Doctors Issue Call

Perhaps sobering moments as we see health experts call for immediate action to combat climate change.  Our failure to protect the environment while building a global economy is a dismal, dangerous failure for mankind.

We can do better. We can retool smart, clean cities, improve food supplies, power our lives with clean energy and significantly reduce our own carbon footprints while preserving a great quality of life.  An unhealthy eco-system will, as seen here, degrade our physical and mental conditions.  And spoil the future for new generations.  We can do better. 

Doctors Issue Call to Combat Climate Change

By Dennis Thompson

MONDAY, April 18, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Climate change is already harming people's health by promoting illnesses linked to warmer temperatures and changing weather patterns, a leading group of U.S. doctors says in a new position paper.

As a result, the American College of Physicians (ACP) is calling for "aggressive, concerted" action to fight climate change by curbing man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

Respiratory illnesses, heat stroke and infectious diseases like Zika virus, dengue fever and cholera are flourishing as global temperatures rise, said Dr. Wayne Riley, president of the college.

"Our climate is already changing and people are already being harmed. If we don't begin to address climate change, we're going to see more and more manifestations of these health problems," Riley said.

"There is clear, compelling scientific consensus that climate change is real," he added. "There is no dispute."

In the paper, published online April 18 in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, the ACP outlines the health problems that it says climate change is already creating:
"Think about what happens during a heat wave," Riley said. "People's irritability and anxiety increases, starting a chain of events that can lead to behavioral health problems."

The ACP is urging its physician members to both speak out for climate change policies in their communities, and to lead the way by promoting energy efficiency in their own practices, said Bob Doherty, the ACP's senior vice president of governmental affairs and public policy.

The health care sector is ranked second-highest in energy use, after the food industry, spending about $9 billion annually on energy costs, the position paper stated. Health care systems can reduce their carbon footprint through energy conservation and efficiency, alternative energy generation, green building design, improved waste disposal and management, and water conservation, according to the paper.

"Our paper really talks about physicians being advocates in their own health systems, communities and practices to reduce carbon emissions," Doherty said. "We highlight case studies where this is already being done."

Doherty said the ACP took this stand, in part, because its members will be the ones on the front lines treating many of these climate-related illnesses. The ACP represents internists, or general practitioners who specialize in the treatment of adults.

"Many of the conditions that are likely to be worsened or caused by a warming planet are conditions that are typically seen by internists," he said.

Riley and Doherty also hope that a science-based association of physicians taking this stance will persuade those who remain skeptical of climate change.

"We're hoping the credibility of doctors speaking out will help persuade some of the doubters that this is real, and that we need to act on it," Doherty said. "Most of the public understands that when physicians speak out, they are doing it because of their moral and professional obligation to care for their patients."

Lyndsay Moseley Alexander, director of the American Lung Association's Healthy Air Campaign, said the new position paper is a "great" contribution to addressing climate change.

"I applaud the leadership of ACP," Alexander said. "Their statement underscores the urgency of the science and the importance of the medical community's role."

Climate change is actually undoing some of the progress that the United States has made reducing smog pollution in the skies over major cities, she said.

"Some communities are seeing a little bit of an uptick in ozone," Alexander said. "As climate change continues, it's going to be harder to maintain the progress we have made."

DOE Advances Fishermen’s Energy – And Two Alternates – In Offshore Wind Technology Program

This is an important story and momentum builder on creating ample renewables to power our economic and social needs. Offshore wind is a critical component of our future capacity.  We've seen too many slow downs, brought on by selfish interest and myopic opposition.  It is time to move forward and bring on lots more clean energy.

We hope the US catches up with other parts of the world and gets more turbines spinning as it replaces coal and other forms of fossil fuel coming off-line.

On May 27, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) identified three projects from its offshore wind portfolio – the Atlantic City Windfarm, developed by Fishermen’s Energy; Lake Erie Energy Development Corp.’s (LEEDCo) Icebreaker project; and the University of Maine’s New England Aqua Ventus I project – as eligible recipients for up to $40 million as part of its efforts to incentivize innovative offshore wind technologies.

Notably, LEEDCo and Aqua Ventus were originally selected as program alternates when the DOE formerly announced funding for offshore wind technologies in May 2014.

According to the DOE notes, the three remaining projects have demonstrated significant progress toward being successfully completed and producing power.

Fishermen’s Energy’s Atlantic City Windfarm. Fishermen’s Energy of New Jersey plans to install six 4 MW Siemens turbines in state waters approximately three miles off the coast of Atlantic City, N.J. Fishermen’s Energy’s Atlantic City Windfarm will demonstrate the use of a twisted jacket foundation that is easier to manufacture and install than traditional foundations, helping drive down the cost of energy produced by the offshore wind system.

In order to ensure the safety of the workers who will service the offshore turbines, Fishermen’s has teamed up with foundation developer Keystone Engineering to demonstrate a new access ladder that is rotated 90 degrees, bringing the maintenance vessel closer to the turbine foundation while allowing the worker to side-step onto the ladder.

During operation, the DOE notes, the Fishermen’s project will act as an at-sea laboratory to further our knowledge about offshore wind, investigate the interactions between turbines, test new control systems, and provide information about potential environmental impacts of offshore wind while reducing the levelized cost of energy from offshore wind.

LEEDCo’s Project Icebreaker. LEEDCo plans to install six 3.45 MW, direct-drive turbines on mono bucket foundations seven miles off the coast of Cleveland in Lake Erie.

The DOE notes the mono bucket foundation was selected through significant engineering analysis and is expected to reduce installation time, costs and environmental impacts compared with traditional foundations that require pile driving. The mono bucket not only is a solution for the Great Lakes, but also has broader national applicability for offshore wind installations off the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.

The DOE notes that LEEDCo has assembled a credible, experienced team to support project development and will also address technical challenges unique to freshwater offshore wind deployments, such as icing.

The University of Maine’s New England Aqua Ventus 1. The University of Maine plans to install a pilot floating offshore wind farm with two 6 MW direct-drive turbines on concrete semi-submersible foundations at a test site off of Monhegan Island, Maine.

Because of its location in deep waters off the coast of Maine, where traditional foundations are not feasible, the University of Maine is developing an innovative floating platform.

The University of Maine has demonstrated a 1:8-scale prototype of its floating VolturnUS foundation, and it has applied the knowledge gained in designing, constructing and deploying the prototype to the engineering efforts of the full-scale design. The university and its partners have made significant progress on the engineering design of the full-scale foundation by focusing on commercial-scale manufacturing of the foundation and reducing costs. These considerations have led to significant reductions in the internal steel requirements and vastly improved manufacturability of the foundation, the DOE notes.

Although the DOE recognized Dominion Virginia Power and Principle Power for their offshore wind contributions, these projects will not be eligible for additional funding under the program going forward.

Pressure on Exxon

We had a great conversation this week with the President of As you Sow, Danielle Fugere and among many other things, we talked about growing corporate responsibility for actions, with full knowledge, that cause harm to the environment.  Since today our knowledge and understanding is so much greater, you would assume there is a concurrent rise in accountability as well.

So, it may be unfair for Exxon to be pinned on excess CO-2 release during an era when science had not produced the data we now have.  But there's no Mulligans going forward.  The evidence is clear...we need to cut emissions; for many reasons.  Exxon can reinvent itself as a great energy company fully commited to renewables, perhaps even micro or full grids.  We'd like to see all companies, and jobs, make the transition away from fossil fuel.

Pressure on Exxon Over Climate Change Intensifies With New Documents

by John Schwartz

 

© Jeffrey Milstein/REX, via Associated Press An aerial view of Exxon Mobil’s refineries in Torrance, Calif. State attorneys general are inquiring the company over its climate claims. Pressure on Exxon Mobil and the energy industry increased on Wednesday with the release of a new cache of decades-old industry documents about climate change, even as Exxon pushed back against efforts to investigate the company over its climate claims through the years.

The new documents were released by an activist research organization, the Center for International Environmental Law, which published the project on its website.
The documents, according to the environmental law center’s director, Carroll Muffett, suggest that the industry had the underlying knowledge of climate change even 60 years ago.

“From 1957 onward, there is no doubt that Humble Oil, which is now Exxon, was clearly on notice” about rising CO₂ in the atmosphere and the prospect that it was likely to cause global warming, he said.

What’s more, he said, the documents show the industry was beginning to organize against regulation of air pollution.

The American Petroleum Institute, energy companies and other organizations had created a group, the Smoke and Fumes Committee, to monitor and conduct pollution research, and to “use science and public skepticism to prevent environmental regulations they deemed hasty, costly and unnecessary,” according to the center’s description of the documents on its website.

Those actions, Mr. Muffett suggested, would be echoed in later efforts to undermine climate science.

The center’s work was first reported by Inside Climate News, which has published stories, as did The Los Angeles Times, suggesting that Exxon Mobil understood the risks of climate change from its own research, which it used to plan activities such as drilling in the Arctic, while it funded groups into the mid-2000s that denied serious climate risks.

Those earlier investigations led to a surge in activism against the company and the energy industry, using the hashtag #exxonknew. The investigations also have been cited by attorneys general, including Eric T. Schneiderman of New York, who have demanded information from Exxon about its internal research and its funding of climate denial.

Inside Climate News announced that Wednesday’s article is the first of a series based on the work of the environmental law center and documents it has amassed on its own.

Alan Jeffers, a spokesman for Exxon Mobil, called the new allegations absurd.
“To suggest that we had definitive knowledge about human-induced climate change before the world’s scientists is not a credible thesis,” he said.

Four attorneys general are investigating Exxon Mobil’s public statements and private scientific knowledge over the years, and the company struck back on Wednesday in a filing in Texas against Claude Earl Walker, the attorney general of the United States Virgin Islands, and a private law firm working with his office on the investigation.

The filing called Mr. Walker’s actions a “flagrant misuse of law enforcement power” that “violate Exxon Mobil’s constitutionally protected rights of freedom of speech, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, and due process of law and constitute the common law tort of abuse of process.”

The company, it noted, has no “physical presence” in the Virgin Islands, and its courts have no jurisdiction over the company.

In addition, the company stated, it has “widely and publicly confirmed” that it recognizes “that the risk of climate change and its potential impacts on society and ecosystems may prove to be significant.”

Kert Davies, the director of the Climate Investigations Center, a group funded by foundations seeking to limit the risks of climate change, said Mr. Muffett’s project “has pulled back the curtain on any plausible deniability that Big Oil might have pretended they had on the dangers of climate change.” And, he added, “the naked truth is pretty ugly.”

But Michael B. Gerrard, the director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School, said that the early stirrings of climate science have already been well documented.
“It has been known for years that scientists in that era were talking about climate change,” he said.

Business Leaders and NGO'S Join Forces to Call for a "True North" for a Sustainable Global Economy

We sometimes experience but completely miss milestone moments.  We think this is one.  A collaborative of business, NGO's and academics around building a sustainable economy is a coordinated effort of tsunami power.  It's impact will be worldwide and incredibly powerful.

This is the heart of our effort:  Finding that perfect balance between building an economy and protecting an environment.  Add in all the social benefits and you have a historic change going on.

Go to our main site at Renewable Now.biz to see the video previewed here.

An ensemble of global business leaders, NGO'S and academics have joined forces to call for a, sustainable global economic model to be adopted by governments and businesses alike.

Peter Lacy, Managing Director (Accenture Strategy); Werner Furhmann, Executive Board Member (Akzo Nobel N.V).and Leonie Schreve, Global Head of Sustainable Lending (ING Bank); join the cast in an engaging new 18 minute documentary film called "Circularity-Preparing For The New Economy" produced by Digital Content and marketing specialists The Business Debate Ltd .

The film, Circularity: Preparing for the new economy, provides a broad overview of what the "circular economy" is and contains commentary from a number of business analysts. It asks how we can sustain economic growth in a world of finite natural resources and a growing global population.

In the film, Peter Lacy says:

"The idea of a true north version of capitalism that provides the economic development, prosperity and positive growth that we want, but does it in a way that is socially just and environmentally sustainable, is the key challenge that we face as a generation, not just of business leaders, but of governments and citizens around the world."

Background

Since the industrial revolution, global population, waste, natural resource and energy use has grown exponentially and our economies have used a "take-make-consume and dispose" pattern of growth - a linear model which assumes that natural resources are abundant, available and cheap to dispose of.

The film describes how  our current economy, one dependent on virgin, finite, natural resources a "linear economy" simply cannot work in the long-term and how globally we need to adopt an economic model that is built for the world we face today and tomorrow.

This new economic model has become known as "The Circular Economy" and offers a model for an economy that would be more resilient in the long-term and create more prosperity for a changing world.

According to The United Nations we live in a world where if we don't change our methods of production and consumption-in the face of exponential global population growth and the accompanying industrial production, we will face a forty percent shortfall in the availability of fresh water, anticipating global forecasts for demand and available supply by 2030 and, where we know that the demand for food will grow by 70% by 2050 at the same time as we face declines in agricultural yields and fresh water sources.

While our present "linear economy" has been successful in creating wealth and taking millions out of poverty, it's now "past its sell by date" because the surplus available from cheap oil and materials has declined, natural resources are in decline and we now need to move to a more resilient economic system that would feature the reuse of materials and "closed loop cycles".

According to research by Dutch Bank ING sustainable business is more profitable business-, as Leonie Schreve, says:

"Companies that are pro actively approaching sustainability and resource scarcity we already see in research that the financial performance of these companies is better. It can range from 30-40% better".

Peter Lacy continues: "The circular economy is a concept that is pro-business and pro-growth but it's about driving a different kind of growth - a growth that innovates for customers, and eliminates wasted and harmful materials. It's based on the idea of using assets more effectively, closing loops, extending product lifecycles, while not cannibalising business".

Research from Accenture Strategy, unveiled in its book, Waste to Wealth, suggests that The Circular Economy can unlock $4.5 trillion in value by 2030 for "organisations that get it righ

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The Power of One: Muhammad Ali, Beyond the Boxer

We'll be talking about this today on our weekly radio show.  Tune in here (use on-air button), WARA, 1320, WRNP or at our main site--Renewable Now.biz.  We'll be on from 1-3p, ET.

Also, what a wonderful variety of stories we posted this week on our main site.  Take a look.

You may be asking, what does Muhammad Ali have to do with sustainability? Well actually more than we might realize. The principles of sustainability employ three areas of our society: economic, social, and environmental. We could make a case that Muhammad Ali made an impact on each of these to some extent.  What RNN wants to focus on is his impact on a global society, and what one person achieved against all odds to become the most recognized name in the world, while at the same time becoming the GREATEST.

Having grown up in the mid-70s there were two people that caught the imagination of many young boys of my generation; one was Evel Knievel, and the other was Muhammad Ali. Both incredible showmen whose professions had them tempting death every time they performed, and leaving them both with lifelong debilitating injuries that most other athletes would never survive. Both had the admiration and the attention of millions, but there was a major difference that separated the two: one engaged in social issues, while the other didn't. This is what made Muhammad Ali the greatest and why his legacy will be felt for many generations to come. Muhammad Ali understood that boxing was more than a sport- it was a podium that afforded him an opportunity to be heard, and he didn't squander what he had. "I've always wanted to be more than just a boxer," Ali said. "More than just the three-time heavyweight champion. I wanted to use my fame, and this face that everyone knows so well, to help uplift and inspire people around the world."

In 1967, Muhammed Ali took a stand against the very unpopular war in Vietnam when he refused the draft. Part of his statement was, “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?” After his stand, Ali was convicted of draft evasion, sentenced to five years in prison, fined $10,000 and banned from boxing for three years. He stayed out of prison as his case was appealed and returned to the ring on October 26, 1970. Many say those three years lost would have been his best years, a heavy price was paid for his actions. Regardless of what one may think of his politics you have to respect him for standing behind his belief, right or wrong, in the end he had to live with his decision, and what we saw is that history embraced him, and some say vindicated him considering the U.S. current positive relationship with Vietnam.

Many of Muhammad Ali’s other social causes were less controversial and had much more of a giving nature, such as work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Special Olympics. He visited soup kitchens and raised money through celebrity fight nights and public appearances. Ali traveled with Disarm Education Fund and Direct Relief International to deliver $1.2 million-worth of medicine and medicinal supply to Cuba in 1998. He brought humanitarian aid to the Ivory Coast. He made mission trips to both Afghanistan and North Korea to promote goodwill.

Ali also excelled in preaching religious tolerance. Though he was devoutly Muslim, he regularly met with leaders of other faiths to impart a greater understanding between the religions of the world.  "Rivers, ponds, lakes, and streams — they all have different names, but they all contain water. So religions all have different names, but they all contain the same truths," Ali was quoted as saying by CNN.

When you visit the United Nations Messengers of Peace, the very first name at the top of the list is Muhammad Ali . it says, “Mr. Ali first came to the UN in 1978 to address the UN Special Committee against Apartheid with a message of peace and spirituality. He brings people from all races together by preaching "healing" to everyone irrespective of race, religion or age. Over the years Mr. Ali has been a relentless advocate for people in need and a significant humanitarian actor in the developing world, supporting relief and development initiatives and hand-delivering food and medical supplies to hospitals, street children and orphanages in Africa and Asia.”

For RNN, who is celebrating the whole month of June with Sustainability and Sports, it seems only appropriate that we dedicate our efforts to Muhammad Ali. Boxing may have made him a champion, but his contribution back to society has truly made him "THE GREATEST." Rest in peace, champ!

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The solar panel as light

We've already seen this technology in action when we interviewed a start up company who integrated thin film into jackets.  These improvements open up endless possibilities on new products, innovation and incredibly diverse application of the thin-film solar.

The solar panel as light as a SOAP BUBBLE: Super thin cells could be added to clothes, gadgets and even sheets of paper 

• MIT researchers have created ultra-thin proof of concept solar power cells
• The flexible cells were so light they weighed as much as a soap bubble
• Experts used parylene for the coating of the device and light-sensitive DBP
• Due to their low weight and flexibility, the cells could find a wide range of uses, such as in clothing or even notebooks, said researchers

By Ryan O'Hare

Once almost exclusively used on space stations and satellites, solar panels have become a common sight, adorning everything from the tops of houses to calculators and even parking meters.

But researchers in the US have designed ultra-thin versions of the panels, as light as a soap bubble, which they say could be added onto any existing material, from electronics to clothing.

Commonly used solar cells, called photovoltaic (PV) cells, capture the sun’s energy thanks to a light-absorbing silicon substrate sandwiched between layers of sturdy material, typically glass.

In a proof of concept experiment, researchers at MIT have produced super thin solar cells. The flexible cells were so light that they were able to balance them on soap bubbles (pictured)

In a proof of concept experiment, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) produced super thin versions of the power cells. 

The flexible cells were so light that they were able to balance them on soap bubbles, without popping them.

According to the team behind the cells, the process takes place inside a vacuum at room temperature, without the high temperatures and harsh chemicals needed to produce traditional PV cells.

They used a common commercial plastic, called parylene, to produce the coating for the device, and a material called DBP for the light-sensitive layer.

Due to their low weight, the solar cells (pictured inside a soap bubble) could find a wide range of uses, such as in clothing. The manufacturing process takes place inside a vacuum at room temperature, without the high temperatures and harsh chemicals needed to produce traditional PV cells

Due to their low weight, the cells could find a wide range of uses, such as in clothing, say researchers. 

‘It could be so light that you don’t even know it’s there, on your shirt or on your notebook,’ said Professor Vladimir Bulović, a researcher in emerging technology who led the group.

ULTRA-THIN SOLAR CELLS 

In a proof of concept experiment, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) produced super thin versions of photovoltaic (PV) solar cells. 

The flexible cells were so light that they were able to balance them on soap bubbles, without popping them.

The process takes place inside a vacuum at room temperature, without the high temperatures and harsh chemicals needed to produce traditional PV cells.

They used a common commercial plastic, called parylene, to produce the substrate and coating of the device, and a material called DBP for the light-sensitive layer.

The cells are one fiftieth the width of a human hair and one thousand times thinner than glass cells.

Speaking to MIT News he said: ‘These cells could simply be an add-on to existing structures.’

To make the cells, a thin layer of parylene - one-tenth the thickness of cling-film wrap - was draped onto glass, with the DBP layer and covering parylene layer added.

‘We put our carrier in a vacuum system, then we deposit everything else on top of it, and then peel the whole thing off,’ explained MIT researcher Annie Wang.

The final cells are one fiftieth the width of a human hair, yet were able to convert sunlight to electricity as efficiently as the glass PV cells.

However, the researchers did not reveal any figures and MailOnline has contacted them for more information. 

While glass was used as a sturdier ‘carrier’ material in the manufacturing process, the group said that almost any material could be used, such as clothing, plastic casing or even paper.

‘It could be something else. 

'You could use almost any material,’ said Joel Jean, a PhD student on the project.

These latest proof of concept cells are part of the next generation of solar cells. 

In 2014, researchers at the University of Sheffield developed 'spray on’ solar cells which could be applied to surfaces.

Their cells were made of a material called perovskite, which is cheap to produce and, when used as a spray, produces very little waste.

Once almost exclusively used on space stations (pictured left) and satellites, solar panels have become a common sight across landscapes as part of renewable energy sources (pictured right)

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When light hits photo-active semiconductors of solar cells some of the light energy is absorbed. This causes a chain reaction in which electrons become loose and flow more freely. When these electrons flow in one direction they create a current which can be used as a source of power (stock image)

HOW SOLAR CELLS WORK 

When light hits the photo-active semiconductors of solar cells, such as silicon layer used in typical PV cells, some of the light energy is absorbed.

This causes a chain reaction in which electrons become loose and flow more freely. When these electrons flow in one direction they create an electric current which can be used as a source of power.

When enough of the cells are linked, they can produce enough energy to power homes.

The largest solar power plant in the world, based in the Mojave desert in California produces around 392 Megawatts of energy - on average, this is enough energy to power more than 64,000 homes.

However, storing excess energy remains an issue.

A number of commercial firms are keen to push solar power further. Chicago-based firm Yolk created Solar Paper, a lightweight panel capable of charging an iPhone 6 in just 2.5 hours.

The firm's Kickstarter campaign to fund production of the gadget, states that multiple panels can be combined to boost its power.

The MIT group's proof of concept cells were not the most efficient, due to their low weight, but their power to weight ratios were through the roof.According to the MIT team the cells have demonstrated a power output of six watts per gram, almost 400 times higher than silicon-based cells which can produce 15 watts per kilogram.In terms of practical 
applications, such ultra-light power cells could prove a boon for the aerospace industry, where keeping weight down is critical. 

The use of such cells could help to maximize the power-to-weight ratio on everything from satellites to aircraft by simply sticking the flexible power cells to the outside.‘We have a proof-of-concept that works,” said Professor Bulović. 

‘We think it’s a lot of hard work ahead, but likely no miracles needed.’

Shareholder Resolution Pushes Oil Companies to Drop Barrel Based Reporti -/As You Sow

Here's  a sample of the work being done by As You Sow.  See the story, and much more, at Renewable Now.biz:

This week , at ExxonMobil's Annual General Meeting, shareholders will vote on what could prove to be the beginning of a sea change in how big oil companies look at energy. As You Sow filed an innovative shareholder proposal with both Exxon and Chevron encouraging these companies to report their reserves – their primary assets – not just in the traditional "barrels of oil equivalent," but in an energy-neutral metric that applies to all energy resources, including renewables such as solar, wind, and geothermal.

"We have to get beyond a barrel-based standard," said Danielle Fugere, President of As You Sow. "Replacing every barrel of oil with another barrel of oil doesn't make business sense in a carbon-constrained economy that's moving away from fossil fuels."  Fugere explained that oil is not the best investment opportunity, and that shareholders want oil companies to envision a future that is quite different than their past.

For the first time in decades, Exxon did not replace its oil reserves this year. Shortly after the announcement, its credit was downgraded for the first time since the 1930s. Oil majors will benefit by diversifying their business to hedge against a host of changes to energy markets, including crushing competition from national oil companies like Saudi Aramco, pressure to decarbonize due to climate change, and the skyrocketing costs of pursuing new oil resources. As You Sow's Carbon Asset Transition resolution creates a path for oil and gas companies to diversify their asset base and facilitate their transition from oil and gas companies into diversified energy companies.

As noted by Andrew Behar, As You Sow's Chief Executive Officer, "It would be making a statement if Big Oil was to become Big Energy."

"Even oil companies can change—they must change. This shareholder resolution will help Exxon and Chevron decouple their financial performance from how much oil they can produce. It's time for oil companies to think outside the barrel," Fugere said.

Renewables Investment Surges In Developing Nations

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