Editorial: Southerners, Let’s Quit the Poor-Mouthing

By Bart King I’m tired of hearing that the Southeast doesn’t have the same wealth of renewable energy resources other parts of the country have. I’ve lived in Georgia most of my life and traveled enough to know this statement is just ridiculous. The first time I heard it, I thought: you’ve got to be kidding. Even when we’re not in the middle of a drought–which may soon be our permanent condition thanks to climate change–the sun can be relentless here. I thought maybe I was missing something–that perhaps our percentage of cloudy days or high humidity made solar power ineffective. This seems plausible when you consider that the top two solar states are California and Nevada. But number three on the list is New Jersey, which can’t possibly be any sunnier or drier than Georgia. And it isn’t. We have data to go on. A simple Internet search brings up numerous maps of U.S. solar potential, and they all show that the Southeast is second only to the Southwest. Florida and North Carolina apparently have found this information, because they are both actively pursuing the development of solar power. And if that isn’t proof enough, a little more research […]

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