Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025
Good morning! We’re taking a look today at how the Hyundai Metaplant is generating some electricity for itself. Then we have an analysis from a UGA researcher about possible unintended consequences of protecting monarch butterflies. Finally, we turn to an effort to listen in on right whales, which new evidence suggests could live to a surprisingly old age.
Questions, tips or concerns? Send me a note at mary.landers@thecurrentga.org
NEWS: ENVIRONMENT
Solar canopy sprouts at Hyundai
A solar canopy is taking shape at the massive parking lot of the Hyundai Metaplant in Bryan County, as new drone photos from The Current’s Justin Taylor show. Solar panels cover 1,878 parking spaces and will provide up to 5 megawatts, or 5% of the plant’s energy usage when they come online, spokesman Joe LaMuraglia told The Current. While EV charging stations will be available for workers to charge their vehicles, they won’t necessarily be solar powered. The solar canopy will, however, provide welcome shade to those who park under it, LaMuraglia noted.
Far less sunny places than south Georgia have welcomed solar carports. One notable adopter is Michigan State University, where solar arrays constructed on five commuter parking lots cover 5,000 parking spaces.
And solar-covered parking lots are becoming de rigueur in France, which recently passed regulations requiring the installation of photovoltaic panels on parking lots with a capacity of at least 80 cars.
ANALYSIS: ENVIRONMENT
Would protection help or harm monarchs?
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has proposed designating monarch butterflies as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The designation would bring some added protections for the iconic species, but as a University of Georgia insect expert and his colleague explain in The Conversation, the resulting recovery plan could be counterproductive.
NEWS: ENVIRONMENT
Listening in on whales
Scientists track highly endangered North Atlantic right whales from airplanes, boats and increasingly, with sophisticated underwater listening devices, as Emily Jones of WABE/Grist reports.
Researchers hope better tracking can be used to warn ships of whales’ presence and get them to slow down, ultimately reducing the number of ship strikes that kill and injure right whales.
Keeping whales safe may allow them to grow older than previously believed possible. A recent study in the journal Science Advances revealed that about 10% of sampled Southern right whales, a close relative of North Atlantic right whales, were over 130 years old. But very few North Atlantic right whales make it past age 50.
The study’s lead author attributes the stark contrast in lifespans to human impacts, including entanglement in fishing gear and ship strikes.
Just one thing
This week’s tip for personal environmental action comes from reader Jean DeRosa: “I live close to my church so I walk and bring a plastic bag and by the time I get there it is filled with litter and I can toss in appropriate place! One day I found $40!”
Send “just one thing” you do as part of your personal environmental action plan to mary.landers@thecurrentga.org. We’ll publish our favorites and credit the contributors.
Also noted
- With the Georgia legislature convening this week, Coastal Georgia lawmakers and The Current readers alike are focused on environmental issues, from beach renourishment to regional water planning, as The Current’s Craig Nelson reports.
- Energy and water are also on the mind of Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington) who last week announced the development of a plan to ensure the state has enough of both resources to support the ongoing economic development boom, as Emily Jones of WABE/Grist reports.
- Earth’s average surface temperature in 2024 was the warmest on record, according to an analysis led by NASA scientists. Global temperatures in 2024 were 2.30 degrees Fahrenheit (1.28 degrees Celsius) above the agency’s 20th-century baseline (1951-1980), which tops the record set in 2023.
- U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter’s (R-St. Simons) 471-acre property in Camden County is under contract again. Carter has denied that the property, situated about ten miles from the now-defunct Spaceport Camden, was an investment and has wrangled with the county over its property taxes.
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Slideshow: Hyundai metaplant site
The plant on 3,000 acres will employ around 8,500 people and is set to build electric vehicles. Hyundai will partner with LG to build batteries there for the cars.
Federal protection for monarch butterflies could help or harm them
Scientists say the details of newly proposed protections for monarch butterflies are what matters.
Scientists aim to track, save right whales off the Georgia coast
Underwater acoustic monitoring aids detection of highly endangered right whales.
Coastal Georgia lawmakers tout environmental agenda
Comparing readers’ priorities to those of lawmakers sets up 2025 legislative session.
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