Climate Point: Green energy faces bans across US

A fascinating investigation looked at how the expansion of green energy is going in the nation. Bold new suggestions were raised for hurricane forecasting. And efforts to save one population of Florida manatees are going very well.

These stories and more are featured in this week's Climate Point, your guide to stories about climate, energy and the environment. I’m Dinah Voyles Pulver on Paste BN’s national climate and environment team. 

When I started reporting, one of the early topics I covered were contentious discussions over how to save Florida manatees – horrific pieces on how the animals were being injured by propellers and sea grass die offs as well as hopeful stories about recovered animals being released into the wild.

One memorable 1997 story about a recovered manatee released into the St. Johns River featured this headline: “Be a good girl, Georgia, go get yourself pregnant.”

So when I read that nearly 1,000 manatees had been spotted on a cold day at a state park on the river, I couldn’t resist revisiting the subject to tell the story of how this sea cow population had grown from a high count of 54 in 1991 when I started reporting to 932.  It’s a tale of fought battles and cautious compromises, hallmarks of many successful restoration efforts. 

How 'green' are our valleys, plains and prairies? 

During a more than yearlong investigation, Elizabeth Weise on Paste BN’s climate team examined local rules and policies for developing local wind farms and solar installations, talking to landowners, advocates and experts.

Weise’s surprising findings were published in a multi-story package that included in-depth analyses in collaboration with Suhail Baht on Paste BN's data team. One story – on the plight of a couple who had hoped to save their land for posterity by allowing a utility company to build wind turbines on their family farm – was particularly popular with readers.

Over a decade, 183 U.S. counties had their first wind projects start producing power, while nearly 375 blocked new wind turbines, Weise wrote. In 2023, almost as many counties blocked new solar projects as added them.

Weise found the reasons for local opposition varied and the sometimes murky motives often boiled down to one theme: Renewables are fine, but we don’t want them here.

The package included a fact check on the oft-repeated rumors about green energy projects and compelling graphics about renewables across the nation. 

Reporters in Florida looked at the expansion of solar energy production in the Sunshine State, by corporate utilities and homeowners. One associate professor at the Florida Institute of Technology told reporters that "From a public relations perspective, it looks great to the public" for utilities to build more solar plants, he said, but "it's all in the economics" ― whether power companies can generate powerful profits from the solar investment.

In Arizona, residents are asking questions about a green hydrogen project. a California-based company hopes to erect mirrors to provide the electricity to extract hydrogen. Residents fear it could dry up their drinking water wells in an area where the groundwater aquifer already is considered imperiled.

Weather

Did you get your spring weather forecast from Punxsutawney Phil, a local armadillo or porcupine or your very own shadow? This visual graphic took at look at Phil's success and the history of animal weather predictions.

Deaths from lightning strikes have been dramatically reduced across the nation and remain low. Paste BN's Doyle Rice wrote about the latest report.

A national conversation is growing over how to effectively warn the public about the growing hazards from intense hurricanes. The National Hurricane Center announced it's experimenting with its forecast cone graphic. And a group of climate scientists announced they've found at least five hurricanes in the last decade had wind speeds of more than 192 mph, which could represent a new category of hurricanes – Category 6.

Bugs in the news

• The Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count announced the results of its annual survey and found a reduction of thousands of monarch butterflies compared to the count in 2022.
• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced it will review the Southern Plains bumblebee for possible protection under the endangered species act.
• The cicadas are coming. Here's what to know about this year's broods.
• In Florida horticultural specialists and entomologists are working to control a winged insect known as the thrips parvispinus.

Read on for more, including how an environmental advocate represented himself in a court case and won, the growing availability of green burials and a look at the not so hot and dry history of the Southwest. Some of these stories may require a subscription. Sign up and get access to all eNewspapers in the Paste BN Network. If someone forwarded you this email and you'd like to receive Climate Point in your inbox for free once a week, sign up here.