Op-Ed by Jason West – With Hurricane Florence bearing down on the Carolinas, our attention is focused where it needs to be — evacuating the coast, stocking our shelves, and making plans to keep our families safe. But while we do those things, we should be aware that this storm, like others, is partially of our creating.
Why solar power is beating coal and natural gas — News & Observer
Op-Ed by Jim Warren. There’s good news — outside of North Carolina — in the increasingly desperate fight to slow the climate crisis before its own momentum makes acceleration unstoppable.
Natural Gas Drillers Are Fighting for Their Lives — Bloomberg
The natural gas industry is on a mission to prove it can keep up with the green energy industry, whose price reductions are starting to become a competitive threat to fossil fuels.
Solar-powered yogurt and pop tops: How solar+storage helps a rural village to thrive — Smart Electric Power Alliance
It is a brisk, sunny morning in November, and Don Harrod, the village administrator of Minster, Ohio, is standing in the middle of the town’s 4.2-megawatt (MW) solar field, talking about why plans to expand the project won’t include community solar — at least not yet.
65 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice — Medium
65 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice — by Corinne Shutack
A unique opportunity to slow the climate crisis — The Fayetteville Observer
Op-Ed by Jim Warren. The asteroid cluster has been hurtling toward Earth for decades, monitored warily by scientists. Early debris is already harming millions of people and the impacts are accelerating. Engineers know how to steer the cluster away from direct impact. But the most government is barely willing to discuss the challenge…
Asteroids, Climate Chaos and Fracking — CounterPunch
Op-Ed by Jim Warren. Is it sci-fi? A really bad dream? Or a metaphor for global warming? Climate change has been in the news lately, partly due to Donald Trump’s attacks on science. Still, there’s little mention of the extreme urgency or the key drivers of the crisis.
Absorbing the nuclear fallout — Charlotte Business Journal
Op-ed by Jim Warren. The revival of U.S. nuclear power has been dominated in recent years by exuberance fueled by industry hype. Several weeks before Japan’s tragedy, former Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Peter Bradford declared the U.S. nuclear renaissance “in shambles.”
Beware the bill for nuclear plants — News & Observer
Op-Ed by Lynice Williams and Jim Warren. Recent news of a merger between Duke Energy and Progress Energy sets the stage for North Carolina to become home to the nation’s largest electric utility. They say the merger will save customers money by eliminating redundancy, but what appears to be a key driver behind the merger – building two nuclear reactors in South Carolina – would cost customers much more.
A course change for utilities — News & Observer
Op-Ed by John Blackburn and Jim Warren. Electricity rates for most North Carolina customers will increase dramatically if new coal-fired and
nuclear power plants are successfully completed by Duke Energy and Progress Energy.