ATLANTA – Runoff from a growing number of giant solar farms polluting rivers and streams in rural South Georgia is becoming a major concern, an official with the state Environmental Protection Division (EPD) said Monday.
Huge solar farms of up to 1,000 acres are being built on the region’s sandy soil, which is particularly vulnerable to erosion of sediment caused by runoff from solar panels, James Cooley, the EPD’s director of division operations, told members of the Georgia House Rural Development Council meeting in Americus.
Local governments, which play a major role in the permitting of construction sites, typically deal with small sites such as Dollar Generals and aren’t used to such large projects, Cooley said.
“The ball gets dropped somewhere in the process,” he said.
House lawmakers and other officials attending the meeting on the campus of Southwest Georgia State University were surprised and dismayed by what they heard from Cooley.
“This is eye-opening to say the least,” said state Rep. John Corbett, R-Lake Park, a member of the council, formed by House Speaker David Ralston five years ago to look for ways to improve rural Georgia’s economy.”
“[What] we don’t want to be known for in Georgia is a clean energy state that has caused our rivers to become dirty,” added Jason Shaw, a member of the state Public Service Commission (PSC), Georgia’s energy regulating agency.
At the same time, council members heard other presentations Monday on the value of solar farms both to Georgia landowners and rural communities.
Landowners and local municipalities in Georgia are receiving about $2.9 billion a year in income by leasing land being used for solar farms by Georgia Power alone, said Ryan Sanders, executive director of the Georgia Large-Scale Solar Association.
“This is an opportunity for people … who are looking for a long-term revenue stream that will help them stay on the land,” added Jeff Clark, president and CEO of the Advanced Power Alliance, a Texas-based renewable energy trade association. “This is [also] a way to bring new revenue into a community without putting additional strain on the infrastructure.”
While large solar farms tend to stand out because they’re often located near busy highways, they take up only a tiny percentage of Georgia’s land mass, PSC Chairwoman Tricia Pridemore said.
Currently, there are about 35,000 acres of solar farms spread over 54 square miles, just 0.9% of the land in Georgia, she said.
Clark said large-scale solar power developers typically include “decommissioning” requirements in their contracts with utilities that include commitments to remediate solar farm sites after their useful lives and recycle the metal from used solar panels.
“The renewable industry relies on a long-term relationship to communities,” he said. “We want a good relationship. We want communities to look at us positively.”
Shaw said counties where utilities are looking to locate solar farms should adopt model ordinances governing permitting requirements to make sure applicants have plans for handling runoff.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Voters wait in line at a precinct in Cobb County. (Photo by Beau Evans)
ATLANTA – Early voting turnout continued to set records in Georgia during the first week of the early voting period.
More than 18,100 voters cast early ballots on Sunday, when early voting was only offered in some counties. The Sunday total soared 211% above the early voting mark set on the first day of Sunday early voting ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
As of Monday morning, about 758,000 voters had taken advantage of the first week of early voting. That shattered previous midterm turnout records during every day of early voting last week and was close to the early voting turnout ahead of the presidential election in 2020.
“Voters are enthusiastic, but most importantly, have the options available to get that vote in early,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said. “Voters registered at the [state Department of Driver Services] or online, took advantage of My Voter Page, and have the most up-to-date information available to make a plan.”
Raffensperger and other Republicans have argued the record early voting turnout refutes Democrats’ arguments that last year’s controversial election reforms enacted by the GOP-controlled General Assembly are not suppressing the vote.
But Democrat Stacey Abrams, who is challenging Republican Gov. Brian Kemp this year, said Monday the strong turnout doesn’t mean 2021’s Senate Bill 202 isn’t making it harder for Georgians to vote.
“Turnout does not dispel voter suppression,” she said. “Suppression is about barriers to access. … People showing up is in spite of the barriers.”
Abrams campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo said while in-person early voting turnout is setting records, far fewer Georgians have requested absentee ballots this year. Last year’s bill requires voters to show a photo ID to vote absentee and significantly limits the number of absentee ballot drop boxes.
“That’s where you really see the impact of SB202,” Groh-Wargo said.
Groh-Wargo said Democrats are encouraged by the strong early voting turnout among women, which she ascribed to concern over the abortion issue, and among Black voters, who historically lean Democratic.
Raffensperger said reports of long lines have been rare, with some lines in the metro areas being reported.
Early voting turnout is expected to increase during the next couple of weeks. The final day of early voting will be Nov. 4.
To find early voting locations and hours in your county, visit the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – New results from “the nation’s report card” show that Georgia fourth and eighth graders stand about on par with their pre-pandemic performance in reading, but eighth-grade math scores dropped from pre-pandemic levels.
The National Association for Education Statistics administers the reading and math tests every other year to fourth and eighth graders in sample schools across the country. The last time the tests were administered was in 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results, out this week, show how students are faring after major disruptions to school over the past several years.
The Georgia results on the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress tests show that average fourth grade reading and math scores and eighth grade reading scores hovered around pre-pandemic rates.
Though Georgia’s average scores for these three tests are a few points lower than in 2019, the differences are “not significantly different,” according to reports released by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
But in eighth-grade math, Georgia’s average score dropped from 279 in 2019 to 271 this year, a significant decline.
This year, only about 59% of Georgia eighth graders were considered to have basic skills in math, while 67% met that bar in 2019.
Nationally, scores declined across the board for fourth grade and eighth grade reading and math, according to the NCES.
While many states saw drops from 2019 levels across the board or in many categories, Georgia bucked that trend, with its only significant decline coming in eighth-grade math.
The results come as Georgians gear up to vote for state school superintendent. Democrat Alisha Thomas Searcy is challenging incumbent Republican Richard Woods for the role.
Woods said he was pleased with the results.
“[It’s] a testament to the hard work of teachers and students across this state,” he said. “Knowing that there is still work to be done together, we will remain laser-focused on academic recovery and providing the resources schools and teachers need to invest in students and their success.”
But Searcy said Woods set the bar too low.
“As a parent of three school-age children and a former [local school] superintendent, I am troubled,” she said. “Our goal can’t be to compete for the bottom. My vision is for Georgia students to rise to the top.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Republican Herschel Walker Democrat U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock
ATLANTA – Georgia voters are being asked to choose between two nationally prominent Black men with deep ties to the state when they vote in a U.S. Senate race that could determine the balance of power in Washington.
Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker are both deeply Christian and both well known nationwide as well as in Georgia.
Warnock holds the pulpit at Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, the former church of Martin Luther King Jr. He shot to national prominence when he won Georgia’s Senate seat in a run-off early last year, tipping the balance of power on Capitol Hill to the Democrats.
Walker is one of the most storied University of Georgia football players of all time. After leaving UGA, he went on to play professional football for several teams, including a United States Football League team owned by Donald Trump. The former president endorsed Walker’s run for Georgia’s Senate seat.
Both candidates frequently rely on quotes from the Bible and Christian theology during their speeches to Georgia voters but differ widely on policy issues including abortion, gun control, health care, and the economy.
Warnock is a staunch supporter of a woman’s right to choose.
“A patient’s room is too narrow and small and cramped a space for a woman, her doctor and the United States government as we are witnessing right now,” Warnock has said repeatedly at campaign events this fall. “I trust women more than I trust politicians.”
In contrast, Walker is an opponent of abortion. In the past, Walker has indicated he opposes all abortions, with no exceptions for the life of the mother or in the case of rape or incest.
However, during a recent debate, Walker said he supports Georgia’s “heartbeat law,” which bans most abortions after about six weeks but includes exceptions for rape and incest.
Walker has denied recent media reports that he paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion and encouraged her to have a second abortion.
“That was a lie, and I’m not backing down,” Walker said during the recent debate.
“I’m a Christian. I believe in life. … I’ll be a senator that protects life,” he added.
Walker has sought to tie Warnock to President Joe Biden and blame current inflation on the Democratic duo.
“You have to blame this administration and Senator Warnock because within two years, this inflation has gotten worse,” Walker said. “They cut our energy independence. They also raised taxes. And at the same time, they [are] reckless[ly] spending all our money.”
Walker said he would address inflation by increasing American energy independence.
“We got to become energy independent again,” Walker said. “We’re going to our enemies to ask for gas and oil. That puts us not just in an inflation problem, but it puts us in a national security problem.”
And Walker said he would not cut military spending because the U.S. needs to maintain its military readiness.
Warnock, in contrast, blamed inflation on corporate greed.
“A lot of our corporate actors are seeing record profits in the oil and gas industry and the pharmaceutical industry,” Warnock said. “People deserve to participate in the prosperity that they’re creating for others. They deserve a livable wage, and they deserve benefits.”
Warnock successfully lobbied to get a $35 monthly cap on insulin for Medicare beneficiaries into the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act. He also supported a cap on prescription drug costs for Americans on Medicare.
Warnock is a strong proponent of Medicaid expansion in Georgia. He wrote legislation to provide a federal workaround to allow Georgia and other non-Medicaid-expansion states to provide health coverage to uninsured people. The workaround failed to gain traction in Congress amid Republican opposition.
Walker recently said he agrees with Warnock that insulin prices should be capped but that the country must also address the larger problem of inflation.
“I believe in reducing insulin, but at the same time you got to eat right,” Walker said. “So you have to get food prices down and get gas down.”
Warnock has been a proponent of college student loan debt relief. He has called on Biden to take action to forgive some student loan debt, which Biden did earlier this fall.
Warnock frequently tells audiences that federal programs such as Head Start and student loans allowed him to get a good education despite being one of 12 children in a family where money was tight. He says still more loan relief is needed.
Walker, on the other hand, has criticized the loan-relief measure.
“I talked to people, some people that wanted to go to college but they couldn’t,” he said. “This is not right. It’s unfair.”
Walker suggested stopping federal funding to colleges that raise their costs.
Warnock supported a gun-control bill passed by Congress in the wake of the Uvalde, Texas, shootings. The new law imposes tougher background checks for people under age 21 who want to buy guns.
Walker opposes most gun control measures as unconstitutional.
“Any law or bill passed that affects anyone’s Second Amendment, I’m not going to stand for,” Walker said.
Walker also blamed Warnock for a rise in crime and the flooding of fentanyl into American streets, saying the country should ensure the southern border is tightly controlled.
Walker also has said he is a law enforcement officer. During a recent debate, he doubled down on those claims, pulling out a badge to show the audience and saying, “I work with many police officers.”
Both candidates face liabilities with voters due to unsavory aspects of their past personal lives.
One attack ad shows Walker’s ex-wife describing how Walker held a gun to her head.
Walker has said the altercations with his ex-wife occurred while he was in the throes of mental illness. He has recently told Georgia voters he is in good health and ready to represent them in the Senate.
“I continue to get help if I need help, but I don’t need any help [now]. I’m doing well,” Walker said.
Another attack ad features the words of Walker’s son, Christian, a Republican activist who lashed out at his father following a media report alleging Walker paid for a former girlfriend’s abortion.
Walker has denied the abortion allegations.
An ad targeting Warnock shows bodycam footage of Warnock’s ex-wife during a domestic violence altercation in March 2020. She is shown in tears accusing Warnock of running over her foot with his car.
A police report found no evidence that Warnock had run over his ex-wife’s foot. Warnock emphasized that he is an involved and supportive father to his two children during a recent debate.
Both races have attracted national attention and dollars. A recent Capitol Beat/Georgia News Collaborative Poll found that the race is essentially tied.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has been ordered to testify before the Fulton County special grand jury investigating attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Graham is not shielded as a member of Congress from testifying about matters that don’t directly involve legislative business.
Graham received a subpoena in July to answer questions about two phone calls he allegedly made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger after Democrat Joe Biden carried Georgia on his way to winning the presidency over Republican incumbent Donald Trump.
Graham’s lawyer filed a motion to quash the subpoena, arguing the U.S. Constitution shields members of Congress from being questioned about matters relating to legislative business.
As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time, Graham said he made the calls in pursuit of legislative factfinding about mail-in voting and potential reforms to the process for counting Electoral College votes.
After U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May ruled in August that the issues Graham raised with Raffensperger were political – not legislative – in nature, Graham took the case to the appellate court.
On Thursday, a three-judge appellate panel sided with the district court.
“Senator Graham has failed to demonstrate that this approach will violate his rights under the [Constitution’s] Speech and Debate Clause,” the appellate court wrote.
“As the [district] court determined, there is significant dispute about whether his phone calls with Georgia election officials were legislative investigations at all.”
The list of witnesses who have testified before the special grand jury since Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis launched the probe includes Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, state Attorney General Chris Carr, Raffensperger, U.S. Rep. Jody Hice of Greensboro, and Georgia House Speaker David Ralston.
Gov. Brian Kemp was subpoenaed but won’t have to testify until after the Nov. 8 election.
A court ruling prohibited Willis from questioning state Sen. Burt Jones, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, after Willis hosted a fundraiser on behalf of Charlie Bailey, Jones’ Democratic opponent in the lieutenant governor’s race.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
