Our Favorite Sites
Submitted by admin_ecov on Tue, 2009-10-06 12:59
These links are designed to give you a good jumping-off point to learn more about green energy, RECs, global climate change and the green lifestyle. We have highlighted sites that offer good information to the non-expert. Feel free to create a list of your own and add it to the site.
First: before you spend a cent on solar panel, wind turbines, energy efficient purchases, new insulation, or any other investment in renewable energy or energy efficiency, find out what government money is avaible to you. The DSIRE site has the complete list: federal, state, local and utility. Your home improvement project might cost you a lot less than you expect. Know this stie!
Wikipedia is always a good place to start to get an overview to an issue. You should never have 100% faith in their articles, but they are the best place to take a first step. Follow cross links to see how subjects relate to each other, and always look for links at the end...they point you to your next steps. There are built-in warnings on pages where the information might be overly biased or poorly researched.
These are good sites to start off learning about solar, wind, and biomass energy.
http://www.biomassauthority.com/
For a global perspective on energy, this site is run by UNICEF.
The United Nations Environmental Project has tons of maps, charts and graphics to give a different perspective on environmental issues.
To learn about Renewable Energy Certificates, well...start with us! We've packed a lot of information into our REC Center.
To learn about global climate change, we recommend these three sites, and the first in particular.
http://www.aip.org/history/climate/index.html
http://climatechangeeducation.org/
http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/
This Wikipedia article on the global warming "controversy" is particularly well researched, and features many links.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_controversy
This PDF is a great introduction to carbon offsets.
http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/ConsumersGuidetoCarbonOffsets.pdf
David Suzuki is a leading educator and proponent of responsible global living. While there's no question where he stands on issues, he does a good job of giving a thoughtful, balanced presentation.
The US government runs several sites which give good introductions to renewable energy.
Department of Energy
Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
National Renewable Energy Labroratory - this one might be a bit information-dense. Lots of good pictures available for use.
The EPA has a calculator which shows you how your electric grid rates in terms of the mix of power plants that supply it. Enter different ZIP codes to find out which states generate the cleanest electricity, and which are not so clean.
http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/how-clean.html
This site lists all government incentive programs for renewable energy in every state.
Want to get active? This page on the AWEA wind power site gives you a good introduction to the kind of local legislation you can work to promote.
http://www.awea.org/greenpower/gp_policies1.html
This site is probably the best clearinghouse for information on recycling programs in your area.
There are many carbon calculators that will give you an idea of your "carbon footprint." These are a couple of them that we think are well put together.
An Inconvenient Truth: the rock star of the global warming movement!
http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/
This one is has a good interface, though it may be a bit overwhelming.
The folks at Berkeley in California have created a very good calculator, which you can find here.
