Stephen Smith
Editorial: As summer sizzles and pops, EPA makes a bad energy move
The Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington, D.C. in the William J. Clinton Federal Building. The EPA is considering changes to pollution regulations intended to at least forestall some risks of global climate change. EPA
With a backdrop of record heat and floods, EPA moves to deregulate greenhouse gases that are heating the planet
Stephen Smith is the executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
KNOXVILLE — July was brutal: As the Southeast sizzled under a stagnant heat dome, families still struggled to recover from hurricanes Helene and Milton, and communities reeled from catastrophic flash flooding in Texas. Yet in the face of this mounting climate crisis, the government has launched an unprecedented assault on the environmental protections that keep Americans safe.
This week, the new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Trump Administration moved to repeal the 16-year-old scientific finding that greenhouse gas pollution and emissions from power plants, the oil, gas and coal industries, and vehicle emissions endanger public health and welfare. Without this endangerment finding, the EPA will be forced to abandon its responsibility to set limits on the pollution that’s driving more frequent and severe heat waves, floods and storms.
The EPA has one job: to protect the people and places we love — our families, our communities, our children’s future. It defies logic and common sense to remove the foundational pillars of our pollution rules precisely when climate impacts are accelerating and we need protections and proactive solutions the most. Simultaneously, the Administration is also recklessly slashing funding and staffing at NOAA, the agency responsible for helping us prepare for disasters, and FEMA, the agency responsible for helping us recover from disasters.
The administration is gaslighting Americans by telling us that climate disruption isn’t a threat when we can see with our own eyes the parade of horribles of repeating record-breaking climate disasters. 2024 was the hottest year on record by a wide margin, flash flood warnings in 2025 have already exceeded previous records and American families — from Texas flood victims to Southeast hurricane survivors — are paying the price with their lives, homes and livelihoods.
Editorial: Clean energy jobs under attack and imperiled in Southeast
Macon-based Blue Bird is among Southeastern manufacturers that invested heavily in electric vehicle development thanks in large part to parts of the Inflation Reduction Act. The Biden-era IRA is facing blowback from the Trump administration, and the GOP-led Congress is trying to claw back billions already committed by the law. Blue Bird
After DOGE, thousands of jobs still threatened and climate action under assault by GOP-led Congress
Stephen Smith is the executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and chairs the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Global Sustainability, of which Hellbender Press is a project.
KNOXVILLE — As we navigate the complex landscape of America's energy transition, the Southeast finds itself at a critical juncture where federal policy decisions are attempting to block and reverse our region's clean energy future—and push up your monthly utility bills. This is not hyperbole; it is a sad reality that needs a strong response from those of us who want a clean, safe, vibrant future in which we all thrive.
The GOP-backed bill that moved from the House to the Senate threatens to undermine $73 billion in clean energy investments across our region by abruptly blocking federal policy support that has unleashed America’s clean energy economy, grown manufacturing and investments in the Southeast, and given citizens across our region ways to save money on energy while protecting human and environmental health.
If passed, this legislation could trigger utility rate increases nationwide, hitting households already struggling with rising costs. The timing couldn't be worse, as utility companies across the Southeast are rushing headlong into expensive and risky ventures—from nuclear plant construction to powering energy-hungry data centers—without adequate planning, regulation, or public input. Georgia Power's latest Integrated Resource Plan process and TVA’s rush to build new small nuclear reactors exemplify this troubling trend, proposing changes virtually guaranteed to increase customer bills while maintaining heavy reliance on polluting fossil fuels.
Editorial: As historic climate legislation turns two, the numbers don't lie
The IRA’s clean-energy progress is clearest in our communities
Stephen Smith is executive director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. He was a founder of the Foundation for Global Sustainability (FGS) and serves on the FGS board of directors. Hellbender Press is published by FGS.
KNOXVILLE — The largest climate investment legislation in U.S. history, the Inflation Reduction Act, celebrated its two-year anniversary in August: two years of reducing harmful pollution, of creating thousands of good-paying clean energy jobs, of welcoming billions of dollars in clean energy investments to the Southeast. The ways the IRA has and will continue to benefit our region and beyond are innumerable — and the numbers don’t lie.
The IRA’s progress is clearest here in our communities: between Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, 559,820 households received more than $1.3 billion in residential clean energy and energy-efficiency tax credits in tax year 2023. Real people are saving money and benefiting from the historic climate law every day — take it from seven SACE members, their IRA stories and the encouraging statistics mentioned here.
The reach of the IRA stretches beyond our homes — over 70,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations now dot the U.S., and federal tax credits on both new and used EVs have saved consumers over $1 billion so far this year alone. Last month, SACE released its updated 2024 Electrify the South Electric Transportation Toolkit to help guide decision-makers through this time of enormous opportunity.