Web 57DHYAFZZFLWZ June 12 2026 A Big Milestone for Solar Power and other Gala topics to discuss

A Big Milestone for Solar Power and other Gala topics to discuss

Solar Power is cheaper than Coal, and Wind is attacked, discuss!

In a big milestone for solar power, Solar power supplied Twelve point Eight

percent of U S electricity in May Two Thousand Twenty Six, edging out coal, which

 supplied just Twelve point Two percent. That was the highest ever share of electricity

 generation for solar, and the fourth-lowest monthly share for coal. Coincidentally

despite the number of new solar installations falling last year in the United States

in the face of attacks from the current U S government administration. Since

Last week, the current U S government administration also announced a total

of Seven Hundred Million Dollars in federal money to reinvigorate the domestic coal

industry, which has been declining for years. This was not the first time at all

that a form of renewable energy has beaten out coal. Solar still beats coal.

Wind has supplied more electricity than coal several times over the past five years,

Ember notes. But the steady rise of solar reflects a sweeping global shift this year,

 with photovoltaic panels that are cheaper and more powerful than ever before.

Despite the  attempts by the current U S Administration  to slow the power

the growth of renewable power, the cleanest source of energy is growing,

while Coal, the dirtiest source, is fading. In May, solar power was overtaking

 coal as an electricity source in the United States for the first time,

according to Ember, an energy research firm. It is a milestone time

both technical and symbolic. This era should be the clean cheap fuel time.

In a negative dive, Hochul, Lamont and Healy, and Becerra, Democratic governors

And a governor in waiting, are changing their tune as environment protectors.

Even as solar continues its rise, In California, Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, is in motion

as the front-runner to be the state’s next governor while taking campaign donations

from fossil fuel companies and questioning the wisdom of California’s most stringent

climate goals, like ending sales of new gasoline-powered cars by Two Thousand

Thirty Five. In the California nonpartisan primary, Becerra finished ahead of Tom Steyer,

a billionaire investor and climate donor, who ran on a climate platform and called for

breaking up utilities like Pacific Gas and Electric. In the Northeast, Democratic governors

 including Kathy Hochul of New York, Ned Lamont of Connecticut and Maura Healey

of Massachusetts, have all expressed openness to new gas pipelines. This delay

and shift has opened up a rift in the Democratic Party. While some leaders, including

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Ed Markey representing

Massachusetts still rail against oil and gas interests, many of their colleagues are becoming

more accommodating to fossil fuel companies. And some activists are even no longer using

“keep in it in the ground” as a rallying cry. “It’s something we are struggling with,” said

 a spokeswoman for Fossil Free Media. “We are still committed as a movement

 to the ideas of keeping it in the ground, but as a campaign message, it’s more effective

 to talk about building clean energy.” Hopefully these Governors could reverse these stances.

The costs of delaying wind and solar have a price. In a new study, the Corporate Energy Buyers Association, or C E B A, which is a business group that promotes emissions-free power

sources, found that if no additional wind and solar energy were added to the grid,

it would add Eleven point Six Billion Dollars in annual electricity and natural gas added

costs to electricity bills for U S households. Without those low-cost renewables coming online,

 electricity prices would rise sharply in the years ahead, the study found. The bottom line,

is that rate increases would be the highest for ratepayers in Texas. Solar and wind

 are among the cheapest forms of energy right now. Yet barriers put up against wind

by the current U S government administration, states and utilities can make it hard

 for consumers and businesses to access them. Those costs will accrue to wind.

The federal government has come down particularly hard on the wind industry.

Beyond simply slowing the growth of renewables, the study found, clean industry

roadblocks also increase the use of natural gas and coal. “We already see really significant

delays on new large projects of all types,” the chief executive of C E B A, said.

“Our members are experiencing delays on both solar and wind.”

 In addition to reversing some of the recent Trump-era policies that have throttled

 wind and solar growth, the chief executive of C E B A is calling for sweeping

permitting reforms that would level the playing field for renewables. He would like to see

“permit certainty.” That is, making sure that a project that is approved during one

 presidential administration cannot be undone by political whims of the next administration.