NJ Spotlight: NRG Sets Target of 90% Cut in Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050

NRG Energy is committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and 90 percent by 2050, an ambitious goal for the nation’s largest independent power producer, particularly one with a fleet of up to twenty coal-fired plants.

Triad Business Journal: North Carolina's Solar Energy Grew 127 Percent in 3 Years, Study Says

Solar power in North Carolina grew by 127 percent between 2010 and 2013, a new study shows, and is on pace to generate 20 percent of the state's power in approximately fifteen years.

The data shows that more than 1 million homes and buildings in North Carolina currently have the potential to install solar panels.

The Hill: Don’t ‘Pull the Rug Out’ From Under Wind Energy, Says GOP Lawmaker

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) demanded that any tax extender package include the wind energy tax credit.

“I’m concerned about rumors that some are working to leave out or shorten the extension of the wind energy tax credit,” Grassley said on the Senate floor Thursday. “I agree the tax code has gotten too cluttered…but it doesn’t mean we should pull the rug out from under domestic energy producers.”

Inside Climate News: Does Wal-Mart Have a Dirty Energy Secret?

For the past decade, Wal-Mart has touted itself as a leader in sustainability, boasting about its efforts to increase renewable energy and reduce energy waste throughout its supply chain.

But a new report released Thursday finds that Wal-Mart relies as heavily on fossil fuels now as it did when it launched its sustainability initiative nearly ten years ago.

Washington Post: There’s Growing Evidence That Global Warming Is Driving Crazy Winters

It may be the timeliest -- and most troubling -- idea in climate science.

Back in 2012, two researchers with a particular interest in the Arctic, Rutgers' Jennifer Francis and the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Stephen Vavrus, published a paper titled "Evidence linking Arctic amplification to extreme weather in mid-latitudes." In it, they suggest that the fact that the Arctic is warming so rapidly is leading to an unexpected but profound effect on the weather in areas where the vast majority of us live -- a change that, if their theory is correct, may have something to do with the extreme winter weather the U.S. has seen lately.