STEP - Students for Tomorrow's Environmental Policy

07/22/2017

Hello.

Are there any current Maxwell students out there?

This page has been dormant for quite awhile. I tried to pass it along to students some years ago, but it never happened. Happy to add new admins from current STEP iteration if anyone desires that.

Let me know. Cheers!

03/31/2016

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/03/160328-fisheries-reform-catch-shares-fishing-science-conservation/

Here's how the world's depleted fish populations could be turned around to benefit people and fish.

01/10/2016

http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/12/31/paris-climate-summit-obama-exxon-koch-bill-pipeline-permit

Just over a week before the U.S. signed the Paris climate agreement at the conclusion of the COP21 United Nations summit, President Barack Obama signed a bill into law with a provision that expedites permitting of oil and gas pipelines in the United States.

01/07/2016

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/12/15/fact-sheet-administration-announces-public-private-innovation-strategy

Last week, representatives of more than 190 nations agreed to an unprecedented global climate agreement that establishes a long-term, durable framework to address one of the gravest threats facing humanity. As the President said, the agreement in Paris creates a mechanism for us to continually tack…

12/23/2015

"The clean-energy boom is about to be transformed. In a surprise move, U.S. lawmakers agreed to extend tax credits for solar and wind for another five years. This will give an unprecedented boost to the industry and change the course of deployment in the U.S.

The extension will add an extra 20 gigawatts of solar power—more than every panel ever installed in the U.S. prior to 2015, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). The U.S. was already one of the world's biggest clean-energy investors. This deal is like adding another America of solar power into the mix.

The wind credit will contribute another 19 gigawatts over five years. Combined, the extensions will spur more than $73 billion of investment and supply enough electricity to power 8 million U.S. homes, according to BNEF...

This is exactly the sort of bridge the industry needed. The costs of installing wind and solar power have dropped precipitously—by more than 90 percent since the original tax credits took effect—but in most places coal and natural gas are still cheaper than unsubsidized renewables. By the time the new tax credit expires, solar and wind will be the cheapest forms of new electricity in many states across the U.S.

The tax credits, valued at about $25 billion over five years, will drive $38 billion of investment in solar and $35 billion in wind through 2021, according to BNEF. The scale of the new projects will help push costs down further and will stimulate new investment that lasts beyond the extension of the credits."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-17/what-just-happened-to-solar-and-wind-is-a-really-big-deal

12/21/2015

http://apnorc.org/projects/Pages/HTML%20Reports/american-attitudes-about-global-warming-and-energy-policy-issue-brief.aspx

12/05/2015

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/12/how-solar-and-wind-got-so-cheap-so-fast/418257/

11/21/2015

"Keys to Success in Paris

1. Commit to cut carbon emissions significantly by 2030:
Ideally, negotiations will result in a binding treaty, but even a nonbinding agreement will represent progress.
2. Establish reporting and transparency requirements:
There needs to be a way to measure progress and hold countries accountable in the years ahead.
3. Create a payment system to finance climate adaptation:
Industrialized nations need to help poorer nations adapt to climate change. Climate financing aims to reach $100 billion annually by 2020.
4. Put past disagreements aside:
Previous climate conferences have devolved into finger-pointing over which countries bear responsibility for climate change, and who should pay to address it. We can’t afford this type of blame game anymore.
5. Agree to return to the negotiating table regularly:
Paris is a starting point, but the current national plans aren’t enough. The Obama administration wants countries to meet every five years with more aggressive plans.
6. Rethink the 2-degree target:
Limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius would prevent the worst effects of climate change, but it’s no longer a relevant or realistic goal. Any agreement in Paris should articulate a new long-term commitment to limit fossil fuel development."

https://newrepublic.com/article/123223/plan-save-world

What success at the Paris climate conference looks like.

11/19/2015

http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2010/02/23/a-%E2%80%9Clegally-binding%E2%80%9D-climate-agreement-what-does-it-mean-why-does-it-matter/

10/23/2015

http://reports.climatecentral.org/pulp-fiction/1/

Burning wood from American trees in European power plants is heating the atmosphere more quickly than coal. This is Part I from a five-month Climate Central investigation.

09/09/2015

Join Save the Rain this Saturday for the annual Clean Water Fair at 650 Hiawatha Blvd West from 9 am - 2 pm! Including tours & displays, rain barrels, live animals, free food, & kids’ activities :) Visit http://savetherain.us/2015-fair for full details!!!

08/21/2015

Want to figure out if your roof is ideal for solar power? Google’s Project Sunroof can help. http://bit.ly/1EAf61n

A new one-stop shop for going solar?