QUICK NEWS, December 2: NYE THE SCIENCE GUY HAS CLIMATE CHANGE FIX; NYC TO PLUG IN; PROVEN - COST-EFFECTIVE NEW ENERGY WILL STOP CLIMATE CHANGE

NYE THE SCIENCE GUY HAS CLIMATE CHANGE FIX Science Guy Bill Nye’s radically simple blueprint for ending climate change

Ashley Rodriguez, December 1, 2015 (Quartz)

“Bill Nye ‘The Science Guy’ instilled an early appreciation for science in young Americans who grew up watching his TV show in the ’90s. And now, he’s using his voice to spark a national conversation about climate change…[His new book Unstoppable outlines how today’s ‘Next Great Generation’] can use science to curb climate change within their lifetime…It’s just so overwhelming, you can’t even contemplate doing [anything, he says, but] the longest journey begins with but a single step…[He recommends beginning with] efforts at the household, local, national and global levels that would enable us to ‘do more with less’ and reduce our carbon footprint]…The big thing is to electrify ground [and air] transportation…[C]ompared to mobilizing for World War II, it’s not that big a job…Consumers are now making choices based on the environment, which is perhaps the most powerful thing you can do. That’s good news…” click here for more

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NYC TO PLUG IN New York City Aims for Vast Electric Car Fleet by 2025

Michael M. Grynbaum, December 1, 2015 (NY Times)

“By 2025, New York City is planning to employ the largest municipal fleet of electric vehicles in the country, along with a sprawling network of charging stations to go with it…[In Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan],around 2,000 city-owned sedans, used by local agencies like the Transportation Department and the Parks and Recreation Department, would be replaced with electric vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf over the next decade…The city owns a total of roughly 11,000 sedans and sport utility vehicles…The electric vehicles — a majority of which are expected to operate entirely without fuel — would make up about half of the city’s nonemergency fleet…The program is expected to require a capital investment of between $50 million and $80 million over 10 years, to support the creation of additional charging capacity for the vehicles…[Fuel savings will] help offset additional costs…The conversion, which would occur in phases as existing vehicles are retired, is projected to help cut the city government’s vehicle emissions by about 50 percent by 2025…” click here for more

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PROVEN - COST-EFFECTIVE NEW ENERGY WILL STOP CLIMATE CHANGE Stanford study finds promise in expanding renewables based on results in three major economies; A new Stanford study found that renewable energy can make a major and increasingly cost-effective contribution to alleviating climate change.

Terry Nagel, December 1, 2015 (Stanford News)

“…[A new Stanford study compares the experiences of three large economies in ramping up renewable energy deployment and concludes that renewables can make a major and increasingly cost-effective contribution to climate change mitigation [according to A Tale of Three Markets: Comparing the Solar and Wind Deployment Experiences of California, Texas, and Germany about] the experiences of Germany, California and Texas, the world's fourth, eighth and 12th largest economies, respectively. It found, among other things, that Germany, which gets about half as much sunshine as California and Texas, nevertheless generates electricity from solar installations at a cost comparable to that of Texas and only slightly higher than in California…[It also found that Germany's success in deploying renewable energy at scale is due largely to favorable treatment of ‘soft cost’ factors such as financing, permitting, installation and grid access…[which allows] some countries to deliver up to four times the average deployment of other countries, despite offering only half the financial incentives…[It also found an] increase in the share of intermittent solar and wind power need not jeopardize the stability of the electric grid…” click here for more

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