AZ Central: SRP Ads, PR for Solar Rate Hike Topped $1 Million

Salt River Project spent about $1.7 million on advertising in three months as it tried to drum up support for a rate hike that included a controversial increase on solar fees.

Financial records and e-mails obtained from the utility show the company geared up last year for an intense debate with solar advocates, whom one SRP executive referred to as "the enemy" in an e-mail to public-relations consultants. The company says the phrase was used in jest.

E&E News: Report Calls Low Oil Prices an Expensive Distraction From Future Energy Needs

Lower oil prices provide temporary relief for consumers, but rising volatility around oil prices will be a much bigger challenge to long-term energy market stability and could undermine a transition to clean energy, according to a new analysis prepared by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate.

In a 20-page report from the multinational group's New Climate Economy project, economists warn that the recent drop in oil and natural gas prices, while providing short-term economic relief, may compel governments to authorize expensive fossil energy projects that ultimately prove much more costly under national and international carbon reduction systems.

Bloomberg: Korea’s Fuel-Cell Strategy Takes Page From China Solar Playbook

South Korea is tapping into U.S. ingenuity to drive the market for fuel cells, the clean-energy technology that converts hydrogen or natural gas into electricity.

Conglomerates based in South Korea are buying, investing in or partnering with U.S. fuel-cell makers, seeking to build on their designs for the complex systems by incorporating cheaper production methods that will make them more economical.

Times Union: Though Considered Safe, Solar Panels Offer Challenges to Firefighters

The growing number of solar panels on businesses and homes is creating challenges for firefighters, even though the units themselves rarely spark blazes.

On Friday, firefighters battled a fire at a medical office in Latham that started in the solar panels on the roof. Firefighters were able to get the flames doused within an hour, but they had to avoid walking on the still-charged panels and had to vent the roof from the opposite side, where no panels were installed.

"It does limit our access to the roof," said Deputy Chief Joseph Toomey of the Albany Fire Department.

Forbes Opinion: Climate Scientists Get Respect, So Why Don't Nuclear Scientists?

When we talk about climate change, we point out that 97% of climate scientists agree that we are in a warming period and that we need to act.

When we converse about biological evolution, we acknowledge that 100% of geologists understand that biological evolution has been acting on Earth for the last 4 billion years.

But whenever nuclear energy is discussed on TV or in the news, the nuclear science community is never referenced; in fact, there rarely is a real nuclear scientist present. Only anti-nuclear activists. Why?