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Lonnie Johnson has some impressive hard science credentials. He's worked for the Strategic Air Command and for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, outfitting missions to Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. He holds about 100 patents, many of them in that arcane spot where chemistry, electricity and physics cross into the marketplace. And his latest invention appears to do the impossible: generating electricity with no fuel and no moving parts. But he's still known as Mr. Squirt Gun. Even among the geniuses who gathered to honor him and his new thermo-electrochemical converter at a "Breakthrough Awards" banquet in Manhattan this month, the Atlanta scientist's new invention was ignored when his most famous device was revealed.

In honor of our 42nd year printing the news and raising hell, the Guardian imagines a sustainable future for San Francisco, with visions for energy, land use, food, transportation, culture, and the economy. A city transformed:Fighting the power structure, and building a sustainable community, for 42 amazing years People's power:A sustainable energy system is well within San Francisco's reach First, do no harm:A sustainable land use plan is about what we don't allow as well as what we do Beyond the automobile:The road to sustainability has lanes for more than just cars Just Food Nation:Transforming how we eat will address poverty, public health, and environmental sustainability Culture isn't convenient:Sustaining entertainment and nightlife in San Francisco requires awareness and a policy shift The money at home:A sustainable local economy starts with small business - and the public sector

With a new President and Congress, we have an unprecedented opportunity to transform our fossil fuel economy to one based largely on clean energy, while creating millions of jobs in the process. Last month, we offered a Clean Energy 2030 proposal for how the U.S. can dramatically scale up renewable energy, become smarter about how we use energy, and deploy millions of plug-in electric cars. Our energy team has continued crunching the numbers and just posted new data on job creation and cost savings on our knol. We'll keep updating the information and encourage everyone to take a look and comment - and offer alternative approaches if you disagree. Reaching the goals of Clean Energy 2030 will require a comprehensive effort by the new President and Congress.

Read It News is your source for in-depth news and outdoor and entertainment information for Prescott, Arizona and surrounding areas. We tell stories that emphasize sustainability and community.

As fossil fuel prices rise, as oil insecurity deepens, and as concerns about climate change cast a shadow over the future of coal, a new energy economy is emerging in the United States. The old energy economy, fueled by oil, coal, and natural gas, is being replaced by one powered by wind, solar, and geothermal energy. The transition is moving at a pace and on a scale that we could not have imagined even a year ago.

The U.S. environmental movement is failing - by any measure, the state of the earth has never been more dire. What's needed, a leading environmentalist writes, is a new, inclusive green politics that challenges basic assumptions about consumerism and unlimited growth. by james gustave speth A specter is haunting American environmentalism - the specter of failure. All of us who have been part of the environmental movement in the United States must now face up to a deeply troubling paradox: Our environmental organizations have grown in strength and sophistication, but the environment has continued to go downhill, to the point that the prospect of a ruined planet is now very real. How could this have happened?

WorldChanging has a brief post pointing to a symposium on urban life after oil - Re-Imagining Cities: Urban Design After the Age of Oil. A number of great journalists were covering last weekend's Re-Imagining Cities: Urban Design After the Age of Oil symposium in Philadelphia. The University of Pennsylvania School of Design and Penn Institute for Urban Research hosted this conference, which was organized with support from the Rockefeller Foundation to address the need to re-imagine and rethink how cities are designed and organized in a future without oil. Our own Alex Steffen gave a mainstage talk at the international event, which featured a number of thinkers whose work we've written about before here, like Bull Dunster, Elizabeth Kolbert, Robert Socolow, Andy Revkin, William J. Mitchell, David Orr, Neal Pierce, Bill Rees, Thomas Campanella, Harrison Fraker, and ARUP's Sir Peter Head. From brief recaps of plenaries and workshops to lengthier discussions of the theories presented (and their presenters), the pieces posted to the Next American City liveblog offer a taste of what was seen and heard at this innovative gathering of great minds.

Have you ever sat by the ocean and wondered at the power of waves? They continually come-one after another-never stopping their onslaught. The energy it takes to propel these waves is to put it simply, incredible. Now, consider what this means for energy production. The World Energy Council has estimated that approximately 2 terawatts (2 million megawatts), about double current world electricity production, could be produced from the oceans via wave power.

Geothermal power is getting a closer look from several directions. These new studies are based on "hot rocks" at temperatures of around 150 degrees C (about 300 degrees F) that can be reached by drilling a couple of miles into the earth's crust. This is a much more involved approach than dealing with surface or near-surface geothermal activity, as is used for much of Iceland's power generation.

The world is finally doing something about climate change. People are changing their light bulbs and buying hybrid vehicles. Renewable energy is gaining ground. But is this enough? Policy-makers insist that environmental responsibility not come at the expense of economic growth. Massive populations in China and India are playing catch-up with America's consuming and polluting ways. And on a planet biologists believe can only support a few billion humans over the long haul, our population is near seven billion and continuing to rise. Will our efforts to save the planet be nullified by our worship of growth?

Exxon Mobil agreed to pay out 75 percent of a $507.5 million (276 million pounds) damages ruling to settle the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the Anchorage Daily News reported on Tuesday. Citing both Exxon and the plaintiff's lawyer, the Anchorage Daily News said the oil giant will release about $383 million for distribution to the nearly 33,000 commercial fishermen and others who sued Exxon after the worst tanker crash in U.S. history.

New satellite measurements show that crucial sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has plummeted to its second-lowest level on record. Arctic ice always melts in summer and refreezes in winter. But more and more ice is being lost and not recovered. The National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, announced Wednesday that the extent of sea ice in the Arctic is down to 2.03 million square miles. The lowest point on record is 1.65 million square miles set last September. With about three weeks left in the melt season, the record may fall, scientists say.

We've written with great fanfare about Beluga Skysails, the cargo ship that has successfully used a large kite to generate energy for operations during windy periods at sea. The billowing kite cut energy around 20 percent during a trip from Venezuela to Germany and up to Norway earlier in 2008.

Understanding wind energy can be a challenge. But it is no more complicated than the choices we are making on transportation. And just like those choices, wind is great for Pennsylvania's economy as well as our environment. Pennsylvania wind farms generate power about 70 percent of the time. But the amount of power is variable. That's why it is rated at 30 percent of capacity. It's like having a car that can go 100 mph but your average speed is much less.

The first meeting of the International Agrichar Initiative convened about 100 scientists, policymakers, farmers and investors with the goal of birthing an entire new industry to produce a biofuel that goes beyond carbon neutral and is actually carbon negative. The industry could provide a "wedge" of carbon reduction amounting to a minimum of ten percent of world emissions and possibly much more.

this is the place where Solar Citizens live, the place where we can rally to change and improve energy policy in America so that solar power becomes a key element of our future.

Hawaii has become the first state to require solar water heaters in new homes. The bill was signed into law by Governor Linda Lingle, a Republican. It requires the energy-saving systems in homes starting in 2010. It prohibits issuing building permits for single-family homes that do not have solar water heaters. Hawaii relies on imported fossil fuels more than any other state, with about 90 percent of its energy sources coming from foreign countries, according to state data.

MIAMI -- FPL plans to build three photo-voltaic solar energy plants in Florida in the coming year, including one at Kennedy Space Center in Brevard County. The three plants will provide up to 110 megawatts of energy, enough to meet the needs of about 35,000 customers, said Lew Hay, FPL's chief executive officer. A planned 75-megawatt solar center in Martin County would become the largest of its kind in the world, he said.

James Hansen, one of the world's leading climate scientists, will today call for the chief executives of large fossil fuel companies to be put on trial for high crimes against humanity and nature, accusing them of actively spreading doubt about global warming in the same way that tobacco companies blurred the links between smoking and cancer.

Solar energy will cost the same as power produced by coal, natural gas and nuclear plants in about a decade, a report released today suggests. By then, the price parity could propel solar adoption so that it accounts for 10 percent of U.S. electricity generation by 2025.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday blocked debate of a bill to offer about $17.7 billion in tax incentives for consumers to build renewable energy sources like windmills and solar arrays, and buy plug-in cars that run on electricity rather than gasoline.