What Georgia’s Upcoming Climate Plan Could Mean for Energy Use

In light of growing concern over climate change in America, the state of Georgia and the Metro Atlanta area are set for the first time to develop official plans for pollution reduction.

As part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the EPA awarded the state and the Atlanta Regional Commission a grant totaling $4 million with which it will develop a Climate Pollution Reduction Plan. While no specifics are expected until early 2024, state officials and stakeholders are meeting to discuss Georgia’s highest-priority climate issues. All states except with the exception of four and many major metropolitan areas have received planning grants. 

Most of the grants given by the EPA have the stated objective of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other harmful air pollutants, including those such as Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which can cause respiratory complications in citizens.

PM2.5, which researchers regard as particularly harmful due to the relatively large size of the particles, is caused in large part by combustion engines and vehicular traffic, of which Georgia has one of the highest volumes in the country. Greenhouse gasses, on the other hand, include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, fluorinated gasses, and others, and are cited as one of the largest factors contributing to climate change.

In 2021, Georgia ranked 11th out of all 50 states for total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Historically, electricity consumption has been the largest contributor towards the state’s total CO2, but the Ray C. Anderson Foundation found that carbon emissions from Georgia’s electric power plants declined by more than 15% between 2017 and 2021. While the COVID-19 pandemic may have been the impetus for this decline, it also allowed the transportation sector to assume the crowning title for most of Georgia’s emissions. 

In the past year, Georgia’s businesses, industries, and citizens have emitted 34.6 million metric tons of GHGs. Transportation accounted for 18.9 million metric tons of that total. Fulton, DeKalb, and Gwinnett counties’ vehicle use accounted for over a million metric tons of GHG emissions in April 2023 alone. 

With a new influx of environmentally-focused businesses arriving in Georgia, however, what do these measures mean for the everyday citizen?

The U.S. Global Change Research Program found that Georgians now see “around eight more extreme heat days that [they] did in 1961” and that the typical season for heat waves has lengthened by eighty days. Also troubling are environmental effects such as increased flood risk along coastal areas and crop failure due to rising temperatures.

These phenomena could be due in part to past industrial trends on a national scale, such as a former reliance on coal and other fossil fuels. In the past several years, Georgia has made an effort to address the energy sector’s impact on GHG emissions, announcing in 2022 its goal of permanently closing the last of its coal-fired energy plants in the next decade.

Historically, coal has provided the least expensive and most accessible form of energy, with coal accounting for 62% of Georgia’s energy portfolio in 2011. Whether this relatively low cost makes coal preferable, however, remains up for debate. Plant Bowen in Bartow County, Georgia, is one of the state’s only remaining coal-powered plants. A report from the Sierra Club found that Bowen was the 17th-most dangerous plant in the country and estimated that prolonged inhalation of its pollutants has resulted in about 3,800 premature deaths. 

Plant Bowen notably employs over 400 full-time workers and supplies significant tax revenue to residents of Bartow County. For many Georgians, growth opportunities in local communities outweigh the small-scale environmental harm that industries may pose. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has found that renewable energy, however, offers an economic advantage over traditionally praised fossil fuels. They explain that the labor-intensive nature of producing renewable energy “creates more jobs per dollar invested” and “use primarily indigenous resources,” allowing more of the total dollars invested to remain in American hands. 

As more Americans become conscious of the burden that GHGs and fossil fuels put on the environment, the potential for renewable energy to become the norm grows. The price of solar panels has dropped nearly 90% since 2010, and nuclear energy has a discount rate of 10%, making it more affordable than both gas and coal in the U.S. 

This is not to say that renewable energy is without flaw. The addition of environmentally-friendly businesses into a community often has complicated implications for its residents. The expansion of Rivian, an electric-vehicle company offering alternatives to typical fuel-burning automobiles, into Northeast Georgia has sparked debate amongst residents of affected communities. Local government officials have cited the potential for development and a transition away from gas-operated vehicles as welcome benefits, while citizens worry about how manufacturing could upset their local ecosystems and way of life.

Furthermore, one of Georgia’s largest assets in combating GHG emissions are its land sinks. Land sinks are natural areas that store and sequester CO2, preventing it from entering the atmosphere. Soil, trees, and the sea all act as important means of absorbing and filtering excessive carbon dioxide emitted by human activities. One downside of many sources of renewable energy such as wind turbines and solar panels is the amount of space their use commands. For example, in order to use solar power on a broad scale, much of the space currently occupied by forests and other wilderness would need to be cleared. 

Whether or not Georgia will be able to strike a balance between the operating norms and new developments that may be able to heal years of damage caused by our emissions remains to be seen. Protecting the best interests of our citizens is the goal for both environmental activists and for those who may at first glance seem in opposition to these new measures being taken. With increasing efforts to shift attention towards fewer emissions, we are sure to see changes in where our energy comes from as well as how it affects the average Georgian, in everything from economic outcomes to public health to the fate of our ecosystems.