Wednesday, 25 Jul 2007

Twenty-two Hours of Darkness and Two of Light

California utility commits to massive solar buy, B.C. deals with oil spill

Call it the light and dark sides of the energy industry: yesterday, as news spread that a major California utility will make a ginormous solar buy, a British Columbia neighborhood was drenched in crude oil spewing from a broken pipe. Related? Only in the sense that all our global energy interests are tied. But holy visual metaphor, Batman! While officials in Burnaby, B.C., struggled to clean up the mess -- which led to the evacuation of 20 homes, the "voluntary evacuation" of 80 more, and residents complaining of headaches and nausea -- Pacific Gas & Electric execs polished their own image with a pledge to buy 550 megawatts of solar power generated by the world's largest thermal solar array. The planned Mojave Desert facility -- which will use mirrors to focus the sun's rays on pipes containing fluid that will then produce steam that powers turbines, whew -- will start making energy by 2011 or 2012, and is, says PG&E VP for Energy Procurement Fong Wan, "one of the most promising technologies for us."


What do spirituality and sustainability have in common? (Besides a lot of letters, that is.) Both are key priorities for the 15 men and women on our list of religious leaders who are spreading the eco-gospel. Meet the "Green Patriarch" of Orthodox Christians, an SUV-protesting minister, an expert in ecology from the Islamic perspective, and more divinely inspired planet protectors -- and if we've missed someone, leave a comment to enlighten us.

Pimp My Shrimp

Wal-Mart environmental practices changing shrimp farming in Thailand

Latest practice impacted by omnipresent Wal-Mart: Thai shrimp farming. Crustacean aquaculture, long demonized for destroying mangrove trees and polluting waterways, is the focus of new standards penned by the Global Aquaculture Alliance and backed by Wal-Mart, Red Lobster, and other big seafood purveyors. To make the grade for Wal-Mart -- the U.S.'s biggest single shrimp buyer -- farmers must improve water testing, treat discharge, discontinue antibiotic use, and plant three times as many mangroves as they chop down. As with all Wal-moves, there's controversy: around 80 percent of shrimp farms in Thailand -- the largest exporter of shrimp to the U.S., sending $1.28 billion worth of the delicacy to the states each year -- are so small they lack the resources to operate under the new standards. But when one huge Wal-Mart supplier bought and upgraded some 150 farms, it raised an outcry about consolidation. Don't worry, shrimpers -- we at Wal-Grist are here to tell you there's nothing to fear.


Could the ocean's tides be the answer to our energy problems? A reader wonders why we don't hear more about this form of renewable energy, and advice maven Umbra Fisk offers the skinny (dip) on underwater power.

Why Do I Still Feel So Hollow?

GE unveils carbon-offset credit card, other companies pondering same move

Some people say you can't shop your way to happiness, but they haven't met the new GE credit card. Yes, the company that brought us "ecomagination" has imagined a way into wallets everywhere. The GE Money Earth Rewards Platinum MasterCard -- hang on, have to take a belly-laugh break. OK, whew. Sorry about that. The GEMERPMC offers a 1 percent rebate, which cardholders can donate to carbon-offset projects. Similar cards are offered in Europe, and companies including Bank of America and American Express are said to be considering issuing them in the U.S. Reactions have been mixed; some say any attention to the climate cause is welcome, while others say GE is using the card to -- gasp -- make money on its own line of products. "We are not sending a message that you can buy your way out of your environmental responsibility," says Lorraine Bolsinger, ecomagination VP. "We're offering another tool in the kit for reducing carbon footprints." Whatever helps you sleep at night.