Defenders of Wildlife Blog

A typical day at Stockholm's Central Station.

A Swedish company has found a new use for some of Stockholm’s hottest bods — that is, heating big buildings, of course!

The hustle and bustle of a quarter-million passengers through this European city’s rail hub, Central Station, generates a lot of juice – enough electricity to lower energy costs at a nearby 13-story building by up to 25 percent, according to a BBC News report.

Who’d have guessed that body heat could be such a potent source of renewable (dare I say clean) energy? Apparently, the idea’s been around for a while. According to Time, the Mall of America in Minnesota also captures body heat to help keep shoppers toasty warm in winter.

But this story offers a fresh reminder that smart, renewable energy possibilities are all around us… from solar panels covering parking lots to that bloke brushing by on your morning commute.

The more creative solutions we use, such as capturing body heat, the less pressure energy development will place on wildlife like threatened desert tortoises and their habitat on public lands.

Learn more about large-scale solar energy development’s impacts on wildlife and public lands.

Members Project

We found this great story through our Members Project partners, TakePart.

The American Express Members Project has selected Defenders as a a candidate to receive $200,000 in funding, but only if we get the most votes.

Help us win the contest. Two hundred grand will go a long way to help save our wildlife and wild places. And all YOU need to do is vote!

Breaking: Draft impact study signals shift in solar energy planning strategy

The Interior Department released an environmental study today that is viewed by conservation groups as a welcome shift in solar siting strategy away from the “fast-track” process.

The draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), a document totaling more than 10,000 pages, aims to drive solar energy development to areas that would reduce impacts on wildlife, water and the environment.

We strongly support solar energy development when it’s done in the right places and in the right ways to protect wildlife, water and wild lands.  — Jim Lyons, Defenders’ renewable energy expert

A Broken Process

The “fast-track” process – focused on project by project reviews of previously proposed renewable energy projects — has been widely criticized by conservationists as an impediment to developing a more strategic, efficient and cost-effective program for guiding future clean-energy development.

The current process has allowed renewable energy developers to choose project sites, apply for permits and draw-up costly plans before fully studying impacts on the land, scarce desert water and wildlife. A similar process is also likely to be used by the Interior Department to permit renewable energy projects in 2011. Conservationists have argued that the lessons learned from the “fast-track” projects should be used to improve the process and help inform a long-term strategy for energy development on public lands.

The following is a statement by Jim Lyons, Defenders of Wildlife’s senior director for renewable energy development:

“We strongly support solar energy development when it’s done in the right places and in the right ways to protect wildlife, water and wild lands. The draft Programmatic EIS for solar energy development begins to move us away from a haphazard, project by project approach to one that is more strategic and guides development to the places where energy can be produced with minimal conflict with wildlife and the environment.

“The Bureau of Land Management’s proposal offers us an historic opportunity to begin planning a clean energy future that’s smart from the start,

BLM lands in California.

where solar power plants are designed, built and operated in ways that produce the benefits of clean energy and minimize the collateral damage to wildlife and important habitats that can result. Although we haven’t had a chance yet to fully digest the study, we’ll be closely analyzing it in the coming weeks and look forward to participating in the public listening sessions and to working with the Interior Department to improve it.

“Smart, sustainable planning and a national renewable energy strategy is essential if we’re going to successfully and quickly transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy sources that will benefit our economy, produce jobs, and protect the environment. The BLM’s study is the first step in this direction. That’s why it’s vitally important that the Interior Department get this right.”

Desert tortoises are threatened with extinction.

Defenders will be reviewing the draft PEIS to determine…

• That it provides protection for wildlife, threatened and endangered species, critical habitat and wildlife linkages
• If the proposed zones will, in fact, reduce conflicts with wildlife, water and natural resources and speed up environmentally sound solar projects
• That renewable energy development is guided to the appropriate zones, such as through the use of incentives
• That solar energy development doesn’t rely on drawing unsustainable amounts of water from desert environments
• That it encourages development on abandoned agriculture lands, brownfields,  former mines and other already disturbed places
• How many acres of public lands are necessary and suitable for renewable energy development to meet our clean energy needs
• And in the end, that clean energy projects minimize and mitigate impacts on wildlife, water, wild lands and important natural resources

Learn more about Defenders’ work on renewable energy.

Courtesy of the Department of Energy

IN THE NEWS: Montana senator touts clean energy

U.S. Senator Jon Tester of Montana said that, on the whole, wind energy development has been good to Montana’s economy because “…wind energy is low-cost, it’s easy to create, and it creates jobs,” according to his statement on the Montana Associated Technology Roundtables’ website posted earlier this week.

He also derided recent criticisms that wind energy is too expensive for Montanans as based on “junk science.”

Learn more about wind energy and wildlife.

“A recent opinion has been making the rounds in Montana newspapers, claiming that wind energy is too expensive and would somehow result in higher energy prices in our state. That’s what I call junk science.” – Sen. Jon Tester

Will Sen. Tester emerge as a champion for our nation’s clean energy future in the new year? Only time will tell, but as a state lawmaker in 2005, Sen. Tester passed legislation requiring power companies to use at least 15 percent of electricity from renewable resources by 2015.

Congress is debating a nationwide renewable energy standard. Let’s hope they’re looking to the “Big Sky Country” for some inspiration.

Read more about Defenders’ position on a national renewable energy standard.

It’s been a tough year for national climate and energy policy in the U.S. and unfortunately progress is practically at a standstill. However, not so for states – states have been leading the way on addressing climate change, reducing carbon emissions and accelerating the development of a clean energy economy. But now, Prop. 23 threatens to undo that progress, and move our country backward.

California has a long, proud history of leading the country in passing policies to reduce pollution to protect our air, water, wildlife and open spaces. And because of the state’s economic clout, that leadership often drives the nation towards more sustainable policies and business practices. Prop. 23 in California threatens to undermine one of the most important energy, economic and environmental laws passed in the last decade – AB 32, which sets up a system to drive down emissions and accelerate the demand and development of clean energy technologies.

At some point, we will have to come to terms with the fact that our current energy portfolio cannot sustain us. America’s continued dependence on fossil fuels is simply too dangerous – for the workers sent into coal mines or living on offshore drilling rigs; for the energy security of the country; for our air, water and wildlife; and for the very climate that sustains us. We can’t afford to rely on fossil fuels any longer.

Over the past month, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has approved five of the first six “fast-track” solar power plants ever permitted on public lands in California. His most recent announcement was of a 1,000 megawatt solar farm that has the potential to generate enough clean electricity to power more than 300,000 homes. In addition, the project will create more than 1,000 jobs during construction and some 221 permanent jobs when it becomes fully operational. And while not all of these projects are good for wildlife, their climate benefits are undeniable.

It’s clear that California is at the center of the beginning of a clean energy revolution, and its economy has much to gain from renewable energy development. But Prop. 23 could put the brakes on demand for clean energy at a time when our country needs to accelerate its transition to a clean energy economy. We need more renewable energy development that’s smart from the start, where projects are located in the right places and done in the right ways to protect wildlife, wildlands, water and other important natural resources. Abandoned mines, brownfields and other industrial sites are a few of the places that provide good options for solar development.

The climate and energy debate is not just about California. The battle that is being played out in the Golden State reflects the gridlock paralyzing the whole country. The passage of Prop. 23 would fuel the resistance of big corporate polluters across the country to take responsibility for cleaning up their dirty operations. (Exactly the reason why they are pouring so much money into the state to promote Prop. 23.) Passage of Prop. 23 would make it even more difficult to gain momentum for climate and energy legislation on a national scale. Conversely, should Californians stand strong on the issue of battling climate change, defeat Prop. 23 and uphold AB 32, it will send a clear message to the rest of the country: the dirty, dangerous energy sources of the past will no longer drive our energy agenda and corporate polluters cannot hold us back from a clean, smart energy future.

California – this Election Day, the country looks to you. In which direction will you lead us?

This post originally appeared on the National Journal’s Expert Blog.

Last Wednesday, an incident at a local solar plant resulted in a massive solar containment failure. The amount of sunlight released into the environment was unprecedented. Here is a firsthand account from the highly trained hazmat professionals who were called to the scene.

A bill by Chairman Nick Rahall to reform the lax oil and gas drilling practices that allowed millions of gallons of oil to spew into the Gulf of Mexico was approved today by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Natural Resource Committee.

The measure (H.R. 3534), also known as the CLEAR Act, puts real reform on track for Congress to pass a law this year to clean up the federal agencies responsible for regulating on- and off-shore drilling.

Robert Dewey, Defenders of Wildlife’s vice president of government relations said, “The Gulf oil disaster painfully highlights that drilling in our oceans and on land is a dirty, risky business and that federal oversight to better protect wildlife needs strengthening.

“It’s encouraging to see Congressman Rahall’s leadership on the challenging and crucial task of changing the way our nation does business with oil and gas companies. We need clear guidance, sound science and strong oversight of energy development across the country to ensure the safety of our lands, waters, wildlife and economy in future energy development.”

Read the full press release.