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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina s congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Myorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

NC Urged to "Keep Pedal to the Metal" with Solar Growth

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Friday, November 21, 2014   

RALEIGH, N.C. - North Carolinians have the power of the sun to be thankful for as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, according to a new report from Environment North Carolina.

The analysis found the state has one of the fastest-growing solar industries in the nation, growing by 127 percent in recent years. It also recommends a goal for North Carolina to generate 20 percent of its energy from the sun by 2030.

Maya Gold, clean-energy associate with Environment North Carolina, said that goal is within reach.

"North Carolina is definitely a leader when it comes to solar on a national level," she said. "So, to take solar power to the next level, our leaders just have to keep their foot on the accelerator, and certainly not put on the brakes."

For the state to reach the goal, Gold said, it will need to maintain a solar installation growth rate of 26 percent a year. She added that North Carolina's solar tax credits are playing a large role in the growth and are some of the most generous in the country.

However, the state's solar tax credits are set to expire at the end of 2015. Gold said the economic benefits that come as a result of creating cleaner energy are one reason to renew them.

"The solar industry is definitely a huge contributor to the economy," she said. "You can't have solar energy in North Carolina without jobs for North Carolinians."

According to Environment North Carolina, the state's solar industry employs 3,100 people.

Gold said a 20 percent reliance on solar would eliminate the equivalent of carbon pollution from 4.5 million vehicles each year and put the state close to reaching the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan benchmark. That proposal requires cutting carbon pollution from power plants 40 percent by 2030.

The report is online at environmentnorthcarolina.org.


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