Dear Friends,
Since we began compiling this digest of local and statewide climate news in Georgia, we’ve both weathered storms and basked in the glow of progress. Cleantech has given us high hopes through high-paying jobs and economic growth across our state. At the same time, we’ve been deeply concerned about how climate change is affecting our ability to stay safe and thrive.
We all agree that we need reliable, affordable energy, but our economic future also depends on a stable climate. We need to be clear-eyed about the risks if we want our wonderful Peach State to thrive. As a group of citizens concerned about the economic, health, and national security impacts of climate change, we hope to build consensus across the political spectrum about the urgent need to address it. We welcome your support and ideas. Please reach out to us!
Sincerely,
The C-Change Conversations Athens Team
Georgia News of Hope
After a six-year battle, a controversial mining project near Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp has been halted after the Conservation Fund purchased the land from Twin Pines Minerals for nearly $60 million. The deal protects roughly 8,000 acres, including the 600-acre site initially slated for mining. Scientists had warned such a mine could irreparably harm the ecologically vital swamp, which stores vast amounts of carbon-rich peat that help lock away millions of tons of planet-warming greenhouse gases. The Conservation Fund aims to eventually transfer the land to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, ensuring long-term conservation and public access.
The largest solar panel manufacturer in the Western Hemisphere recently announced it plans to build a new solar recycling business near its Cartersville plant. Qcells will operate EcoRecycle, which would be able to recycle about 500,000 panels annually at its Georgia location. This would allow Qcells to produce more solar panels in the U.S.while importing smaller amounts of raw materials.
Georgia Power tested a 50-50 hydrogen-natural gas blend at a plant near Atlanta, calling it the world’s largest test of its kind. The blend reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 22% compared to pure natural gas. While hydrogen is seen as a potential clean-energy solution, its environmental benefits depend on production methods.
The Atlanta City Council is considering legislation that would require commercial developers and home builders to use more energy-efficient, lighter-colored roofing materials to reflect sunlight, aiming to reduce energy costs and heat-related illnesses.
The Clarke County School District Board of Education voted at its June meeting to hire a sustainability director to implement the recommendations made by the district’s Sustainability Advisory Committee, which will help schools in Athens implement renewable energy and green infrastructure, minimize waste, and reduce their carbon footprints.
Georgia News of Concern
Few states have more to lose from the “Big, Beautiful Bill Act” than Georgia. Our state has become a major hub for clean energy and electric vehicle manufacturing, fueled by federal incentives created by the Inflation Reduction Act. These incentives, including tax credits for solar panels, batteries, and EVs, have spurred significant corporate investment and job creation in towns across Georgia. The act will eliminate many of these incentives to fund corporate and individual tax cuts. Industry leaders warn that this move could jeopardize jobs, increase electricity costs, and hinder efforts to combat climate change.
Georgia’s booming EV sector – featuring major projects from Hyundai and Rivian – could be particularly affected. If electric vehicle tax credits are rolled back as stated in the act, the economies of some Georgia towns will suffer. For example, the EV boom has significantly boosted the economy of Commerce, GA, where the $2.6 billion SK Battery America plant has employed 2,600 workers to produce batteries for the Ford F-150 Lightning.
Solar energy, which has seen rapid growth, also could be devastated by proposed new taxes in the bill. Solarcycle has already paused expansion plans due to uncertainty. Critics argue the bill undermines U.S. competitiveness against China, which dominates the clean energy supply chain.
Ways to Act
Georgia voters voted 2-1 in favor of clean-energy and budget-conscious leadership in the Public Service Commission primary, but the race is far from over. The Democratic primary runoff on July 15 will determine who runs in the general election on Nov. 4.
Why is this important? This pediatrician testifying before the PSC explains the impact of poor air quality and heat on young people. Georgia’s high-stakes PSC election recently made national news. The PSC determines the future of our power grid, so please research the candidates and vote for two commissioners who will help advance Georgia’s transition to clean energy sources.
Learn how to reduce energy costs, improve home efficiency, and understand utility bills at two free workshops at the Athens library on July 17 and Aug. 14, 6-8 p.m. Register for the workshops here.
Georgia Interfaith Power & Light is hosting a half-day gathering of faith leaders and environmental advocates for a morning of networking, learning, and action on Aug. 16 at Oconee Street United Methodist Church. Speakers and workshop leaders will address topics including clean energy goals in Athens-Clarke County, advocacy opportunities tied to the Georgia Public Service Commission, and how planting and protecting trees, especially in under-forested communities, can advance justice and build climate resilience. Everyone is welcome – register here.
The Big Picture: US and Global Climate News
It looks like America is heading for a King Midas moment. You know the one: the king in the Greek myth who was granted by the gods his wish that everything he touched be turned to gold. For a glorious moment he was thrilled, touching everything around him and amassing greater and greater wealth. And then, a horrible moment of reckoning as he tried to eat food and hug his daughter – and both turned to gold. His gift was really a curse, threatening his very existence and his daughter’s future.
Doubling down on fossil fuels parallels that choice – creating fleeting gains but ultimately imperiling our well-being and our children’s future.
We’ve said it before, and we will say it again here – we need fossil fuels for the short- and midterm, and finding safer ways to use them makes sense. We can’t power our economy without them for quite a while. But we can, and should, wean ourselves off of them as quickly as feasible. That means building a more modern energy system that is safer, more reliable, and more affordable. And while the U.S. appears to be retreating, other countries are stepping forward, building this new system based on electrification and a suite of clean-energy sources.
Amazingly, in what is perhaps a true gift from the gods, several of these sources – industry-scale solar and wind – have gotten so inexpensive that, even coupling them with storage, they are becoming cost competitive with building a new fossil fuel plant. And given that the costs solar and wind in the U.S. had been on track to drop another 60% by 2060, you can see just how lopsided this competition is becoming. The real riches come in the savings from scaling and improving these and other new technologies – and from avoiding the escalating damages we are accruing from using fossil fuels at such high levels.
King Midas was released from his curse, but real life isn’t a myth. As we double down on fossil fuels and retreat from the benefits and savings of the new, modern energy system, reversing the damage will be much harder to do.
Notable Quote
“Extreme heat used to be considered the ‘invisible peril’ because the impacts are not as obvious as of other natural perils. With a clear trend to longer, hotter heat waves, it is important we shine a light on the true cost to human life, our economy, infrastructure, agriculture, and healthcare system.”
– Jérôme Haegeli, chief economist, Swiss Re Group
News of Concern
It appears that the world is on track to blow past our stretch goal of keeping the global surface temperature increase to 1.5°C, the number agreed upon by most countries 10 years ago in the Paris Agreement. And indeed, we’re feeling it right now. Summer has just begun in the Northern Hemisphere – already, Alaska issued its first-ever heat advisory and 40 states sweltered under a record-breaking heat dome of excessive heat and humidity.
We’re in uncharted territory now. Earth’s atmosphere hasn’t held this current level of carbon dioxide in millions of years, and it’s still climbing – at an alarming rate. It’s so hot, even the oceans are experiencing heat waves. The water off the usually chilly coasts of Ireland is so warm – up 7.2°F from normal – that algae is blooming and octopi (a warm water species) are raiding crab pots and gobbling mollusks, posing a risk to shellfish fisheries. And the warmer water is making sonar less reliable, putting our submarines and sailors at risk as they navigate deep in the sea.
But instead of embracing efforts to slow emissions increases, new federal policy is accelerating their rise, with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright saying the Trump administration sees climate change as “a side effect of building the modern world.” The Energy Department is canceling $3.7 billion for clean-energy projects that aimed to reduce emissions, pivot from fossil fuels, and capture carbon from the atmosphere. The EPA plans to roll back rules on air pollution from fossil fuel power plants. And in a move that surprised utilities and regulators, the administration is forcing aging fossil fuel plants that were scheduled to close to keep running – a decision that is expected to cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
That’s far from the only hit to our wallets. Our grid is woefully inadequate for our burgeoning electricity demands and costs are rising rapidly, up 6.2% versus last year. It will only get higher as we scramble to find enough energy sources to power AI, data centers, electrification, and our greater use of air conditioning as temperatures ratchet up.
Meanwhile, natural gas turbines are facing severe supply chain constraints, pushing new plants out five years and tripling their costs, and international conflict is causing oil and gas pricing to be very volatile. On top of energy costs going up, HVAC equipment is as well, in part due to tariffs.
Even more financial stress for taxpayers and homeowners is ahead as our costs of repairing and rebuilding from disasters caused by climate change have skyrocketed and our insurance premiums leap to mirror the increased risk. In the past year, the U.S. spent almost $1 trillion on disaster recovery – an amount equivalent to 3% of our GDP. And experts say our GDP will lose another $1 trillion in climate costs to public health, households, and the economy by 2035.
And if we want to step outside of our homes to enjoy the outdoors … well, that’s getting more fraught, too. Higher temperatures have led to a tick explosion, allowing them to expand into new territory like the Canadian north, and to have a longer biting season. Ticks carry a wide range of debilitating diseases so we all need to enhance our precautions.
News of Hope
But even as American energy policy shifts to promote fossil fuels, the energy transition is still accelerating, with clean-power sources providing the majority of our electricity in the U.S. for the last three months running. And Texas – a deregulated energy state where market forces, not regulatory favoritism, have made the state the top producer of renewable energy – has figured out how to use battery storage to keep the lights on and air conditioning humming on even those hottest Lone Star days, with blackout risks diminishing to under 1%.
We see hope in the coalitions that are forming to push forward with climate action. States are bonding together to support the domestic growth of electric vehicles. Pension funds and insurance companies are uniting to prevent investors’ portfolios from contributing to deforestation. And neighborhoods are coming together to decarbonize en masse, moving from natural gas to electrical appliances and HVAC, driving down their electricity costs and making the air cleaner for their families.
Electrification is key to this developing new energy system. Electric appliances, heat pumps, and even cars are much more efficient than their fossil fuel counterparts. That means electrical versions take a lot less energy to provide the same utility. (Think about it: your car gets hot when you drive it – that’s a whole lot of wasted energy – while an electric car stays cool.) Globally, heat pumps and EV sales are skyrocketing. Electric vehicles now comprise 20% of car sales, with EV penetration tripling since 2021. Even in the U.S., EV sales are still growing, and our charging network is finally improving as well. We added 10,000 new chargers in the past year, and they’re not just for Teslas. And as new models hit the market for about $29,000, EVs are becoming way more affordable here.
Intriguingly, new technology developed in China could make our EV cars last a lot longer by enabling us to reenergize spent lithium batteries. Remember, EVs are basically batteries and computers on wheels – there are few other maintenance costs. So if we can revive their spent lithium-ion batteries, not only will we reduce our waste but it will extend the life and value of our cars.
Another ray of hope? Thanks to attribution science, we now can now identify and measure climate change’s influence in individual extreme weather events. This data can help us be better prepared – and it may alter the legal landscape around climate change as well. The first wrongful death suit targeting fossil fuel companies was just filed in the United States and a landmark ruling in Germany said that corporations can be held liable for their contributions to global warming. Such actions are opening up the fossil fuel industry to punitive action for climate damages. The fossil fuel industry is concerned. In a counterpunch, the Trump administration announced it is suing four states that are litigating against or charging “superfund” fees to fossil fuel companies for their role in climate harm.
We leave you today with what might be a worldwide gamechanger. Rice – the primary food for 50% of the world’s population – is a major contributor to global warming, due to its water-intensive nature and its high methane emissions (10-12% of global levels). Scientists in Chile may have figured out how to make rice less thirsty, a discovery that has vast potential for reducing water use as well as methane emissions. We do love a win-win story and we’re crossing our fingers while we watch this one play out.
