May 18th, 2013 
Eric Wilson 
For those who don’t follow national weather patterns, it was an exceptionally snowy April, especially in Minnesota, or shall I say even for Minnesota. There was at least some snow on the ground from roughly December 8th through May 2nd in the Twin Cities. This limited data set causes people to make comments like the [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, Transportation 
Tags: Climate Change, Dispatches from the Bus, Earth Day, Mass Transit, Minneapolis, Minnesota 
No Comments » May 17th, 2013 Megan Stilley 
Last year we had a massive garden. It took up the majority of our backyard with peas, leeks, carrots, beans, summer squash, winter squash, lettuces, broccoli, tomatoes, collards and herbs. But to be honest, it was a lot of work and a lot of it was a bust. It was extremely hot and dry last [...]
May 16th, 2013 Chris DeArmond 
The Department of Energy (DOE) last week was excited to announce the commencement of industrial-scale carbon capture and utilization demonstration projects at two hydrogen production facilities in Port Arthur, Texas. Though renewable energy will play an important role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, some argue that capturing the carbon released from fossil fuels will [...]
April 13th, 2013 Eric Wilson I got on the bus a few months back and it was raining. This was Minnesota in January, purported to be the coldest time of the year. The bus driver commented on the “heat wave” and asked the bus if it would get cold that night, ostensibly concerned with the possibility of the road freezing. [...]
Posted in Behavior, Eric Wilson, Transportation Tags: Bus, Climate Change, Dispatches from the Bus, Mass Transit No Comments » March 29th, 2013 Megan Stilley 
I am disappointed that the Senate passed approval for the Keystone XL Pipeline construction. But am I really surprised? No. I guess you could say I am pretty pessimistic about the federal government doing anything positive for climate change. Even though it is non-binding currently, I am sure it will eventually be fully passed and [...]
Posted in 2nd Green, Policy, Renewable Energy, Sustainability Tags: Climate Change, Keystone Pipeline, Megan Stilley, politics No Comments » March 21st, 2013 Chris DeArmond 
ExxonMobil might not be the best source of unbiased energy projections, but its 2013 Energy Outlook to 2040 gauges the progress of several inevitable trends that will develop as the world becomes more populated, industrialized, and energy hungry.
March 17th, 2013 Eric Wilson 
On a recent trip I turned on the television at the hotel and The Day After Tomorrow was on. I avoided watching it while it was in the theaters, and then on DVD. When it came out nearly 10 years ago (which in and of itself is astonishing), I was starting my career as a [...]
Posted in Behavior, Economics, Eric Wilson, Featured Posts, Op-Ed Tags: Climate Change, pandas, Science No Comments » March 15th, 2013 Megan Stilley 
I feel like we keep talking about sustainability and how to solve the sustainability issue as a society but we aren’t really getting it. For example, I was listening to my local NPR station as I often do and they had a story about climate change and how we as humans are going to see [...]
Posted in 2nd Green, Education, Sustainability, Transportation Tags: Climate Change, Megan Stilley, NPR No Comments » February 16th, 2013 Eric Wilson 
As part of the annual State of the Union, President Obama touched on energy as he has in past addresses to the nation. In 2011 he highlighted clean energy, while in 2012 he laid out his goal of 80% of electricity generation from “clean” sources. Below is the excerpt from his speech that dealt with [...]
Posted in China, Energy Efficiency, Eric Wilson, Featured Posts, News, Policy, President Obama Tags: Clean Energy, Climate Change, Congress, Energy, Grid, Holy Grail, Jobs, Natural Gas, Pollution, Science, Solar Energy, Wind Power No Comments » February 14th, 2013 Chris DeArmond 
As you’re probably aware, natural gas prices in the United States have plummeted in recent times with the development of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” The controversial, but very effective drilling technique has freed a glut of natural gas from shale rock formations, reducing domestic natural gas prices substantially. Between 2009 and 2011, the wellhead price [...]
