Solar Energy

Sugar Editorial Picks

Berkeley Moves to Finance Home Solar Panels: Bright Idea?

Sep 18, 2008 - Berkeley, CA, has grabbed attention again — this time for starting a pioneering new program to provide city-backed loans for home solar-electric systems. This week the city council approved a new tax district that allows residents to finance solar energy systems through their property taxes. Here's how the program works: the city provides the money for the installation and materials, and homeowners are able to pay back the loan at a fixed rate over 20 years. - 20 Comments

Shady Justice? Court Says Blocking Solar Panels Is Illegal

Apr 07, 2008 - In an epic showdown of redwood trees and solar panels, two environmentally-conscious families from Northern California met in criminal court for a battle of the shade. One electric car-owning family complained that their Prius-driving neighbors had redwood trees that were preventing the sun from hitting their solar panels. This is not an episode of South Park, but an actual proceeding in California criminal court. - 28 Comments

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The Obama Girls Go Green at School

Dec 06, 2008 - On Friday, CasaSugar let you know about the American Institute of Architecture's offer to help the White House become an international model of energy efficiency. If President-elect Barack Obama takes AIA up on the offer, he'll really be getting somewhere with his aforementioned green building goals. But, as it turns out, Obama has already begun to walk the walk: after much ado, he and Michelle have decided to send their daughters, Malia and Sasha, to an environmentally friendly, LEED-platinum school, the Sidwell Friends School in D.C. - 14 Comments

Army Green: 5 Ways the Military Will Lighten Its Carbon Load

Aug 27, 2008 - I don't know why I'd never thought about the military as a progressive force for change until I read this, but it makes sense: racial integration and that miracle we call the internet both marched out of the military. Now, one more modern change is coming — the military is going greener than fatigues! The Department of Defense is responsible for over 1.5 percent of all US energy consumption, and it's now looking (prepare for the most overused phrase in "eco" . - 8 Comments

Gore Shoots For the Moon With 10-Year Climate Change Goal

Jul 17, 2008 - Al Gore wants every kilowatt of electricity we use to be produced by wind, sun, and other sustainable energy sources within 10 years. Gore is giving a speech on global warming right now in Washington, but previewed his finer points to the Associated Press saying he hopes the new president will share his deadline. Though he has endorsed Barack Obama, he praised both Obama and McCain for being "way ahead" of most politicians in the fight against global climate change. - 54 Comments

Front Page: Mugabe at African Union Summit, Bush Signs War Bill, India Goes Solar

Jun 30, 2008 -

Mugabe at African Union Summit: Newly sworn-in for a sixth term as president, Robert Mugabe who wrested a win from violent elections in Zimbabwe, is traveling in his official capacity. Mugabe arrived in Egypt today for an African Union summit, under pressure from the UN and his neighbors to create peace with his adversaries, perhaps difficult as world leaders have called the contest illegitimate because of bloodshed and intimidation, being neither free, fair, nor credible. The UN deputy secretary general, told the African leaders "we are facing an extremely grave crisis. - 2 Comments
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Al Gore's Own Warming — His Home Energy Use Goes Up!

Jun 19, 2008 - Oh, Al! It's as if I'm psychic. Just the other day we were talking about the factors that distract from environmental causes, and his royal greenness himself, Al Gore, and his energy sucking house of eco-horrors came up. - 79 Comments

Mediterranean Union Agrees to Rid the Middle East of WMDs

Jul 14, 2008 - Nicolas Sarkozy, seen below with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, relished his role as host of 43 nations from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, launching his new Mediterranean Union. At the culmination of the meeting held in Paris yesterday, the nations' leaders condemned "terrorism in all forms" and agreed to "pursue a mutually and effectively verifiable Middle East Zone free of weapons of mass destruction." Sarkozy's brainstorm has achieved the bold initiative of bringing together warring and impoverished nations alongside wealthy and industrialized nations to form the Mediterranean Union. - 9 Comments