Oh no you didn’tQuestPoint

I don’t think most people get pleasure out of seeing photos of oil drenched sea birds, dolphins and miles of once beautiful beaches blackened by BP’s undersea hell hole poking. The environmental impact is just starting to be seen despite BP’s best efforts to restrict images coming out of the Gulf of Mexico. But for some it’s not about the principle of the thing, it’s about the money. And surely the economic impact will be felt for years… tourism, fishing the entire economy of the region has been poisoned and is going to take an incredible hit.

Solar power & electric vehicle synergy

But what can we do? Electric vehicles, solar, wind, wave and a myriad of sustainable ventures offer a renewable and far less dangerous solution to what is currently going on. In fact take a look at the video of a Berkeley California family that’s been driving an electric vehicle for years now and uses solar panels to provide energy for their home. Toyota and Tesla Motors have just teamed up to start churning out a new line of electric cars. And Santa Rosa based ZAP recently won a contract with the US Post office to begin transitioning some of their fleet to electric. Others in EV business include Nissan LEAP, Mini – E, Volt and Coda. Even though the 2006 film Who Killed the Electric Car (see the trailer here) highlighted GM’s role destroying electric transportation. Electric vehicles have been around for at least 100 years. ZAP also owns Thomas Edison’s “electromobile” from 1910 and the Detroit Electric brand.

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MIKE PAPANTONIO – RING OF FIRE

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Robert Kuttner

Co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect

BP and the Bankers

Question of the Day: What do the oil catastrophe and the Wall Street collapse have in common?
Three big things, I’d say.
In both cases, a powerful, politically protected industry invented something that could not easily be repaired when it broke. We seem to be entering an age when complex technologies, whether financial or physical, sometimes literally have no solutions when they go haywire in unanticipated ways. We thought this might happen with nuclear power (and it still could); but for now deepwater drilling is the bigger menace.

SolFocus and Victor Valley College Complete the Largest Solar Power Plant of its Kind in North America

Victorville, Calif.– Victor Valley College and SolFocus held a grand opening ceremony today for the largest solar power plant in North America using concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems. After two months of construction, the one megawatt solar power plant is now providing clean power to Victor Valley College in Victorville, California.

About the Solar Power Plant:
•   The Victor Valley College solar micro-generating facility is now connected to the regional electrical grid operated by Southern California Edison and will produce approximately 2.6 million kilowatt-hours annually, which is roughly 30 percent of the College’s electricity demand.
•   Construction of the six acre plant was completed in two months.
•   The plant is located on the college’s main campus and consists of 122 SolFocus SF-1100S CPV arrays.
Green Jobs Training:
•   The college will be developing curriculum within its existing academic and technical programs around this innovative solar technology, including installation, operations, and maintenance.
•   SolFocus will be supporting the college in its curriculum development around advanced solar energy technology including materials, training, and instruction.
Quotes from Grand Opening Participants:
•   “As we open this facility today, Victor Valley College boasts one of the largest and most innovative on-campus solar plants in North America. In addition to providing energy cost savings and a new revenue stream, these 122 arrays will provide the ideal testing ground for our students to build green careers that support the nation’s new energy economy.” – Dr. Christopher O’Hearn, Superintendant and President, Victor Valley College
•   “The beauty of this project is that we can provide one megawatt of clean power in the desert with minimal land and water impact. At the same time, we can train the next generation of solar professionals with innovative technology. SolFocus believes such distributed generation projects will mobilize other colleges, communities, and organizations across the U.S. to incorporate renewable energy into their power supply on the path toward even larger utility-scale projects. When you add it all up, you have a clear vision for the new energy economy.” – Mark Crowley, President and CEO, SolFocus (technology provider)

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