Author Archives: Mark Lannaman

Cherry Street Energy opened their new office building, and with it, a “Solar School” earlier this month.  With a growing team, along with big contracts like City of Atlanta, Fulton County, Emory, Savannah and Chatham County, the company decided it was time to move into a space that reflected that growth.   The company moved from […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced it’s sending $7 billion dollars out in a wave of funding for the Solar for All program, and a Georgia coalition is receiving over $156 million of it.  Solar for All is a function of President Biden’s clean energy agenda; the program itself was born out of the […]

The Spark 5k run and walk is returning to Piedmont Park on May 9. This year all the proceeds will go towards two Atlanta-founded nonprofits. The race, sponsored by Roark Capital, will send dozens of participants racing through Piedmont Park. Funds will go towards the Kyle Pease Foundation (KFP), which advocates for people with disabilities […]

The Sundance Film Festival, the nation’s largest independent film showcasing, could be looking for a new host city to call home for the legendary festival — and Savannah might just fit that bill. The festival has been held in Park City, Utah, since 1978 and is by far the biggest event held there. From the […]

On May 1, the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB) held a ribbon cutting ceremony for their new community food center location in Jonesboro, which aims to increase access to fresh food in the area. ACFB serves 29 counties across Metro Atlanta and North Georgia. Jonesboro, located in Clayton County, has a median household income of […]

The Georgia Institute of Technology is embracing the age of artificial intelligence.  Earlier this month, Georgia Tech unveiled its new AI Makerspace on campus, described as a “digital sandbox”, that aims to facilitate access to resources for students to become proficient in emerging tools and advance AI. The makerspace is a project launched in conjunction […]

Last week, Commissioner Ted Terry (DeKalb District 6) introduced a resolution to create a resident-led environmental justice commission that would enable citizens to more directly influence environmental policy in their communities. The reason behind the introduced legislation and an increased focus on environmental justice is a simple matter of due diligence, Commissioner Terry said. “DeKalb […]

Goodwill of North Georgia is using April, recognized as Second Chance Month by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance, to look back on the last four years of its workforce return programs in which nearly 5,000 people were assisted back on their feet across various industries. Goodwill of North Georgia is the regional extension of the larger […]

Indian Creek Station, which currently stands as an isolated station amidst a sea of parking at the end of MARTA’s Blue Line, is set to get a makeover that reflects changing ideas towards urbanism and transit. MARTA continues to make waves, with one of the latest being the unveiling of their design for development of […]

In March, the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Coosa River Basin Initiative (CRBI), a nonprofit aiming to protect the Coosa River Basin, over the presence of PFAS found in drinking water. PFAS — short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — are a group of thousands of synthetic compounds […]

The Institute for Georgia Environmental Leadership (IGEL) has its new environmental leadership class for 2024 — a cohort of 30 environmental leaders from across the state in a number of sectors, all working with a common interest: being good stewards for the environment. The program has been around for over 20 years, with now more […]

Austell got a little greener on Saturday, March 23 with the planting of a food forest at South Cobb Recreation Center. The event also doubled as the Roots of Resilience Program kickoff, which is being facilitated through RCE Greater Atlanta — a functional network of United Nations University that seeks to advance the sustainable development […]

Last Thursday, researchers from Georgia Tech released a report titled “Energy Burdens of Black Households in Georgia” that analyzed the disproportionate effects of energy burdens on Black households in the state and its ramifications.    The report, more than 40 pages, is divided into seven sections that look at the problem of energy burden in Black […]

Atlanta and Savannah are two of 25 cities selected for the Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities initiative.  The three-year, $200 million initiative launched this month and aims to “turbocharge 25 U.S. cities’ efforts to leverage historic levels of federal funding to proactively build low-carbon, resilient, and economically thriving communities” according to the program’s website.  With the […]

On Monday, March 4, the Atlanta City Council passed a resolution (24-R-3186) to bolster the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) by adding a natural areas team and a director of natural resources. The resolution is seen as a step in the right direction for parks and natural areas advocates. Since 2020, 80 percent of […]