Over the last few months, we've discussed the courageous activists pushing back against efforts by fossil-fuel titans Kinder Morgan and Spectra Energy to impose unwanted pipelines upon Massachusetts residents via eminent domain.

Of course, the Bay State isn't alone in waging this fight against polluters who have exploited eminent domain in an attempt to double their dollars: activists in Illinois are waging a remarkably similar battle--with recent legal success--against the Dakota Access pipeline, a dirty-energy project backed by, among others, a Koch Brothers front group. 

Tabitha Tripp and other positive forces in the Prairie State are to be commended for their efforts. The fight against entrenched fossil-fuel power is perhaps the most arduous of political and legal battles; the enemies of climate progress count on being able to exhaust the opposition emotionally and spiritually. Yet the enemies of climate progress consistently underestimate the tenacity and resolve of climate hawks.

What the polluters don't know about us is that we have a moral obligation not to give up. We're in this fight to protect future generations--and the nobility and morality of this fight gives us strength even when our minds and bodies are exhausted.

The energy generated by fighting for this moral cause is a renewable resource. Those of us fighting dirty energy in Massachusetts, Illinois and across this great land are brothers and sisters in the same struggle--and when it comes to protecting Mother Earth, we put family first.

…D.R. Tucker

Massachusetts’ Governor Baker released a plan to raise the solar ‘net metering’ limits. It’s a start, at least, but the details of the proposal show some real risks for the continued growth of the solar market. Climate Hawks should take some credit for demanding action, but now is the time to redouble our efforts to improve the bill. We discuss.

The opinions and reaction to the President’s Clean Energy Plan have come quickly and loudly, from both the left and right of the political spectrum.  It is important to know what all the talking heads are saying, but as Mother Nature points out (here channeled by Julia Roberts), the planet doesn’t need us-we need the planet.  The laws of physics will be obeyed no matter what James Hansen or Mitch McConnell say. Listen in!

After years in the making, the Obama Administration released the final version of America’s Clean Power Plan. It’s a pretty significant achievement, the first serious effort to control carbon emissions in the US. We discuss the context in which the plan was created, and review some top-level aspects of the plan itself.

The Obama Administration’s decision to allow oil exploration in the Chukchi Sea shows passivity where leadership is required. Climate hawks, like the “Kayaktivists” in Seattle, will just have to stop Shell by themselves. The framing of the TPP on the news is inaccurate. Instead of endless discussion of winners and losers, we should ask “Why can’t an environmental group have the same access to the negotiations as Exxon? Why isn’t Bill McKibben at the table?”   Finally, consider if the current global refugee crisis is a harbinger of the future in a warming world.