Politics

Photomatt28, via Flickr by Clint Wilder, via Clean Edge For two days in mid-July, 100 miles off the northern coast of Oahu in Hawaii, the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz played host to the first large-scale demonstration of the Navy’s Great Green Fleet. More than 70 aircraft, including F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets, E-2 Hawkeye early warning aircraft, and helicopters, as well as destroyers and other ships, participated in the biannual Rim of the Pacific naval exercises with sailors and pilots from 21 other nations. A 50-50 biofuel/petroleum blend powered virtually all of the Navy’s ships and aircraft. “The military has done a lot of things that start a tidal wave throughout our culture, and I think this is one of those things,” Navy Lt. Commander Jason Fox, an E-2 Hawkeye pilot, told Forbes. Meanwhile, stateside in the deserts of California, SunEdison is constructing the massive 350 MW Oro Verde solar PV plant in Kern County that will power part of Edwards Air Force Base where the...

Free speech activists in Afghanistan launched Twitter and Facebook campaigns on Sunday to fight government media curbs as well as to dispel incorrect information being perpetuated by clashing NATO and Taliban claims. Both NATO and the Taliban have used social media in the past to perpetuate arguments and campaign for individual causes. And Afghani journalists have been pushed against a wall with the government’s new, strict press freedom laws, leaving the public confused about the current state of affairs. Media advocacy groups like Nai have decided to fight back, encouraging the use of social media to provide the public with a more reliable and a somewhat more accessible form of information. In the past, social media has been used to fight conditions like limited women’s rights — a topic the country’s mainstream media can’t easily cover without widespread backlash. “Social media is a free tool to use to transfer information without the influences of the government, warlords, or Talib...