North Carolina campground closures across state park system to continue through May 22
On Friday, NC State Parks announced that state park campground closures will continue through May 22.
“Please do not call the reservation line or the park about your reservation,” NC State Parks said on their Facebook page. “If your reservation falls within the campground closure dates, Aspira, our reservations management company, will contact you directly to cancel your reservation and issue a full refund.”
Virginia becomes first state in South to pledge goal of carbon-free energy
In the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, Virginia is moving ahead with the goal of becoming carbon-free by 2045, the Washington Post reports. Last weekend, Gov. Ralph Northam signed legislation which mandates Dominion Energy, the state’s largest utility, to switch to renewable energy by 2045. Appalachian Power, which provides energy to southwest Virginia, must be carbon-free by 2050.
The actions “Will create thousands of clean energy jobs, make major progress on fighting climate change, and break Virginia’s reliance on fossil fuels,” state Sen. Jennifer L. McClellan told the Washington Post in a statement.
Georgia denies the nation’s last new coal plant
Last week, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) denied a request for additional time to begin construction on Plant Washington, a new coal plant that has been in the works for 12 years and would have cost more than $2 billion. It was the last proposed new coal power plant project in the United States.
“I am thankful for the EPD’s decision so we can move on from this outdated and unnecessary project,” Katherine Cummings, a member of Georgia’s Fall-line Alliance for a Clean Environment (FACE) said in a statement. “Plant Washington posed a threat to family budgets, community health, and natural resources in and beyond Middle Georgia. It’s certainly a moment of closure and relief that this polluting giant will never be built.”
