CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Cities such as Asheville, Charlotte and Durham have adopted clean-energy strategies to fight climate change. Across North Carolina, however, some groups see a gap in community advocacy that they want to change.

A series of online workshops this month aims to equip residents with the knowledge they need to act on climate solutions and advocate for their region.

Eboné Lockett, founder and executive director of Harvesting Humanity, said the people affected most by climate change often aren't heard in the policy debates about problems such as more intense and frequent rainstorms, extreme heat and changes in weather patterns that impact crops.

"And if they don't understand it, and if they don't understand their role and responsibility in helping to shape and cultivate our physical and built environment," she said, "then they miss the whole idea of community, and community-centered and people-centered work."

She said the workshops will include details on North Carolina's climate and clean-energy initiatives. The next Climate Ambassadors Training will be held online next Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 12-13. Register at cleanaircarolina.org.

Former Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, director of EcoAmerica's Path to Positive Communities, said more North Carolinians are feeling the effects of climate change but might not know how to approach their local and state officials. She said she believes that when citizens have the tools to jumpstart grassroots efforts, their actions add up.

"Because everybody can play a role in climate solutions, and when that happens, we all win - because utility costs go down, costs for cities to operate go down," she said. "Our air gets healthier; our health improves."

June Blotnick, executive director of Clean Air Carolina, said the strategies for improving air quality are closely tied to climate-change solutions. She said the workshops can help people find local ways to protect the health of their families and future generations.

"We're excited to take the program statewide," she said, "and to invite people - whether they be civic leaders, whether they be stay-at-home moms or dads, business owners, anyone - to learn how climate change is impacting North Carolina."

In Charlotte, she said, a group that dubs itself the "Charlotte Mecklenburg Climate Leaders" urged the city to expand its renewable energy and cleaner public transportation efforts to meet a city goal of going "carbon-free" by 2030. As a result of the group's work, the Charlotte Area Transit System announced plans last fall to transition to electric buses.

Proposed legislation would help schools throughout Virginia adopt renewable energy.

The bill would direct the Virginia Department of Energy and the Commission on School Construction and Modernization to gather information about climate-smart programs for schools to implement. Schools in the state would also receive technical assistance and help seeking funding sources.

Del. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Ashburn, the bill's author, said while the program the bill creates is completely optional, an important part of future building will include renewable energy.

"When you build a school, it doesn't just last five years, and then you tear it down, and you build another one. It's got to last a long time. Decades, right?" Subramanyam pointed out. "And I don't see us in 20, 30 years; I don't see a future that's not going to involve renewable energy."

Subramanyam considers it common-sense legislation, and an easy way to help schools, without forcing them to adopt the measure, if they do not have the funding to do so.

School administrators told him they were not sure how to access certain climate-friendly resources. A previous version of the bill was introduced in 2021 but needed to be revised. Subramanyam hopes the legislation will aid schools in preparing for a climate-smart future.

Molly Robertson, research associate at Resources for the Future, believes it is a critical part of the puzzle to ensure schools move toward climate friendliness. One benefit she sees is getting schools access to information about adapting renewable-energy resources.

However, she noted if they do not have the resources to get involved with the program, there is not much help in the way of accessing climate-smart grants. Robertson added there are lower-cost options to make Virginia schools more environmentally friendly.

"The easiest one that a lot of schools have tackled is replacing their lighting system and using high-efficiency LED bulbs," Robertson explained. "But, there are other things that can make an even bigger impact, like replacing heating systems from natural-gas heating systems to electric heating systems like heat pumps."

She emphasized larger school districts have energy-conservation programs in place, but others might need to establish them, potentially starting at the state level. While it is one part of a larger puzzle, Robertson thinks the bill offers schools a unique opportunity to be part of the push to decarbonize buildings.

By Elizabeth McGowan for Energy News Network.
Broadcast version by Kathryn Carley for Virginia News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration

As warnings about escalating climate disasters proliferate, it's tempting to pull the bedcovers up - way high - and stay in the dark.

Aware of that urge to hide, a nimble Charlottesville nonprofit has an antidote for the disheartened. The Community Climate Collaborative, or C3, is inviting Virginians to peek at its early success in weaning local businesses from fossil fuels.

Together, 16 members of the Green Business Alliance pledged last spring to cut their carbon pollution by 45% by the end of 2025. Just a year in, the alliance is upward of halfway there - already achieving a 28% reduction.

Thus far, calculations reveal that members have stopped spewing the equivalent of 4,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which translates to removing 1,000 cars from roadways for a year.

"C3 is tiny, but we're trying to contribute," emphasized Coles Jennings, the nonprofit's director of corporate sustainability. "There's just too much urgency to the problem."

Alarmingly, business operations overlap with more than 65% of Virginia's greenhouse gas footprint via transportation, manufacturing or commercial building energy use, according to Jennings' review of state Department of Environmental Quality inventory numbers.

Jennings doesn't pretend that a relatively puny carbon curtailment in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains will solve the global climate crisis. But, he noted, the alliance's esprit de corps can provide a glimmer of optimism.

That's why C3 aims to widen its regional reach and eventually duplicate its model statewide.

"These businesses are doing something that's really hard," said Jennings, who joined the C3 staff in December. "By taking action, members become a collective business voice for climate. Then they feel more comfortable speaking out.

"That's when they become influencers, pushing for climate measures."

Jennings, a professional engineer, said serving as a sustainability coach for alliance members has been the thrill of his energy consulting career because of their open-mindedness and commitment to progress.

For instance, he pointed to the willingness of InBio to follow through on recommendations suggested by an energy audit. By upgrading its heating and cooling systems, the professional laboratory services company trimmed its gas consumption by 40%.

"That was super validating for me," said Jennings, who conducted the InBio audit as a freelance contractor in 2019. "I know we're not reversing climate change with one company's gas usage, but it was a really cool personal moment."

He also boasted about how The Center at Belvedere, a nonprofit community gathering place for seniors, constructed a new airtight facility that's 2.5 times as large as its old one, with the same carbon footprint.

On the renewable energy front, half of the alliance members have added a total of 640 kilowatts of solar arrays to their properties.

One of Jennings' favorite tales entails Tiger Fuel, a family-owned fuel distribution company that has, perhaps counterintuitively, championed eco-values by announcing it had acquired a solar company at the alliance's May 2021 launch in Charlottesville.

It's an unlikely avenue for a company that distributes heating oil and propane gas and operates a network of gas stations, car washes and convenience stores.

"Lots of companies in their shoes would look at climate action as a threat to their business and actively resist it," Jennings said. "But instead, they're asking how they can get ahead of it."

'Busy as all get-out'

Life has been "busy as all get-out" in the year since Tiger Fuel purchased Charlottesville-based Altenergy and grew to 363 employees. The latter, rebranded as Tiger Solar in February, has offices in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C, Idaho and Michigan.

"We are absolutely happy we did it and also proud," President Gordon Sutton said about branching into solar. "I don't see a lot of people scrambling to do what we've done. It's never been our intent to be a pioneer. It just felt right for us."

C3 first invited Tiger Fuel to the alliance table due to its decades of service in the region and its serious approach to reversing climate change.

As teens, Gordon and his younger brother, Taylor, had pumped gas, checked oil, and cleaned windshields as their father, David, guided the morphing of the company beyond service stations and fuel delivery. The sons both returned to Tiger Fuel after post-college adventures.

Six years ago, Gordon and Taylor, now chief operations officer, figured solar arrays would match Tiger Fuel's ideals when the price of panels and federal tax credits aligned to fit their finances.

By 2018, they hired neighboring Altenergy to install 17.5 kilowatts atop one store and two canopies sheltering gas pumps.

The brothers are in the midst of having Tiger Solar bedeck a mix of car washes, canopies, stores and one bulk facility with at least another 500 kW. Tiger Fuel would do 100% coverage, but not all canopies can support the weight of arrays and the company doesn't own the real estate at all 11 stores.

Gordon Sutton praised C3 for holding Tiger Fuel accountable for slicing its carbon footprint during a hectic year. The nonprofit deserves credit, he said, for strengthening bonds among enterprises that are secure enough to act quickly and ask one another for environmental advice.

For instance, Tiger Solar has completed a pair of solar installations - one 170 kW, the other 111 kW - at two Staunton dealerships owned by fellow alliance member Carter Myers Automotive.

"It's kind of fun to be engaged in an industry where there's so much tailwind," Sutton said about the solar side of his venture. "It feels like every time we do a project, it's received with a lot of fanfare.

"People are paying more attention because, as a company historically engaged in the distribution of fossil fuels, we're a bit of an outlier."

Still, while the laurels are welcome, the darts can sting. Sutton said he's aware some solar competitors have tried to undermine Tiger Fuel's newest venture as a green sheen exercise.

"This is not some sort of hocus-pocus greenwashing thing," Sutton said about the dedication of Tiger Solar's 50 or so employees nationwide. "This is real people doing real stuff in real time."

Altenergy, founded in 2004, had completed 1,700-plus solar projects totaling at least 42 megawatts. Tiger Solar has added 2.8 MW to that figure.

Sutton views that growth as a baby step. He is intent on extending Tiger's Virginia reach and also convincing owners of other competing fuel distributors, gas stations and convenience stores to join his solar fold.

"We are having conversations," he said. "None has yielded big results yet, but I'm confident they will."

Next? An appetite for more

C3 was adamant about crafting a program centered on smaller businesses because those with fewer than 500 employees are the backbone of Virginia's workforce.

The alliance also includes for-profits Red Light Management, WillowTree, Harvest Moon Catering, Quantitative Investment Management and accounting firm Hantzmon Wiebel; clean energy developers Apex Clean Energy, Sigora Solar and Sun Tribe Solar; Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital and nonprofits Legal Aid Justice Center and CFA Institute.

Luring them to become the alliance's "freshman class" began with relationship-building because it's not every day businesses trust a climate organization with their utility bills.

Energy usage metrics mined from those bills guided the individualized "emissions diet" plan for each business. Each participant began with a different baseline so they wouldn't lose credit for pre-alliance improvements.

Jennings is C3's chief data collector and reviewer responsible for providing participants with reports and updates.

"What's really exciting and unique is the community focus and flavor that's missing in the Fortune 500," he said. "We're bringing in a whole range of businesses that otherwise wouldn't touch this stuff because they don't have the staff to do this type of analysis."

Jennings is fully aware some communities become hamstrung on climate action because well-intentioned and well-researched promises never evolve into doable plans. It can be an arduous and exasperating chore.

However, he figures his nonprofit's endeavor will only boost area efforts to curb emissions. Alliance members are crucial players if Charlottesville and surrounding Albemarle County are to slice planet-warming emissions by 45% (relative to 2011) by 2030.

With such an enthusiastic inaugural membership, Jennings is convinced the project will expand even after the final emissions measurements are released in spring 2026.

"They have such a common thread and an appetite," he said. "My hope is they'll ask 'What's next?' after outgrowing the core mission pledge."

Eventually, he envisions cracking tougher nuts, such as converting fleets to electric vehicles and forming overarching climate action plans that extend beyond carbon footprints.

In the meantime, he wants alliance members to buckle down on energy audits so they can maximize every electron of efficiency instead of leaping immediately to sexier solar.

"I came across this quote somewhere and use it all the time," he said. "'You have to eat your energy efficiency vegetables before you get your solar dessert.'"

New Mexico residents have two weeks to submit written comments to the Environmental Protection Agency about its proposal to implement stronger standards aimed at reducing methane emissions from oil and gas wells.

Sister Joan Brown, executive director of New Mexico's Interfaith Power and Light, has been advocating for tougher rules for decades. Along with others, she spoke at this month's EPA hearings, and said many speakers were confused by the government's inaction.

"It gets difficult when you're working with ordinary people, and ordinary people of faith, and they say, 'Well, we already did this - isn't that done yet? Why does this take so long?' We need to move on this and quickly," she said, "and we can't have any more delays."

The world's largest methane cloud hangs above Farmington and the Four Corners area of northwest New Mexico in the San Juan Basin. The state also is affected by methane from the Permian Basin, an oil-and-gas-producing area in the state's southeastern corner, on the border of West Texas.

Retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson said he thinks it's important for the EPA to do more to fight climate change as a national-security issue. He said the country's reliance on oil and carbon-based fuels could be reduced if more states turned to renewable forms of energy "that provide opportunities to develop a truly 'green' economy that'll put a lot of the people that are presently working in coal mines and in the oil industry, put them to work installing solar panels and wind turbines."

Brown said flaring - the process of burning, rather than capturing methane - is always a major concern, along with aging equipment.

"We go to the Southeast, the Permian Basin a lot, and we see storage tanks that are just corroding and tanks that had huge gaping holes in the top," he said, "and as we have more and more storage, and also older infrastructure, that's a huge problem."

Brown said her faith community would like to see approved monitoring technologies and subsequent data made available to the public, so more people know what's going on and can better engage.