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Yankees Suck Slightly Less After Joining the Paris Climate Agreement

Yessenia Funes

April 05, 2019 |

Gizmodo |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

The New York Yankees are the first and only baseball team to sign onto the United Nation’s Sports for Climate Action Framework. In doing so they hope to lead their fanbase into committing to five principles: making systemic changes to improve environmental responsibility; reducing overall climate impact; education; promoting sustainable consumption; and advocating. The team has recently hired their first environmental science advisor, but they still have a long way to go to achieve the goal of “net-zero emission economy of 2050”.

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Energy Equity: Bringing Solar Power to Low-Income Communities

Maria Gallucci

April 04, 2019 |

Yale Environment 360 |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Colorado

Dozens of states across the US are adopting programs that offer solar power for low-income communities in order to cut down on their utility costs and provide renewable energy that they previously would not have had access to. Some of these programs also incorporate other social goals into their programs, such as offering job training or developing sites of backup energy should there an outage. Solar development is currently one of the fastest growing industries in the US, and analysts predict that the nation will be able to hold over 2,000 megawatts of solar capacity this year alone.

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Resorts, desperate to stem crushing traffic, bet on a new ridesharing app that splits lifts to the lifts

Jason Blevins

March 27, 2019 |

The Colorado Sun |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Sandy, Utah

RIDE, shorthand for Reduce Individual Driving for the Environment, is an app that incentivizes skiers to carpool. Beyond just the convenience, the easy-to-use phone application provides material incentives such as ski themed water bottles and discounted lift tickets. It also tracks carpool miles and the decrease in carbon dioxide as a result.

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Why Germans Are Buying Batteries With Their Solar Panels

Paul Hockenos

March 26, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Germany, Berlin

Advances in lithium batteries as well as the plunging price of solar energy have spurred an increase in home solar energy batteries across Germany. While it used to be difficult to store solar energy, home solar systems can now save energy for rainy days, reduce the electricity bill, and even earn money for extra energy they feed to the city. Over 120,00 German homes and small businesses have invested in solar batteries in the last 5 years.

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Virginia schools have seen the light, and it's solar

Debbie Truong

March 24, 2019 |

The Washington Post |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Vienna, Virginia

A move towards solar energy in schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, has been spurred by environmentally-aware students. It’s working because of power purchase agreements, which make solar panels affordable. In these agreements, developers front most of the cost of solar installation, and schools pay it back through energy bills, still leading to cost savings over time. The move to solar is expected to save school districts across the state millions over the next several years.

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MPHS Entrepreneurship Club tackles energy efficiency with light replacement project at high school

Lance Maggart

March 24, 2019 |

Sky-Hi News |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Grand County, Colorado

The Entrepreneurship Club at a high school in Grand County, Colorado took the initiative— and a $2,000 grant from the Grand Foundation— to replace all of the lights in their school with energy-efficient LED lights. Tristan Schwab initiated the project after learning about the divide in energy efficiency between urban and rural areas. The students reinstalled 200 lights in their building and, once the school has improved its efficiency and saved 40% on electric bills, plan on installing solar panels to further their work.

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Waste to Wealth: How Kenyan farmers are bringing life back to degraded Lake Victoria swamps

Annika McGinnis

March 22, 2019 |

InfoNILE |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Kisumu, Kisumu County

Families living in the wetlands of Lake Victoria in Kisumu, Kenya are working together with a nonprofit called Ecofinder Kenya to protect and conserve the wetlands they live on. The crux of the incentive centers around the Eocfinder toilet, which converts human and animal waste to biogas, but they also work with solar lamps, water pumps, and a "farmer-to-farmer" program in which farmers share environmentally-friendly expertise. The program has been going on for 3 years now, and the wetlands have since seen a return of wildlife and growth, particularly with fish and birds.

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‘Coal just isn't the future': Meet the Kentucky miners picking up a new trade

Elizabeth McGowan

March 21, 2019 |

Grist |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Harlan, Kentucky

As jobs in America's coal mines dwindle, local Appalachian communities put resources and opportunity into the sustainable energy business. A nonprofit in Kentucky called the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development bridges the gap between the two industries by providing sustainable energy training and internships for former employees of the coal mining industry.

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Pittsburgh's ‘living building' focuses on eco-friendly construction

Karen Hao

March 20, 2019 |

Quartz |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Creating sustainable buildings requires rethinking many of the norms in construction and city planning. The Center for Sustainable Landscapes, part of the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, received the first Living Building Challenge (LBC) certification. To achieve this, CSL advocated for changes to Pittsburgh’s laws on the use of public water utilities. CSL also had to seek out construction materials that avoided the use of harmful chemicals-a task easier said than done.

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As oil trains roll into Portland, city residents keep watch

Carl Segerstrom

March 13, 2019 |

High Country News |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

In Portland, Oregon, a group of activists have come together to be the eyes for their community when it comes to oil train shipments. There is a surprising lack of transparency when it comes to moving crude oil by train, and the state has yet to implement monitoring standards. Because of this, activists work in shifts to be informal watchdogs for their city, making sure the public is as informed as possible even with the lack of official information.

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