Want to learn more? Start with these sites.
These links are designed to give you a good jumping-off point to learn more about the issues surrounding global warming, global climate change, RECs, renewable energy, and the green lifestyle. We have highlighted sites that offer good information to the non-expert, and avoided sites that overwhelm you with too much information. Plenty of time for those ones after you get your feet wet.
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 for a first step, they are invaluable. Follow cross links to see how subjects relate to each other, and always look for links at the end of articles.
http://www.wikipedia.com
These are good sites to start off learning about solar, wind, and biomass energy.
http://www.solarbuzz.com/
http://www.awea.org/
http://www.biomassauthority.com/
For a global perspective on energy, this site is run by UNICEF.
http://www.our-energy.com/
The United Nations Environmental Project has tons of maps, charts and graphics to give a different perspective on environmental issues.
http://www.grida.no/
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.
http://www.davidsuzuki.org
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
The US government runs several sites which give good introductions to renewable energy. Also, if you want to dig into the actual data behind your REC, this is where you will find them.
Department of Energy
http://www.eia.doe.gov/
Department of Energy – Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
http://www.eere.energy.gov/
National Renewable Energy Labroratory – this one might be a bit information-dense. Lots of good pictures available for use.
http://www.nrel.gov/
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.
http://www.dsireusa.org/
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.
http://earth911.com
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.
http://www.conservation.org/act/live_green/carboncalc/Pages/default.aspx?gclid=CISjo5yhtJgCFRwwawod6T4gVA
The folks at Berkeley in California have created a very good calculator, which you can find here.
http://bie.berkeley.edu/files/ConsumerFootprintCalc.swf