Uncategorized

On October 17th, 2013, 170 community leaders and renewable energy advocates representing 90 organizations convened at the California Endowment’s Conference Center in downtown Oakland for the fourth annual Clean Power, Healthy Communities Conference, hosted by the Local Clean Energy Alliance. Photographs of the Conference as well as videos of the sessions are available on the Local Clean Energy Alliance’s Conference […]

The last several months have witnessed an intensified opposition to fossil fuel expansion in the Bay Area. Lobbying the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and urging public institutions to divest fossil fuel company holdings are two of six campaigns that are being organized by 350 Bay Area a local, grassroots

It is very important in the overwhelming avalanche of news and documentary sources that we receive on energy issues that we carefully scrutinize the sources of that information before we let them guide our thinking. The case of the film, Switch is a prime example of this. Switch is subtle and effective fossil-fuel industry propaganda.

As Susannah Churchill of Vote Solar explains, net metering “allows customers who install solar or other clean energy to get fair credit on their power bills for the energy they feed back to the grid.” The question, though, is what constitutes “fair credit,” and whether net metering customers are passing on to other customers an unfair burden

At the March meeting of the Local Clean Energy Alliance, Ted Ko from the Clean Coalition (Clean Local Energy Accessible Now) discussed barriers to the development of distributed electricity generation in California and other programs advocated by the Clean Coalition. An energy future for California that is based on small-scale, local renewable energy generation could speed the

The extraction and burning of California’s Monterrey/Santos oil shale deposit would set back by 80 years the targeted reduction of carbon dioxide under the state’s Global Warming Solutions Act.* This was but one of many revelations provided on February 26, 2013 by leaders of the growing opposition to fracking in California. With up to 15

The Local Clean Energy Alliance and twenty-six other organizations throughout California have signed on to a letter urging Governor Brown to oppose California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) recent approval of the Oakley gas-fired power plant in Contra Costa County, and stop the pending approval of other fossil fuel-based power plants in southern California. These projects frustrate attempts

At its much-anticipated board meeting on Tuesday, December 11, East Bay MUD’s Board of Directors disappointed clean energy advocates by voting to discontinue further exploration of an East Bay Community Choice energy program. The decision came despite evident community backing for the agency to take leadership in establishing a Community Choice program. Much of that

By Rosana Francescato The subtitle of Greg Pahl’s Power from the People — “How to Organize, Finance, and Launch Local Energy Projects” — suggests it’s a guide. And for the most part, it lives up to expectations. Reading it won’t fully equip you to create your own community energy project, but it will give you a solid

The November general meeting of the Local Clean Energy Alliance featured Greg Pahl, author of Power from the People: How to Organize, Finance, and Launch Local Energy Projects. Greg has written numerous books and articles on energy and has been involved in environmental issues for over 30 years. Greg gave an engaging presentation on local clean