The week that President Trump signed an executive order to authorize offshore oil drilling, three rigs were moved out of the Gulf of Mexico. The move left 17 rigs in the gulf, down from 24 the same week last year and down from the peak of 176 rigs in 2001, according to industry tracker Baker Hughes.
Tag: Environment
Posted inColumns
Time has arrived for voters to call on Congress to reduce carbon emissions
By Guest Columnist JEFF JOSLIN, an airline captain who chairs the North Atlanta Chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
Climate change anxiety is growing in America. Georgians are no exception. Voters in our state exhibit broad public support for actions that would tame the growing climate threat.
Posted inLatest News
State to beachgoers: Hurricane Matthew damaged habitat, give nesting birds wide berth
Georgia environmental officials are asking beachgoers along Georgia’s coast to give nesting birds plenty of clearance because Hurricane Matthew damaged offshore sandbars that formerly served as nesting areas.
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta to save about $42 million in future payments for ongoing sewer upgrades
Atlanta can expect to save about $42 million in the overall interest payments on money borrowed to upgrade the water and sewer system, based on a bond refinancing the Atlanta City Council approved by unanimous vote Wednesday.
Posted inColumns
Investing in America’s ‘Best Idea’ – our national parks
By Guest Columnist SALLY BETHEA, the board chair of Chattahoochee Parks Conservancy, the nonprofit friends group for the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area
America’s mayors are pitching an investment in the infrastructure of our national parks as a win-win for cities and their residents: A way to create U.S. jobs by restoring historic buildings, fixing outdated and unsafe water and electrical systems and improving crumbling roads and trails to benefit all park visitors.
Posted inLatest News
Pullman Yard’s trees, terrain may receive extra protection from Atlanta
Pullman Yard would be covered by enhanced environmental preservation provisions under legislation pending Tuesday before the Atlanta City Council’s Community Development Committee.
Posted inLatest News
Greenspace to be installed atop site of razed Georgia Dome, to serve as parking, recreation
Once the Georgia Dome is demolished and the site converted to parking for the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, it will be a 13-acre greenspace named the Home Depot Backyard. The park will be open for everyday access and host special events on game days and throughout the year, civic officials announced Friday.
Posted inLatest News
Earth Day event in English Avenue area honors memory of police shooting victim
An Earth Day event that’s billed as, “one of the biggest clean-up efforts in Atlanta history” is being co-sponsored by the Captain Planet Foundation and a non-profit organization created to honor an elderly lady killed by police in her home in the English Avenue neighborhood. The event is Friday and Saturday.
Posted inColumns
Strong solar job growth in Georgia nowhere near the ceiling
By Guest Columnist DON MORELAND, chairman of the Georgia Solar Energy Association and a local business owner
If there is one thing on everybody’s mind these days, it seems to be: “What types of jobs will there be for working people now and into the future?”
Posted inLatest News
Oakland Cemetery returns to its roots as a ‘garden of graves’ with plant sale Saturday
Atlanta’s Historic Oakland Cemetery will give a nod to its roots as a garden cemetery when it opens its doors Saturday morning for its fifth annual Spring Plant Sale, featuring a demonstration on container gardening.
Posted inLatest News
Proposed coal ash dump near Jesup won’t be built, landfill operator says
A controversial coal ash dump proposed near Jesup won’t be built, according to a statement released Wednesday by the company that intended to build the landfill.
Posted inLatest News
Georgia Legislature takes a pass on coal ash, protects landowners from petro pipelines
The recent session of the Georgia Legislature protected water and property rights, but didn’t address coal ash waste and other water concerns, according to the wrap-up by the Georgia Water Coalition, which represents more than 230 organizations.
Posted inLatest News
As tempting as an apparent orphan animal may appear, it’s best left alone: Ga. DNR
They may look cute and in need of care, but those seemingly orphan young critters should be left alone and certainly shouldn’t be brought into a home, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Posted inLatest News
Westinghouse cites Plant Vogtle in bankruptcy papers filed today; ratepayers could see hike
The bankruptcy papers Westinghouse filed today in regards to Plant Vogtle names the nuclear plant in Georgia as one of two reasons the company faces a dire financial situation. The other reason is a nuclear power plant in South Carolina.
Posted inLatest News
Turkey season opens: ATL’s old wealth is heading to the woods
Georgia’s season for turkey hunting opens Saturday. The hunt is a major economic driver in communities that rely on connecting hunters with prey.
Posted inLatest News
Turn off unnecessary outdoor lighting to reduce bird deaths: ATL Audubon Society
Participants in Atlanta’s Better Building Challenge have partnered with the Atlanta Audubon Society in an effort to reduce bird deaths and power bills during the spring migration season.
Posted inColumns
Who killed the proposed stronger regulations for toxic coal ash?
By Guest Columnist DINK NESMITH, a Jesup native who is president and co-owner of Athens-based Community Newspapers, Inc., publishers of newspapers in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina
If fictional detective Sherlock Holmes were roaming the halls of the Georgia General Assembly, he could give an “elementary” clue why the proposed strengthening of coal-ash handling died before 2017’s Crossover Day. “My dear Watson,” the pipe-smoking sleuth would say, “follow the money.”
Posted inLatest News
Pullman Yard: APS supports tree protection, proposed farm and nature center
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with a comment from the board that oversees the Kirkwood Neighborhood Association. –
Atlanta’s school superintendent is backing an effort to protect a 10-acre stand of trees and the development of an urban farm and nature center at the site of Pullman Yard, the 27-acre site in Kirkwood that the state of Georgia is selling as a likely mixed use development.
Posted inColumns
Georgia’s nascent water trail network garners support from state lawmakers
At the end of a dirt path that touches the Yellow River in Newton County, one piece of the future of Georgia’s network of water trails is taking shape – a network that now has the blessings of the state House of Representatives.
Posted inColumns
Georgia residents leverage solarize programs for residential solar growth
By Guest Columnist BETH BOND, curator of Sustainable News, Southeast Green
Last summer in a Green Tech Media article, Georgia Power received a disturbing headline. The headline was Georgia Power’s Rooftop Solar Program Signs Up Only 5 Customers. The implication was there was no solar market in Georgia for residential sign-ups. After all, the article reported, there were over 10,000 inquiries but only five customers who had actually signed up and gotten a solar installation. What was wrong with Georgia citizens?
