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By Suzanne Potter
Aug 17, 2026
Renewable energy is getting cheaper. Batteries went down 45% in cost last year, and solar went from $100 a watt to less than 10 cents a watt. (CR/Adobe Stock)
Southern leaders are calling for action on renewable energy to bring down prices for everyday people.
The group Elected Officials to Protect America hosted a recent roundtable in Washington, D.C.
Sen. Tonya Anderson, D-Lithonia, an Air Force Reserve veteran, blasted the Trump administration for canceling a program that helped low-income families get solar panels, which lower their electric bills and reduce overall strain on the grid.
“We need climate mitigation efforts and more deployed in clean energy, not federally backed incentives for fossil fuel corporations. The climate crisis has made summertime too hot in the South,” Anderson contended.
Anderson called for continued efforts to promote energy efficiency, climate resilience measures and critical environmental protections and blamed the administration’s war in Iran for higher gas prices, even as profits have soared at oil and gas companies. President Trump has said the war is necessary to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Ron Pierce is a former Army major who served as director of the Office of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization for the U.S. Department of Energy during the Biden administration. At the roundtable, Pierce said President Biden’s climate initiatives will have lasting effects.
“The Inflation Reduction Act, $370 billion in clean energy initiatives. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, an additional $75 billion, despite this administration focusing on fossil fuels,” Pierce outlined.
Other speakers focused on the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, which they said is at the heart of the conflicts in both Ukraine and Iran. They proposed more investment in distributed renewable energy.
