California's bold climate solutions

California is mandating solar power for most new homes constructed by 2020.
California is mandating solar power for most new homes constructed by 2020.
Paul Middlestaedt for MPR News

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This week's Climate Cast begins and ends in California, with a quick trip to Fargo in between. Here's what's on the show:

California has taken a bold step into what looks like our solar future. The state has decided to mandate solar power on most new home construction by 2020. Will this climate-friendly trend spread to your state soon? Mike O'Boyle, electricity policy manager for Energy Innovation in San Francisco, tells us what the decision means.

Meet John Bagu, a clean energy champion. This week's climate voice comes from Fargo, N.D., where Bagu is a university professor.

Here's a climate change solution that's right under our feet. California is turning soils into carbon-sucking factories. Grist reports California orchards and farms are planting ground cover like clover to pull carbon out of the atmosphere and sequester it in the soil. The technique can pull thousands of pounds of carbon from the atmosphere, hold water and improve soil health, and feed the bees who pollinate the orchards.

Hear the entire episode by using the audio player above.

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