(Photo from Earth Voice)

First the good news ...

*Texas has plans for the largest offshore wind farm in the U.S.:

Texas officials announced plans Thursday for the nation's largest offshore wind farm, consisting of as many as 500 windmills out in the Gulf of Mexico.

Houston-based Superior Renewable Energy will build and operate the project, which will be situated within about 10 miles of Padre Island. It is expected to cost $1 billion to $2 billion and should be ready in five years.

Its 400-foot turbines would generate a total of 500 megawatts of electricity, or enough energy for 125,000 homes.

Well, that's a start. Maybe some people are finally heeding the calls. Even the Vatican is warning for commitments for sustainable development and fighting global warming.

*For those interested in biomass energy, the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota will hold the Biomass '06: Power, Fuels, and Chemicals Workshop on July 18-19, 2006. The workshop will explore the opportunities and applications for power production, transportation fuels, and chemical production from biomass.

*Maybe biomass is one of the answers. With expected energy use to go up 50% worldwide over the next 25 years, the question is where it will all come from.

*At Science Magazine, Jeffrey Sachs and Walter Reid look at how investment fits into sustainable development.

*The U.S. has renewed its commitment to the SEED Initiative (Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and Development) Initiative, the Department of State announced May 10. More on SEED here.

*An international conference on the theme of Ecological Ethics and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) will be held in Ulan-Ude, the Russian Federation from June 29 to July 2nd.

*Vietnam looks to make its aquaculture development in the Mekong River delta sustainable.

*For a summary of the fourteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development earlier in May at the U.N., see the Earth Negotiations Bulletin.

*At the Vancouver Social Enterprise Forum, you can watch a video from the Skoll World Forum with by Al Gore and David Blood, Generation Investment Management. More on the Skoll World Forum over at the Oxford NTC Alliance Ambassador blog. Also, at Global X, a look at Gore's movie on global warming, as well as at ENN. At Think Progress, news that a climate scientist is upset that his findings on global warming are being deliberately distorted by the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

*The SRI market in France continues to grow ...

*The government of Macau has set up a Centre for Sustainable Development Strategies (CEEDS). But poverty reduction remains a tough job in China.

*Brussels carbon trading chaos.