Published

2 years ago

August 15, 2024

Alice Rush

This post is part of a series of blogs examining where 2024 Southeastern candidates for state and federal offices stand on key energy and climate issues.

Note: The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy does not support or oppose candidates or political parties. Links to reports, candidate websites and outside sources are provided as citizen education tools.

In this blog post, we examine the policies and positions of Megan Barry, the Democratic Party candidate running for election to represent Tennessee Congressional District 7 in the U.S. House of Representatives. Also in this series, we profile Republican candidate Mark Green. Election Day is November 5, 2024.

Megan Barry grew up in Kansas and later moved to Tennessee to pursue an MBA at Vanderbilt University. From 2015 to 2018, Barry was Mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. Prior to her mayoral campaign, she served two terms as an at-large member of Nashville Metro Council.

Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

On her campaign website Barry states “I support an all-of-the-above approach to energy production utilizing a mix of responsible traditional energy sources and an increasing share of renewable technologies.”

Climate Change

Megan Barry reiterated her goal to tackle climate change in Congress on social media site X (formerly Twitter) where she posted, “I’m committed to protecting our planet for future generations. In Congress, I’ll work to combat climate change, preserve our natural resources, and create a sustainable Tennessee for everyone.”

Electric Transportation

She presents her stance on other energy and environment issues of her website by sharing, “Tennessee workers are poised to play a meaningful role in producing climate-friendly electric vehicles and advanced battery technology for years to come. In Congress, I will support investments in American manufacturing to create clean energy jobs and keep them here, leveraging our state’s existing industries while maintaining environmental sustainability.”

Energy Equity and Energy Burden

In 2016, during her time as Mayor, Megan Barry formed the Livable Nashville Committee which released a plan to make Nashville the “Greenest city in the Southeast.” The committee’s recommendations included energy efficiency improvements to reduce energy costs.

High-Risk Energy

Barry supported a Nashville neighborhood’s fight to prevent the construction of a fossil gas compressor station in their community by writing a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) asking them to deny a certificate needed by gas pipeline operator Columbia Pipeline Group.

Voting Information

Election Day is November 5th. Here are important dates and deadlines to consider, from the Tennessee Secretary of State:

Aug. 7, 2024: First day to make an absentee ballot request
Oct. 7, 2024: Voter registration deadline
Oct. 16, 2024: In-person early voting begins
Oct. 29, 2024: Absentee ballot request deadline
Oct. 31, 2024: In-person early voting ends
Nov. 5, 2024: General Election Day
Nov. 5, 2024: Absentee ballot return deadline

For more information about being a Tennessee voter, including registering, finding your polling place, and requesting an absentee ballot, visit proudvoter.org.

#CandidatesOnEnergy2024

The post Candidate Megan Barry on Climate & Energy appeared first on SACE | Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

Candidate Megan Barry on Climate & Energy

Renewable Energy

Things Have Changed

Published

8 hours ago

June 9, 2026

Alice Rush

To the author of the meme here, I respond:

Yes, all this is true. But we must never forget that we voted for this, not once but twice.

Still, a full 30% of us support the lies, the stupidity, and the criminality, while our enemies are popping to the tops off of champagne bottles. Russia took us down without firing a shot. China is making its way toward world domination, largely because the United States committed suicide.

Fifty years ago, we were a reasonably well-educated and principled people.

Now, we’re a blend of greedy pigs and hateful imbeciles.

We have no one to blame for the implosion of America but ourselves.

It would be incorrect to say that literally no one saw this coming, but it took the overwhelming majority of the world by complete surprise.

Things Have Changed

Renewable Energy

America’s Cultural, Moral, and Spiritual Decay

Published

9 hours ago

June 9, 2026

Alice Rush

Former Republican strategist Steve Schmidt makes an important point here, one that makes us wonder exactly how long it’s going to take to repair the damage that Trump has inflicted on our country.

Let’s say that the midterm elections shift the balance of power in congress and Trump is removed from power in the first half of 2027. Perhaps this will happen on the basis of his senility, using the 25th Amendment. Or better, he’ll be impeached and convicted for any of dozens of the crimes he’s committed.

As much of the physical damage as possible will be undone, almost overnight. No Trump names on public buildings. Tariffs removed. Science re-instated as the pillar of policy making and public health. No more idiot sycophants in key positions. Iran and the U.S. (somehow) move back into the relationship we had before Trump’s asinine and illegal war.

The vast majority of Americans and virtually everyone else on Earth will breathe a huge sigh of relief.

But even if this happens swiftly, it will most certainly not make the “Trump phenomenon” vanish into the mist. People all around the globe will continue to regard the former envy of the world as a nation of hateful idiots, and it’s likely that this perception, as many have suggested, will take a generation or so to lift.

Canadian PM Mark Carney is predicting that, given the implosion of the U.S., that a new world order is forming with Europe as its center. Maybe “a generation or so” won’t get the job done. Maybe American dominance is gone forever.

And maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Imagine for a moment that billionaires didn’t control every facet of life here, and that our nation morphs into one that resembles the more enlightened places on this planet, where its people are well-educated and feel a distinct level of compassion for one another.