Southeast is movin on up in ACEEE state scorecard ranking

The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE ) released their 5th annual state scorecard on energy efficiency yesterday and the results, not surprisingly, support that the efficiency sector continues to grow and create jobs. The report found that the nationwide budget for electricity efficiency programs increased $1.1 billion from 2009 to 2010, and [...]

June 2: Japan Nuclear Disaster Update

It has been nearly three months since Japan suffered the massive earthquake and tsunami that triggered the ongoing nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. And yet the utility owner/operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), only recently confirmed that three of the nuclear reactors suffered complete meltdowns within hours of the earthquake, with reactor Units [...]

How soon we forget as Congress suffers from oil spill amnesia

The 1 year anniversary of the nation’s worst oil spill was observed just two weeks ago but little has been done to improve offshore drilling safety measures to ensure another accident of similar magnitude does not happen again.  Nevertheless, the U.S. House of Representatives just passed legislation introduced by Rep. Doc Hastings to speed up [...]

April 28: Japan Nuclear Update

Seven weeks have passed since the massive earthquake and tsunami disaster occurred in Japan. Recent reports have the current death toll at more than 14,000 with more than 11,000 people still unaccounted for and 130,000 people still living in shelters. The situation is also taking a toll on its political leaders as pressure increases for [...]

What is the state of your air?

Yesterday, the American Lung Association released the 2011 State of the Air – a report card on air pollution in communities across the nation. Although this year’s report shows that air quality has generally improved over the last few years in most parts of the country, many of our Southeastern states fail to make the [...]

While the Gulf Still Gently Weeps

Co-authored by Simon Mahan and Toni Reale It seems like yesterday when the airwaves were filled with the horrifying news that an exploratory oil rig had exploded in the Gulf of Mexico killing eleven men and spewing unknown quantities of crude into Gulf waters.  The explosion happened on April 20th 2010 and just two days [...]

TVA IRP and EPA Settlement Moves Region Towards a Clean Energy Future

A settlement announced today between TVA, the EPA and several states and public interest organizations is a historic step towards ending our reliance on dirty coal and moving the Valley towards a cleaner, brighter energy future. The settlement, announced at this morning’s meeting of TVA’s Board of Directors, settles lawsuits brought more than a decade [...]

Join us at the Powershift 2011 conference in DC!

This post was authored by Dan Cannon, Florida Organizer for the Southern Energy Network, a program of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. On April 15th – 18th, I will be surrounded by over 10,000 young climate activists in Washington D.C.  Power Shift 2011 is going down, and, just like the two previous Power Shift [...]

SACE Launches New Video: Southern Solutions to Gulf Oil Drilling

Today the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy launches a new video highlighting the ways that we can drill for clean energy solutions in our region and not for oil. Our video comes out just days after the White House lifted the offshore oil drilling ban put in place in May 2010 as the Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil [...]

In-Valley renewables missing from TVA draft Integrated Resource Plan

TVA’s draft Integrated Resource Plan is missing something: a serious commitment to developing the Valley’s renewable energy resources.  With significant solar, bioenergy and wind resources available throughout the TVA territory, these resources, along with energy efficiency, should be TVA’s go-to resources for meeting future energy demand.  With the draft plan now out for public comments, [...]