Area Climate News
The Friendly City Food Co-op received the 2024 Valley Treasure Award from the Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley. The award was a recognition of the co-op’s effect on the local community and beyond by offering a wide variety of organic foods from local farmers and producers. This supports the local economy and cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions.
Harrisonburg City Schools are celebrating Farm to School Week by recognizing an initiative to bring more natural foods into schools. In partnership with Vine and Fig Educational Outreach Program, a local nonprofit dedicated to educating local youth about food and gardening, they will hold several events to promote education around nutrition. These will include honoring cafeteria staff and visiting local farms.
The Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission has begun a Rural EV Charging Infrastructure Study as part of its Rural Transportation Program. The study will help strategically plan for infrastructure development by identifying optimal locations for EV charging stations, assessing grid capacity, and developing implementation strategies.
Brooke Imber, who teaches art at Keister Elementary School in Harrisonburg, received an International Society of Arboriculture Gold Leaf Award for creating a school garden called the mindfulness meadow. She accomplished this with a $30,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Forestry and $5,000 from the Harrisonburg Education Foundation along with input from students.
Our Climate Crisis
The concentration of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere reached the highest level ever last year according to the World Meteorological Organization. The increase is linked to continuing stubbornly high rates of fossil fuel consumption. The UN reports that countries essentially made no progress in cutting emissions and tackling global warming last year.
Climate change affects where water goes. It helps to cause extreme floods and droughts. 2023 was the hottest year on record compounded by severe droughts, but it also brought devastating floods across the globe. Less recognized is that rivers dried up at the highest rate in three decades in 2023, putting global water supply at risk.
Rising costs from more frequent storms, droughts, wildfires and other extreme weather events related to climate change are confronting the U.S. with fiscal risks. It poses risks to homeowners in disaster-prone areas through soaring insurance costs and declining property values. It is also exacerbating the many financial strains on the federal government at a time when our national debt exceeds $35 trillion.
Biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history and the biggest drivers are habitat loss on land, overfishing the ocean, and climate change. In response, delegates from around the world are meeting in Colombia in what is expected to be the biggest United Nations biodiversity conference in history. The theme of the conference is “Peace With Nature.”
Politics and Policy
Clean energy is booming in the US but the upcoming presidential election could change that. Donald Trump has suggested he would gut the funding, which is expected to pour as much as $1.2 trillion into technologies to fight climate change. He said, “My plan will terminate the Green New Deal, which I call the Green New Scam.”
While viewing the storm damage in Southwest Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin asserted that blaming Hurricane Helene and the future unpredictability of weather on climate change was a distraction.
BP is preparing to drop an ambitious target to cut its oil and gas production by 40% by 2030 as it battles to close a valuation gap with rivals in the energy industry. Investors are pressuring BP to increase its oil and gas production and stop investing in any more “ill-conceived” wind projects.
Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has promised a strong shift toward renewable energy and climate action, breaking away from her predecessor’s fossil fuel-centered policies. The goal is that renewable energy will have a 45% share of total electricity production by 2030.
Dominion Energy filed an update to its long-term electricity generation plan showing the majority of energy it expects to produce will come from renewable sources but also an increased reliance on natural gas. The revised 15 year plan drops the proposed target of using renewable energy from 95% to 80%.
Energy
Global renewable energy capacity is set to contribute almost half of global electricity demand by 2030 according to the International Energy Agency. India and China are leading the way. China will be responsible for almost 60% of all new renewables added in this time frame.
Federal regulators gave a huge 2.8 gigawatt offshore wind project the green light to start construction off the coast of New Jersey. When completed as planned in 2028-2029 it will be one of the largest clean energy projects in the U.S. It still faces legal hurdles from offshore wind opponents.
The U.S. Department of Energy hopes to meet its grid decarbonization goals by tripling our current 100 gigawatts of nuclear power to 300 gigawatts by 2050. But is that even possible? The most recent expansion of nuclear generation by Georgia Power cost more than twice its original budget and took 15 years to build, causing the original contractors to go bankrupt.
The last operating coal power plant in the UK closed last month, ending more than 140 years of coal-fired electricity. It was able to end its reliance on coal by setting legally binding greenhouse gas emissions targets, regulating air pollution, and encouraging the expansion of renewable energy.
Five of our country’s 10 largest coal-fired power plants now have retirement dates. Coal generated 16% of the country’s electricity last year, down about half from a decade ago. It has lost market share because of rising costs. In some cases, state regulators have allowed coal-fired plants to stay open and pass high costs along to consumers.
U.S. electric utilities are planning a huge expansion of fossil gas-plants to meet booming power demands. This is incompatible with climate goals. Most are well off track to meet the Paris Accord goal of cutting electricity-sector emissions by 80% by 2030. The growth in demand is driven by new data centers, factories, and EV cars. Utilities have been slow to develop clean energy capacity.
Building a green hydrogen production hub in Mississippi has hit headwinds. Hy Stor Energy, the company building the hub, has abruptly canceled its order for electrolyzers, an essential component of making hydrogen from renewables. A series of unanticipated complications have made it necessary to extend the time needed to develop the hub.
Amazon has signed an agreement with Dominion Energy to explore the development of Small Modular Reactors, a kind of nuclear reactor with a smaller physical footprint. The project would be near Dominion’s existing nuclear power facilities at Virginia’s Lake Anna.
Food and Agriculture
An analysis by the World Resources Institute finds that one-quarter of the world’s crops are grown in places facing high levels of water stress. These challenges could contribute to increased levels of food insecurity as climate change puts more stress on water resources. One out of every 11 people in the world already doesn’t get enough food to maintain basic health.
A changing climate takes a toll on harvests in Kenya because farmers can no longer depend on regular weather patterns. They end up planting blindly, guessing, and taking risks. Now with a basic cellphone, they can receive weekly text messages from a nonprofit called Tomorrow Now that gives them insights into the week’s weather and advice on the best farming strategies.
A Kansas State University study has shown soil treated with manure or compost fertilizer stores more carbon than soil treated with chemical fertilizers or no fertilizer. This underscores the benefits of sustainable farming by highlighting how organic compost and manure not only support the health of the soil but also directly fight rising global temperatures through carbon sequestration.
Dominion Energy is pursuing agrivoltaics—combining solar installations with agriculture. Smaller solar installations are planted with native pollinators and then include honeybee hives at the site. Larger sites include sheep grazing, and they are looking into planting crops between rows of solar panels in the future.
Warmer winters, followed by snap freezes, are making it more challenging to grow conventional fruit crops such as apples and peaches. Some fruit growers are, therefore, experimenting with growing pawpaws, North America’s largest native fruit, because of its low maintenance and adaptability.
Climate Justice
Researchers estimate tens of millions of Americans may ultimately move away from areas of our country affected by climate disasters. The South stands to be especially transformed as extreme weather and flooding make the region less comfortable and more expensive. It will leave behind large swaths of coastal and other vulnerable land where seniors and the poor are very likely to disproportionately remain.
The Lancet, a leading scientific journal, just published a survey of U.S. youth, which found that 85% have climate distress and are concerned about how climate change is impacting their lives and futures. Almost 40% indicated that anxiety about climate change negatively affects their daily life.
Climate Action
Energy efficiency upgrades can save the average Virginia household $729 annually on utility bills. They are generally the lowest-cost way to lower electricity demand and reduce costs. It also decreases pressure on the grid, minimizing the chance of electric service disruptions.
Cities are turning to sheep to graze and maintain urban landscapes sustainably, and people love it. Urban sheepherder Zach Richardson and his Chew Crew flock in Nashville sometimes become a tourist attraction. Nashville Parks staff say that it’s a cheaper and more environmentally sustainable way to care for their greenspace.
All incoming first-year students at UC San Diego—no matter their major—will be required to take a climate class. They will have more than 40 courses to choose from, which will equip them with a strong understanding of climate change and how they can contribute to meaningful solutions.
Cement production accounts for nearly 7% of energy-related emissions, presenting one of the knottiest problems for reducing carbon emissions. A cement plant in Norway is now investing in technology to capture the carbon dioxide emitted in the production process. A startup company in England is also developing a way to produce low-carbon cement from slag.
Nearly every household in American has a car. How can we break free? Nearly 70% of federal transportation dollars goes to highways while a meager 20% goes to public transit and almost none to walking and biking. Living without a car depends on creating walkable neighborhoods, mixed zoning that allows small groceries and convenience stores, and the availability of reliable public transit.
Electric vehicle sales have hit another record in the third quarter of this year, accounting for 8.9% of the total auto sales. With improving infrastructure, far more choices, and excellent deals to be had, a 10% share is well within reach.
Earl Zimmerman is a member of the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley Steering Committee.
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