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Rooftop solar has a good decade but a bad year

Jul 17, 2017
Solar energy has grown prodigiously over the last eight years. But 2017 has been tough, especially for rooftop solar companies.
Developers of the Table Rock Ridge subdivision outside Golden, Colorado, require all homes be sold with rooftop solar panels already installed.
Dan Boyce/ for Marketplace

The US still wants a say in how UN climate change money is spent

Jul 17, 2017
The U.S. has pulled out of the Paris climate agreement, but it’s already put $1 billion into the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund. That’s meant to help poor and developing countries manage climate change. And while President Trump said he won’t commit any more money to the fund, the White House still wants American delegates […]

Perry is in Mexico for energy talks

Jul 13, 2017
U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry meets today with Mexico’s president and its energy secretary in Mexico City. Perry said this week the U.S. has an opportunity to develop a “North American energy strategy.” His positive tone extends to the North American Free Trade Agreement, too. President Trump has talked of dismantling NAFTA, but Perry says […]

California’s wildfires are only getting more risky — and expensive

Jul 11, 2017
California Gov. Jerry Brown has issued a state of emergency for two wildfires that have forced thousands of people along the state’s central coast to get out of harm’s way. Wildfire season has been extended by 70 to 80 days in the past decade, and California has increased its emergency fund to reflect new predictions. Local, […]

As fewer farmers work the land, the small town way of life fades

Jul 10, 2017
Average farms are growing and adopting new technologies to make ends meet.
Farmer Brandon Biesemeier stands on his herbicide sprayer on his family's land near Haxtun, Colorado.
Luke Runyon/Harvest Public Media and KUNC

Troubled Waters: Trump budget casts Great Lakes cleanup into doubt

Jul 7, 2017
The 2018 proposed budget calls for cutting the $300 million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
Employees from Barr Engineering install instruments to measure groundwater seepage and flow between the sediments and the St. Louis River in Duluth, Minnesota. The data will help in the design, construction and installation of caps aimed at protecting the environment and wildlife from harmful material.
Derek Montgomery/MPR News

What does Volvo’s big electric car announcement have to do with China? A lot.

Jul 5, 2017
Volvo is the first major car company to announce when it will stop developing cars that run on good ol’ internal combustion engines. Starting in 2019, all of Volvo’s new models will be hybrids or electric vehicles. The company has its origins in Sweden, but it’s been owned by Chinese carmaker Geely since 2009. You […]

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Why low prices at the pump aren’t necessarily good

Jul 5, 2017
Here’s an official statement from the President of the United States — via Twitter, that is: “Gas prices are the lowest in the U.S. in over ten years! I would like to see them go even lower.” In the past decade, by the way, gas prices have been lower than they are now. But they […]

Meet methane: The potent greenhouse gas hangs in some regulatory limbo

Jul 4, 2017
Natural gas is billed as a cleaner-burning energy than coal, but leaks during production erode that advantage.
Natural gas is flared off at a plant outside of the town of Cuero, Texas.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The Tesla for the rest of us is here

Jul 3, 2017
The $35,000 Model 3 is on track for production this week.