Google and Environmental Charities Unite for Mapping Project

Using funds from Google’s philanthropic arm, the National Audubon Society and the Natural Resources Defense Council have developed a mapping tool designed to balance the interests of conservation and clean energy, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Path to Green Energy, a Google Earth tool, shows wind- and solar-power developers where they can and can’t build, taking into account protected lands, endangered-species habitats, and other factors. So far the project covers about 860 million acres in 13 western states.