Another Climate Change Risk – Lyme Disease
We’ve always had ticks in West Virginia. But maybe you’ve noticed they’re worse now. You aren’t imagining it. There are more ticks these days and they are showing up earlier in the spring and dying off later in the fall. The culprit?…
Climate Change Has Made This Extreme Heat Four Times More Likely
Everyone has noticed. Extreme heat has become more frequent and more widespread than in the past. Is it just a temporary natural fluke that will be corrected when we return to the mean temperatures experienced in the last fifty years? Absolutely…
How the Deck is Stacked Against Solar Energy in West Virginia
Solar power is unlimited, cheap and pollution-free. New jobs are being created all over the country in the manufacturing and installation of solar energy infrastructure. States all around West Virginia are adopting public policy that promotes…
Nature-Based Flood Resiliency Can Safeguard West Virginia’s Future
Nearly all states have disaster recovery plans, and these typically include flood disaster recovery. Recovery is a different concept than resiliency, which is designed to harden communities and infrastructure against future harm. West Virginia…
West Virginia Gets Big EPA Grant for Rooftop Solar
West Virginia continues to benefit from the Biden Administration's Inflation Reduction Act. On April 22, 2024, the EPA announced that over $106 million would be granted to the WV Energy Office for the state's Real Resilient Roofs program.
The…
Coal Baron Jim Justice Vetoes Modest Solar Bill
Nothing shows how desperately West Virginia needs a change than Jim Justice’s veto of HB 5528. Coal fuels 92% of West Virginia’s electric generation, while renewable solar energy is responsible for less than 2%. HB 5528 would have made a…
Will Carbon Offset Agreements – Or Conservation Easements — Survive in West Virginia?
If you are looking for another example of how the Legislature in West Virginia favors big industry over the little guy, look no further than SB 822, introduced in the Senate on February 16, 2024. This bill attacks carbon offset agreements and…
What’s Driving Electric Vehicles at the Legislature?
Nationally there has been great interest in electric plug-in vehicles. In West Virginia not so much. The Biden Administration has identified alternative fuel vehicles, including EVs, as one means of reducing greenhouse gasses. The West Virginia…
West Virginia’s Orphan Well Problem
Carbon dioxide is by far the largest contributor to climate change, and it comes from recognizable fossil fuel sources such as coal-burning utilities, and automobile tailpipes. Carbon dioxide persists in the atmosphere for hundreds of years,…
Solar Power Back on the Agenda at the Legislature
A bill authorizing community solar programs in West Virginia was introduced in the House of Delegates on January 17, 2024. The bill, HB 4834, would extend the benefits of solar energy to electric consumers who have no roof space, live in shady…
