Published

2 years ago

July 8, 2024

Alice Rush

This post is part of a series examining where 2024 candidates running for public offices in the Southeast 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 Josh Stein, Democratic Party candidate running for Governor of North Carolina. Also in this series, we profile Republican candidate Mark Robinson. Election Day is November 5, 2024.

Josh Stein currently serves as North Carolina’s Attorney General after he was elected statewide in 2016 and re-elected in 2020. Previously, he was a North Carolina state Senator, representing part of Wake County, and as Senior Deputy Attorney General in the North Carolina Department of Justice. Stein grew up in Chapel Hill, graduated from Chapel Hill High School, and earned degrees from Dartmouth College and Harvard University.

Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

As Attorney General, Stein has taken multiple actions to support renewable energy and energy efficiency, including:

Intervening in proceedings at the North Carolina Utilities Commission to promote eliminating climate pollution and hastening coal plant retirement while prioritizing renewable energy, lessening dependence on risky fossil gas, and lowering costs for customers;
Joining North Carolina residents in a state Supreme Court case to ensure that homeowners associations cannot unreasonably prohibit residents from using residential solar;
Standing up for policies that promote solar at the utility and rooftop scales at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Climate Change

On his website, Josh Stein states “I will put North Carolina on a path toward carbon neutrality by 2050. I will work to prepare our state for the impacts of climate change and natural disasters by investing in resilient infrastructure. I will continue to lead the transition to a clean energy economy that creates good-paying jobs and keeps our communities healthy and safe.”

In 2017, Stein said the following to the press after President Trump pulled the United States out of the international Paris climate accord: “Regardless of what happens at the federal executive branch, nothing will stop me from upholding my oath to the North Carolina constitution and its declaration to control and limit pollution of our air and water. I am encouraged and inspired by the groundswell of support for climate action all across our state and nation. Now is the time to support a clean energy future with good paying jobs, healthier people and a more secure nation.”

Electric Transportation

As Attorney General, Josh Stein intervened in federal court to defend national standards to limit vehicle pollution against legal attacks.

Energy Equity and Energy Burden

As Attorney General, Josh Stein has gotten involved in cases at the North Carolina Utilities Commission to work for lower energy bills. His work has included:

Urging the North Carolina Utilities Commission to adopt a long term energy resource plan for Duke Energy that would lower customers’ bills and rely on more clean energy than Duke had proposed.
Helping negotiate a settlement with Duke Energy regarding their coal ash clean up projects that is saving customers more than $1 billion dollars
Appealing the Utility Commission’s decision to grant Duke Energy’s rate increase

Stein created the Civil Rights Unit within the state Department of Justice.

High-Risk Energy: Coal, Nuclear, Oil, Gas

As Attorney General, Josh Stein has pushed for reducing harmful pollution from power plants by defending landmark national regulations on carbon and mercury pollution from rollbacks. He also sued the federal government multiple times to prevent offshore oil drilling and related exploration activities off North Carolina’s coast.

Voter Information

Election Day is November 5. Here are important dates and deadlines to consider, from the North Carolina State Board of Elections:

Sept. 6, 2024: County boards of elections begin mailing absentee ballots to eligible voters who submitted an absentee ballot request form.
Oct. 11, 2024: Voter registration deadline (5 p.m.).*
Oct. 17, 2024: In-person early voting begins; same-day registration available.
Oct. 29, 2024: Absentee ballot request deadline (5 p.m.).*
Nov. 2, 2024: In-person early voting ends (3 p.m.).
Nov. 5, 2024: General Election Day.
Nov. 5, 2024: Absentee ballot return deadline (7:30 p.m.).*

*Voter registration and absentee voting deadlines are different for military and overseas citizen voters.

Find additional important election information here.

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#CandidatesOnEnergy2024

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

Candidate Josh Stein on Climate & Energy

Renewable Energy

Empire Wind Resumes, Ørsted Eyes Chinese Turbines

Published

14 hours ago

January 19, 2026

Alice Rush

Weather Guard Lightning Tech

Empire Wind Resumes, Ørsted Eyes Chinese Turbines

Allen covers court victories allowing Empire Wind and Revolution Wind construction to resume, while Vineyard Wind joins the legal fight. In the UK, EnBW walks away from Mona and Morgan with a $1.4B write-off, even as KKR and RWE announce a $15B partnership for Norfolk Vanguard. Plus Ørsted’s leaked “Project Dragon” reveals the offshore giant is considering Chinese turbines, and Fortescue breaks ground on Australia’s Nullagine Wind Project using Nabrawind’s self-erecting tower technology.

Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!

Last week I told you about Equinor’s ultimatum. Resume construction by January sixteenth… or cancel Empire Wind forever. Well… the courts have spoken.

Last Thursday, Judge Carl Nichols issued his ruling. Empire Wind can resume construction. The harm from stopping, he said, outweighs the government’s concerns. One day earlier, Ørsted won the same relief for Revolution Wind. And now Vineyard Wind has joined the fight in Massachusetts. Three projects. Three courtrooms. Two victories and one victory yet to come.

Meanwhile in Britain… a different kind of drama. German utility EnBW announced Thursday it is walking away from two major UK projects. Mona and Morgan. Three gigawatts of potential capacity. The cost of leaving? One point four billion dollars in write-offs. Eight hundred forty million pounds already paid… gone. Rising costs. Lower electricity prices. Higher interest rates. Their partner, Jera Nex BP, says they still see good pathways forward. But EnBW has had enough.

Yet in the very same week… Investment giant KKR and German utility RWE announced a fifteen billion dollar partnership. Norfolk Vanguard East and West. Three gigawatts. One hundred eighty-four turbines. Power for three million British homes. Big winners and losers. In the same market. In the same week.

Danish media outlet Berlingske obtained a confidential report from Ørsted’s procurement department. The world’s largest offshore wind developer… is exploring whether to buy turbines from China. They call it Project Dragon. The plan covers twenty-twenty-six through twenty-twenty-eight. CEO Rasmus Errboe told reporters they continuously evaluate all technologies and suppliers. Quality. Technical capabilities. Commercial conditions. He did not deny the report. For years, European developers have resisted Chinese turbines. Fear of losing their industry to China… just like they lost solar manufacturing a decade ago. But Ørsted is under pressure.

In Australia, Fortescue has broken ground on its first wind project in the Pilbara. The Nullagine Wind Project. One hundred thirty-three megawatts. Seventeen turbines. But here is what makes it special. Nabrawind’s self-erecting tower technology. Hub height of one hundred eighty-eight meters. A new global benchmark for onshore wind. No giant cranes required. Fortescue plans two to three gigawatts of renewable energy across the Pilbara by twenty-thirty. Wind. Solar. Batteries. To power their mining trucks. Their drills. Their processing plants.

Last week we talked about Equinor’s deadline. About Ørsted losing one and a half million euros every single day. About billions in limbo. This week… the courts stepped in. Empire Wind resumes. Revolution Wind continues. Vineyard Wind fights on. All while the North Sea quietly crossed a milestone. One hundred one operational wind farms. Thirty gigawatts of clean power. More than any body of water on Earth. Some companies are walking away. Others are doubling down with fifteen billion dollar bets. The wind industry is evolving very quickly.

And that’s the state of the wind industry for the 19th of January 2026. Join us tomorrow for the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.

Empire Wind Resumes, Ørsted Eyes Chinese Turbines

Renewable Energy

The “Plandemic”

Published

2 days ago

January 17, 2026

Alice Rush

It wasn’t too long ago that crackpots spewing nonsense like this with no supporting evidence were ostracized by society. Now, our Republicans elect them to the U.S. senate.

You’d have to believe that “the elites” a) conspired with the top people in the other 200+ countries on Earth, b) had a motive to kill over 7 million people worldwide, c) wanted of cripple the world economy, and d) didn’t mind watching their loved one die agonizing deaths.