– Feb. 7, 2024 –
Good morning! It’s hard to read the news and not feel worried — and somewhat powerless — about climate change. So today we lead off Coast Watch with a list of climate-friendly actions from a career diplomat who’s been in the thick of climate policy. We’re also looking at yet another delay at Vogtle and a marsh bill that advanced in the legislature to the dismay of environmental groups. Let’s get to it.
Questions, tips or concerns? Send us a note at staff@thecurrentga.org
7 climate action tips
Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr. offered a mostly optimistic view of progress on climate change when he spoke in late January to the Savannah Council on World Affairs. (A video of the talk will be posted soon on the council’s site.) Blake, who served for 31 years in the State Department in various leadership positions, is senior managing director for Climate and Southeast Asia Practices at McLarty Associates, a Washington, DC-based strategic advisory firm. As U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, Blake led an initiative to make palm oil more sustainable, with companies pledging to stop clearing forests and peatlands. “In the last six or seven years since then, Indonesia had more progress in reducing deforestation than any other country in the world,” Blake said.
Blake concluded his talk with a list of seven “really easy things that we can do” to fight climate change:
• Buy an electric vehicle. • Invest in your heating system, especially by buying a heat pump. • Put a solar panel on your roof. • Reduce food waste. • Compost. • Eat less beef. • Vote.
He emphasized the last one. “Probably most important of all is just exercise your right to vote,” Blake said.
Groundhog Day for Vogtle
It was fittingly just before Groundhog Day last week when Georgia Power announced yet another delay for its overdue and over budget second new reactor at the Vogtle nuclear power plant near Waynesboro. Capitol Beat’s Dave Williams has the details on Vogtle 4 here. Its sister reactor, Vogtle 3, went into operation about six months ago, seven years after its initial start date. Coincidentally, Vogtle 3 was not operating for most of last week. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the reactor was offline for “scheduled maintenance.”
Marsh ownership bill advances
Legislation that would make it easier to claim private ownership of salt marsh narrowly cleared a state House committee last week, as Capitol Beat’s Dave Williams details here.
Environmental groups are wary that making it easier to clear these titles could encourage false claimants to step forward and profit through mitigation banking, a system that allows developers to compensate for habitat they destroy by paying to restore similar habitat nearby.
Both One Hundred Miles and the Georgia Conservancy oppose the bill.
(For a refresher on how legislation wends its way through the Georgia Capitol check out this excellent primer from The Current’s Maggie Lee.)
Also noted:
• We need feedback! Is our work helping you understand the world around you and helping you make informed decisions? Here’s a chance to tell us. We believe the best way for us to provide credible, relevant info is to find out — regularly — what info you want and need to make good decisions each day. So, we’ll be sending various questions along now and then. Please help us improve our work with your honest and constructive answers. Here’s the link. Thanks!
• Gia Wagner was appointed acting superintendent of Cumberland Island National Seashore and Fort Frederica National Monument in January, the National Park Service announced last week. She’s expected to stay in the position four months. Wagner has been the Superintendent of Andersonville National Historic Site since 2020. Wild Cumberland reports only one other woman has served as superintendent of Cumberland. That was Mary Collier, also an interim superintendent, in the mid-90’s.
• Last year was the warmest on record and January followed suit in Savannah, Climate Central reports. Last month the average temperature of 51.9°F in Savannah was 1.2° above normal, and the 3.10 inches of precipitation was 95% of the normal amount. Januarys in Savannah are getting hotter, leading to a change of 3.4°F since 1970.
• The Savannah National Wildlife Refuge last week announced the completion of repairs to its impoundment system, which was damaged in Hurricane Irma in 2017 . The impoundments provide crucial habitat for migratory birds, especially waterfowl. The refuge lands on the north side of SC 170 have also reopened to hiking and biking.
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