During the first third of 2017 renewable energy, including hydroelectric power as well as newer sources like solar and wind power, provided more of the US’s electricity (20.75 percent) supply than nuclear (20.20 percent). This is the first time since nuclear power plants began coming online in the US that renewable energy has outproduced nuclear. 

With the 2017 SEPA Power Player Awards, the nonprofit Smart Electric Power Alliance recognizes utilities, industry partners, individuals and others for their efforts to transform the electric system in the US. The awards, previously the Solar Power Players Awards, have expanded with two new awards, Change Agent of the Year and Visionary of the Year, reflecting the growth of SEPA’s mission. The awardees are selected by a panel of seven judges with diverse experience in the electric industry.

The US has relied on so-called baseload electricity since the electric grid was established and began to grow across the country until it served most residences and businesses across the country. But as wind, solar and natural gas and flexible energy providers are able to provide reliable, lower-cost energy than energy from large generators like coal and nuclear plants, it’s time to retire the idea of baseload power, according to a new report commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

During the US Conference of Mayors annual conference last week USCM and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) introduced the early results of a new survey showing that an overwhelming majority of mayors are interested in working with each other and the private sector on reducing climate change. 

Last week we got a glimpse of how many clean energy jobs California has—more than a half million, but at the same time we learned killing President Barak Obama’s (D) Clean Power Plan is a missed opportunity to create another half million jobs across the country. Meanwhile we also found out that the world’s biggest banks are still investing in extreme fossil fuels, thereby increasing climate change, but New York’s Green Bank is showing that investing in clean energy is turning a profit for it—ahead of schedule. 

The campaigns for the 2018 election season are getting under swing already. Yesterday (June 22) NextGen Climate launched NextGen Rising an effort to register, motivate, persuade, and turn out thousands of young voters in their 20s and 30s during the 2018 election cycle. 

New York’s Green Bank is showing that investing in green technologies and reducing emissions is profitable. The state-run bank, which launched in 2014, said that in the fiscal year of 2016-2017 it generated $2.7 million in positive net income on $291.6 million in investments in clean energy—and that it achieved the earnings a year ahead of schedule. 

In 2016 the world’s biggest banks invested $87 billion into extreme fossil fuels, which include tar sands, Arctic, and ultra-deepwater oil as well as coal mining and other efforts, helping speed climate change. While that’s 22 percent less than the $111 billion they invested in fossil fuels like coal and oil in 2015, environmental organizations, among them the Rainforest Action Network, are concerned that it’s not enough.

Transportation is still one of the biggest places where companies can become more efficient and reduce the amount of pollution they emit. Now a new campaign, Run on Less, led by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency and Carbon War Room’s Trucking Efficiency Operation is looking to show how fleets of tractor trailers can reduce their emissions. 

To help speed the growth of new energy storage technologies the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is offering up to $6.3 million to emerging energy storage technologies that will support more renewables and the electric grid. The new announcement came as the 11th annual NY Solar (+Storage) Summit in Manhattan launched.