by Jess Zimmerman. Until recently, Facebook had an “it's complicated” relationship with coal; an April 2011 Greenpeace report found that 53.2 percent of the company's electricity use was coal-generated. Now, the company is pledging to move away from dirty fuel and work towards powering its operations, including energy-suck data centers, using renewable energy. And they're helping to spread the word to others. The move from coal to renewables won't be as slow or rocky as the move from Facebook to Google+, but it's not going to be instantaneous. Still, the company has committed to foregrounding “access to clean and renewable energy” when considering data center sites (they've built one already), and will also use its considerable resources to help coordinate and mobilize energy-saving programs.

More on SKCEA.org:

• Republican infighting overshadows the Tony Hayward show
  by Jonathan Hiskes. BP America CEO Tony McGaffeypants Hayward made his first appearance before Congress today, facing questions from the House Energy and Commerce Committee. What did it accomplish? What new information did it unearth? Ha, ha. Maybe you haven't seen a Congression...
• The Brewing Organic Beer Market
  America's craft beer market has grown rapidly in recent years, seemingly outpaced only by its niche organic segment, thanks in part to growing consumer fears about genetically modified foods. While a few of the largest regional breweries currently enjoy widespread distribution, c...
• The true cost of gasoline? $13 a gallon
  by Christopher Mims. What's the true cost of the emissions from every gallon of gasoline, when you add up all the negative environmental impacts they'll lead to, from poor air quality to catastrophic climate change? Nine dollars a gallon. Add that to what you're typi...
• Population has bigger effect than climate change on crop yields, study suggests
  Population pressure will be as significant a factor as climate change in reducing crop yields — and thus increasing food insecurity — in West Africa, according to a modelling study. They found that, as the population increases, farmers frequently cultivate cropland without allowi...
• How does population affect climate change?
  by Lisa Hymas. Population growth obviously has an impact on climate change, but there's been little rigorous study of exactly what that impact is. New research published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences begins to fill that gap. The top-level takeaway:...