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"Few places are as well suited for large-scale solar projects as California's Mojave Desert. But as mainstream environmental organizations push plans to turn the desert into a center for renewable energy, some green groups - concerned about spoiling this iconic Western landscape - are standing up to oppose them."

Challenged by strict air-quality rules, dairy farmers face costly changes to generators used to burn methane to produce power. With the intention of using these generators to eliminate methane waste, along with electricity bills, farmers now meet an unexpected consequence- the conversion of methane into electricity produces nitrogen oxides, or NOx. This pollutant exacerbates the state's smog problem. After already spending several hundreds of thousands of dollars on their "dairy digester" systems at the urge of the state, farmers are forced to abide by the state's air quality standards by purchasing expensive additional equipment, or shut down their waste-consuming generators. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District's limit of 11 parts per million of NOx for new digester systems works out to equal the emissions of 26 cars for every 1,000 cows, said Frank Mitloehner, an associate professor at UC Davis' department of animal science.

"New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg paid a visit to the world's largest offshore wind farm. He liked what he saw."