Raising the Standard

How State Laws Affect Our Clean Energy Future By Molly Moore Raising the Standard: State Laws and our Clean Energy Future Democratizing the Grid: Community-owned Renewable Energy Bio-energy Creates a Mass of Questions Beyond Renewable: The Cutting Edge in Energy A Guide to Clean Energy Incentives Almost Always Sunny in Appalachia New Vision: Faith-based Renewable…

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Renewable Energy Standard Targeted by N.C. Legislature

By Davis Wax Editorial assistant, Spring/Summer 2013 Despite job creation directly linked to North Carolina’s burgeoning clean energy industry, the state’s modest renewable energy standard continues to be targeted by lawmakers. The “Affordable and Reliable Energy Act,” which narrowly passed the House Commerce Committee, would warp the state renewable energy portfolio standard into a shadow…

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Organizational Roundup

Teaming Up For Virginia Appalachian Voices’ Virginia campaign team partnered with Downstream Strategies to help in their research for a report that details how the coal industry is reaping huge benefits from the Commonwealth of Virginia each year. Released in mid-December, “The Impact of Coal on the Virginia State Budget” reveals that Virginia taxpayers have…

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Vested Power: State-Level Legislative Agendas in 2013

By Brian Sewell, J.W. Randolph and Nathan Jenkins At the state level, the public often has greater access and input on decisions and the processes of their governments. But so do special interests — especially campaign funders and industries that play a significant role in state and large-scale economies. State governments in Appalachia create their…

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Duke CEO Could Be New Energy Guru || N.C. Round-Up

By Davis Wax Editorial assistant, Spring/Summer 2013 Over the past few weeks there has been a spurt of environmental and energy news in North Carolina and its capital, Raleigh. The developing issues include departing Charlotte-based Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers being considered for the President’s cabinet, a new bill looking to end state environmental and…

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Political winds shifting for renewable energy in Virginia?

Late last week, the U.S. Department of Interior announced plans to sell leases for the development of wind energy 27 miles off of Virginia’s shores and another lease block off of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. If constructed, these would be the first offshore wind generation facilities in the United States. While Virginia is far from…

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It’s Sad to Say, Fracking’s Here to Stay

A new series of proposed natural gas pipelines will give many states better access to natural gas reserves of the Marcellus Shale, a formation of sedimentary rock that covers much of the Appalachian Basin. The pipelines will connect to larger interstate lines to reach more customers in the northeastern United States and possibly Canada. The…

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