest solar power plant in Latin America, Aura Solar I—a 30-megawatt solar farm in La Paz, Mexico—the latest signal.

Latin America’s biggest solar power plant in La Paz, Mexico, could help reduce carbon emissions and pollution, as its output replaces that of dirty fossil fuel plants. Photo credit: Talli Nauman/Thomson Reuters Foundation

More at: http://ecowatch.com/2014/02/26/latin-americas-largest-solar-farm/

6 Reasons to Celebrate the Growth of the Ban Fracking Movement

This is a post from EcoWatch.com and needs to be shared. Check out this news about the Fracking controversy that is heating up.

These developments show that the movement to ban fracking grows stronger by the day. Fracking, and all the public health, environmental, economic and safety concerns that come with it, are not what our nation needs.

1. California Rising: The movement to ban fracking in California is growing at an incredible pace, and elected officials are starting to respond. Last Friday, following a packed hearing that reflected the diversity of Los Angeles, the City Council passed a motion to write a moratorium on fracking. This makes L.A. the largest city in the country to pass such a measure, and also follows the launch of California Farmers Against Fracking. Several other cities and counties are considering bans or moratoriums, and all of this helps build momentum to the big rally in Sacramento on March 15, where activists across the state will call on Governor Jerry Brown to ban fracking.

2. Colorado Fight Goes Statewide: In the last two years, Food & Water Watch has worked to support allies on the ground in Colorado to pass ballot measures to ban or place moratoriums on fracking, which is threatening major population centers across the state. Following recent victories in Fort Collins, Broomfield, Lafayette and Boulder, last Monday we joined local allies to launch Local Control Colorado, a statewide measure that would affirm the power of communities to ban or otherwise restrict fracking. We’ve also learned that a measure to protect communities from fracking in Broomfield, which had been challenged in the courts, was upheld.

3. Connecticut Moves on Fracking Waste: While it has not received the attention of fights in California, New York or Colorado, there is a move in Connecticut to ban the disposal of fracking waste in the state. We’ve been working closely with Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Grassroots Environmental Education, and others, and last Friday, the legislature held its first hearing on the measure, taking testimony in front of a packed house of residents opposed to fracking waste. This was the first step in the legislative process, and the first committee vote should be later in March.

Fracking is a technique for drilling oil that is bringing jobs and the promise of energy independence to our power hungry nation. The industry is said to be a major factor in the polluting of our water and food supplies. Check out this post and weigh in on the information. Go here for the full story: 

http://ecowatch.com/2014/03/03/growth-of-ban-fracking-movement/

IBM Creates Solar Panel To Power The Planet

IBM Solar Collector Magnifies Sun By 2000X – These Could Provide Power To The Entire Planet

According to Greenpeace, this technology can establish itself as the third largest player in the sustainable power generation industry. A study published in 2009 predicted that solar power could supply all the world’s energy needs, with minimal space. Greenpeace estimates that it would take only two percent of the Sahara Desert’s land area to supply the entire planet’s electricity needs.

Check out this article at: http://themindunleashed.org/2014/03/ibm-solar-collector-magnifies-sun-2000x-provide-power-entire-planet.html