Earth Day is Monday, April 22! Since 1970, the annual event has brought us together to officially celebrate our home planet and take action to improve and protect the Earth. If you’d like to explore options to come together with others in your community to celebrate or work in service, check out this handy map of events from earthday.org. While Earth Day is a great opportunity to inspire collective action, we believe that protecting Earth’s natural resources for future generations requires all hands on deck, every day of the year. Our ability to eliminate carbon pollution, confront extreme w ..read more

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Board of Directors has taken a key step toward realizing TVA’s plans for a massive build-out of new fossil fuel infrastructure. In an action taken last August, but only made public this month, the board abandoned its oversight responsibility and instead delegated decision making authority to TVA’s CEO for several high stakes power plant and pipeline projects. TVA is owned by the federal government, yet the only real oversight is through its Board of Directors, who are appointed by the President of the United States. But while the Biden Administration has clear ..read more

At SACE, we are firm believers that no matter your age, income, zip code, or abilities, you can make a difference in the Clean Energy Generation. However, around the world and across the Southeast, marginalized communities often experience the most and worst impacts of climate change, heightening already existing inequalities. Despite frequently bearing a greater proportion of the costs, these communities haven’t historically been given an equal seat at the table. But change is happening. For example, $20 billion in EPA funding from the Inflation Reduction Act was announced on April 4 to provi ..read more

Mere moments before the final hearing in Georgia Power’s “October surprise” IRP Update, yet another surprise: the Public Interest Advocacy (PIA) Staff of the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) filed a proposed “Stipulation” — a settlement purported to “resolve all the issues in this Docket.”  This was a dubious maneuver both in terms of due process as well as the content of the agreement itself. Initial reactions that I heard about the “Stip” ranged from “dumpster fire” to “fossil fuel bonanza” (which I really like, BTW). My own initial reaction was that the Stipulation “reeks” — it ..read more

This post was written by former SACE Clean Energy Coordinator Julian Harden. As a longstanding asthma sufferer, the quality of the air I breathe isn’t just a topic of general concern — it’s a matter of personal significance. For individuals like me, managing asthma is not merely a routine; it’s a constant awareness of the air’s impact on our health and daily lives. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent decisive actions to fortify soot pollution regulations represents hope for people with asthma nationwide. Let’s delve into how these new regulations are not just bureaucratic d ..read more

Last week, the EPA announced new pollution standards for passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty vehicles for model years 2027 and beyond. I am excited to see the EPA do its job under the Clean Air Act by proposing stronger tailpipe emissions standards. The EPA’s new clean car standards will achieve four critical things: Give consumers more choices to buy more efficient, lower-cost cars and light trucks, including gas vehicles with better fuel economy, hybrid vehicles that blend gas and electric technologies, and pure electric vehicles Address the transportation sector’s contributi ..read more

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says TVA’s environmental review of its replacement of the Kingston coal plant has “serious deficiencies,” and thus “does not satisfy the requirements of NEPA and its implementing regulations.” Due to these shortcomings, EPA requests that TVA issue another environmental review: “Our review has determined that the Final EIS fails to address numerous EPA concerns identified with the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and the lack of transparency prevents us from understanding TVA’s treatment of several important issues. Thus, the Final EIS is inadequat ..read more

This blog post is for general informational purposes only, and is not tax advice. Please consult with a tax professional before making decisions regarding the contents of this blog. Imagine waking up one day and finding your community transformed. Instead of smelly diesel buses roaring through your neighborhood, clean electric buses are whispering through the streets and the kids are arriving to school breathing clean air.  City halls, public libraries, health departments, and hospitals are harvesting clean energy from the sun, and storing it up in batteries to use when the sun goes down ..read more

Sara Vinson always wanted to do all she could for the environment around her, from installing solar panels to her Covington, Georgia home in 2019, to co-founding Sustainable Newton in 2018 to educate her community about climate disruption, sustainability, and the steps that households, businesses and local governments can take to make a difference. So, after unexpected car trouble in 2019, Sara had no doubt that it was time to make the switch to driving an electric vehicle and stop having to pay for the maintenance of an internal combustion engine (ICE) car – and she hasn’t looked back. Read o ..read more

The Term “Natural Gas” is a Misnomer “Natural gas is a fossil fuel energy source.” This is the first line of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s page defining “natural” gas. The fuel is mostly made up of methane, and, similar to coal and oil, it was formed when plant and animal remains were buried hundreds of millions of years ago and heat and pressure turned them into fossil fuels. Thus “natural” gas can also be called “fossil gas” or “methane gas.” Deposits of fossil gas can be accessed through vertical or horizontal drilling, and it is processed before it can be used for electrici ..read more