QUICK NEWS, August 8: Numbers Show Leo’s Oscars Pitch On Climate Woke Audience Up; Tesla Driving From Car Company To New Energy Powerhouse; Xcel Will Add Wind To Cut Costs

Numbers Show Leo’s Oscars Pitch On Climate Woke Audience Up Leonardo DiCaprio Oscar Speech on Climate Change Makes a Difference Based on Statistics

Sky Selrach, August 8, 2016 (Nature World News)

“…[The numbers show Leonardo DiCaprio's Oscar speech on climate change got people talking, according to] researchers from San Diego State University…DiCaprio, who won the award for best actor, spoke up about climate change in his acceptance speech. At that time, 34.5 million people were watching him…After his speech, tweets about climate change and global warming rose up to 636%...It is reportedly the highest record in the database, which is up to 250,000 tweets. Aside from Twitter, it affected the number on Google searches. Climate change became the highest search on Google trends…The study simply concludes that celebrities are indeed agents of change, especially when it comes to important world issues…” click here for more

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Tesla Driving From Car Company To New Energy Powerhouse Solar System: Can Tesla go from sexy car company to clean energy empire?

Russ Mitchell, August 8, 2016 (LA Times)

“…[At Tesla Motors, Elon Musk is tapping into Apple-style branding magic to expand his car company into an] ecosystem centered on sustainable energy, solar panels and batteries…[He wants to merge Tesla with SolarCity to bring a major solar energy company into the fold, and he is] laying out a sweeping ‘master plan’ to transform Tesla beyond cars, by expanding into eco-friendly trucks and buses, ride-sharing and more…The bold entrepreneur envisions Tesla stores as all-in-one destinations for green-minded shoppers, where one can buy an electric car, a charging station, a solar rooftop for the house and a futuristic-looking battery to store the excess power…

“…[To make the company into a] creator of a new way of living, with image and branding and marketing that convince consumers of all kinds to shell out big bucks…Musk needs many, many more customers…There’s no guarantee that people are ready to flock to solar power in the numbers necessary for success. There’s no assurance that he can bring prices down for cars and energy systems low enough to appeal to the masses. It’s unclear whether a market exists for a home energy software ecosystem powerful enough to hold customers…” click here for more

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Xcel Will Add Wind To Cut Costs Xcel Energy plans to add more wind energy: company

Bob Matyi, 4 August 2016 (S&P Global/Platts)

“Xcel Energy plans to add at least 800 MW of wind energy over the next five years to help advance its goal of reducing carbon emissions by 60% by 2030 from 2005 levels…[but] was forced to cut its electric sales forecast for 2016 after results of the first six months failed to meet its previous projections…[T]he staff of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission has recommended conditional approval of the company's proposed 600-MW Rush Creek wind farm, which would be the state's largest wind project to date…Xcel serves customers in eight states…[and wants] to add more wind energy in its home state of Minnesota…Xcel also filed an application with Colorado regulators for a $500 million [grid improvement project that] would include the installation of advanced meters…” click here for more

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