At Scaling Green, we periodically attempt to highlight some of the brightest, most up-and-coming stars – key industry players, thinkers, etc. - in the cleantech world. Today, we feature Tam Hunt, the “managing member of Community Renewable Solutions LLC, a renewable consulting and project development company focused on community-scale wind and solar,” and also a lecturer at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management.  What caught our eye about Tam Hunt were a number of articles he’s written on clean energy issues, such as “The True Cost of Renewable Energy,” in Renewable Energy World. We caught up to Tam last week.

Over at the Smart Blog on Leadership, there's an interview with James Epstein-Reeves, president of Do Well Do Good, "on corporate social responsibility, philanthropy, and cause marketing," as well as on "what to expect in 2012."   The first question, of course, is "Why are companies engaged in sustainability?"  The answer, by Epstein-Reeves, is that there are six reasons:

As if the voluminous evidence that natural gas "fracking" contaminates water supplies isn't bad enough, how about this?

A timely new survey by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication has some interesting findings regarding Americans' attitudes towards an international climate treaty. These top-line results may surprise you:

If anyone still doubts that we need to rapidly transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, articles like this one by Bloomberg should clarify things for them.

Want to understand why the Republican Party has tacked hard in the past few years away from science and towards "heads in the sand" denialism on the issue of anthropogenic climate change? A new article by National Journal explains it extremely well. A few highlights:

Guest post by Patrick Stelmach of the Sierra Club

Richmond, VA - On Wednesday November 30, dozens of Virginia residents and clean energy business owners held a “Rally for Renewables” in front of Dominion Virginia Power office building and marched to the State Corporation Commission to deliver over 2,500 public comments from across Virginia on Dominion’s Integrated Resource Plan. The comments urged the agency to phase out two coal-fired power plants and support job-creating investments in solar power, wind farms, and energy efficiency. On the eve of the deadline for public comments on Dominion’s long-term energy plan, rally participants unfurled and delivered a 300-foot-long banner constructed out of all the public comments, demonstrating broad-based public support for developing clean energy in Virginia and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

Speakers at the rally urged the Commission to approve Dominion’s proposal to retire the outdated Yorktown and Chesapeake coal-burning power stations, which have deteriorated public health in the region for over 50 years. Clean-energy business owners highlighted the abject lack of renewable energy in Dominion’s long-term plan as well as Dominion’s recent attempts to discourage customers from investing in solar energy. Pointing to the sustained growth of clean energy jobs in other states, speakers called on Dominion and the Commission to craft a smart, forward-thinking energy plan that takes advantage of Virginia’s potential for clean energy. Solar and land-based wind are cost-competitive with coal and could create high-wage, career-length jobs throughout the state.