New Tax Credit for CHP in North Carolina

On August 2nd, North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue signed into law HB 1829, an expanded Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and renewable energy tax credit.  For the first time, investments in CHP systems are now eligible for North Carolina’s 35% renewable energy tax credit. This new incentive sponsored by Representative Paul Luebke and supported by [...]

Time to crack down on toxic coal ash

SACE is closely following the issue of coal ash waste, and the proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule to finally regulate the toxic by-product of burning coal.  To highlight the importance of this issue and the opportunities to get involved, we are re-publishing our national ally 1Sky’s post on coal ash below.
After reading this post, [...]

Appeals Court Undermines Regional Clean Air

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Virginia, struck a very serious blow to Southeast air quality last week when it overturned an interstate nuisance ruling in the case of Tennessee Valley Authority vs. North Carolina. The appeals court ruled that the state of North Carolina could not claim a public nuisance against a [...]

Clean Energy Gulf Challenge FINALIST Webinar Series begins today July 6th - 8th

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy’s (SACE) “Clean Energy Gulf Challenge” Finalist Webinar Series begins today.  SACE, along with a panel of expert reviewers, have chosen three Clean Energy Gulf Challenge finalists to present their ideas to the public via lunchtime webinars on July 6th, 7th and 8th.   Beginning on July [...]

Dams in the desert, windmills in the doldrums, biopower in the Berkshires

From SACE’s perspective, the Manomet study of biomass and carbon offers an important new way to describe and think-through the possible impacts on the climate from biomass energy. Although the study’s findings are limited in geographic scope, the methodology can be applied elsewhere to great benefit.

Join Hands Across the Sand this Saturday

On summer weekends visitors and residents alike head to beaches across our region to surf, fish, swim and play. One hard reality of the still-ongoing Gulf oil disaster is that at least 100 miles of Gulf coastline cannot welcome people or animals due to the oil and tar balls that continue to wash up [...]

The Gulf Oil Disaster, Vulnerable Communities and Energy Policy

This post was co-authored by Seandra Rawls and Marcus Strong, Clean Energy Policy intern for the summer of 2010.
The sinking of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig and the uncontrollable oil leak that resulted is already being called the nation’s worst environmental disaster. For a region already battling poverty and still recovering  from Hurricane Katrina, [...]

Deja vu all over again - 31 years later

“Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” - Edmund Burke (1729-1797), statesmen, writer and philosopher
In the past month, commentators and especially offshore-drilling proponents have used the word ‘unprecedented’ when trying to do damage control for the still-unfolding tragedy in the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. How soon we [...]

NC Calls It A Wrap On Climate Commission

After five long years of presentations, deliberation, and multiple extensions, the North Carolina Legislative Commission on Global Climate Change (otherwise known as the NC LCGCC or “Climate Commission”) finally closed its doors on Thursday, May 6, 2010 in Raleigh with majority approval of a 189-page final report.  SACE’s Executive Director, Stephen Smith, was appointed [...]

New Video of Spill

Dramatic new video of gushing oil was released yesterday after repeated requests by Sens. Boxer and Nelson.

The four newly-released videos were taken at different dates looking at the two known major leaks gushing from the sunken Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. One leak is in the broken riser pipe, a second leak seen for the [...]