Albemarle County Residents Take Note:
From the AC44 Newsletter: July 2025
AC44 (or Albemarle County 2044) is the project name for the County’s Comprehensive Plan update and is one of the ways the County is planning for an equitable and resilient future. The Comprehensive Plan sets priorities and serves as a guide for the future physical development of Albemarle County. The Plan includes recommendations for how and where the County should grow, supporting local businesses and industry, protecting and enhancing natural resources, providing transportation options for walking, biking, taking transit, and driving, and allowing and encouraging a variety of housing types.
The goals for the project are to:
- Update plan content to reflect recent County-wide strategic initiatives, including climate action planning, economic development, and multi-modal transportation planning.
- Ensure that equity is integrated into the engagement process and the updated plan content, consistent with the County’s recently added “Community” organizational value.
- Improve Plan usability by articulating clearly prioritized goals, incorporating metrics for tracking progress, and applying a modern, streamlined document design.
- We have a podcast! The Let’s Talk Albemarle podcast seeks to foster community participation through the exploration of important topics in Albemarle County. Listen free on Apple Podcast, iHeart, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, or our website.
You can learn more at: engage.albemarle.org/AC44.
Potential Tax Credits
This article published by Yale Climate Connections is dated 6/27/25 so not sure if it is still applicable; we suggest you check it out.
Take advantage of these tax credits before Congress kills them. Tax credits for EVs, rooftop solar, heat pumps, energy-efficient windows, and more are on the chopping block. The credits won’t expire immediately. For the most part, consumers will have 180 days to take advantage of the credits before they’re fully terminated.
From LEAP (Local Energy Alliance Program): If you or someone you know wants to take advantage of these but could use some personalized guidance, the Energy Resource Hub is here to help. Several of the measures supported by Charlottesville City’s new Retrofit Mini-Grant Program are also eligible for tax credits – these incentives can be combined. Reach out here:
Good News from Engage Louisa (free non partisan community newsletter)
Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Wednesday withdrew its request for a conditional use permit (CUP) to build a sprawling data center campus just north of the Northeast Creek Reservoir in central Louisa County. In a letter to county staff, Charlie Payne, a land use attorney representing AWS, said the company decided to “reevaluate” its proposal based on community feedback. ** “Given the most recent feedback at the June 11, 2025, Louisa County Community meeting, we believe it is best at this juncture to reevaluate the proposed project. In this regard, we kindly request to withdraw the AWS Zoning Applications,” Payne wrote.
More details here: https://tammypurcell.substack.com/p/breaking-amazon-web-services-withdraws
** Our actions can make a difference!!
From Volts (a podcast about leaving fossil fuels behind) comes this great news:
Solar+storage is so much farther along than you think
Solar-plus-storage costs have declined so much that it can now provide baseload-level power in sunny cities for less than the cost of new nuclear or even new gas. We discuss why even energy pros are behind the curve on this, how quickly the technology is improving, and why most of the world doesn’t see natural gas as a viable option the way the US does.
Learn more here: https://www.volts.wtf/p/solarstorage-is-so-much-farther-along
This event has already happened but is very exciting news for Cville residents!
There was a presentation to the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday August 6 evening on the Biophilic Cities Network, a growing global community of partner cities, organizations and individuals committed to planning and designing cities with abundant nature. The City of Charlottesville recently joined the network.
You can learn more about them here: https://www.biophiliccities.org/
Tell the EPA: Coal Ash Cleanup Can’t Wait!
Coal ash — a toxic cocktail of hazardous pollutants, metals, carcinogens and neurotoxins — is what remains when power companies burn coal for energy. For decades across the Southeast, utilities have dumped coal ash in unlined pits and landfills that leak into groundwater, where most of it still remains. Many in our region still vividly remember two major coal ash disasters — the 2008 Kingston and 2014 Dan River spills — that led to the first federal regulations on coal ash storage and cleanup. Last year, thanks to advocacy from people in East Tennessee and across the nation, major loopholes in the original regulations were closed. Called the “Legacy Coal Combustion Residuals” or CCR rule, this huge victory brought hundreds of coal ash sites under federal regulation. But now, the Environmental Protection Agency is targeting these regulations for rollback. Last month, the EPA announced actions that delay Legacy CCR deadlines by one to two years. The delays, which are already a blow to communities living with coal ash, are an attempt to buy time to thoroughly gut the rule. Industry groups have been lobbying for a wishlist of CCR rollbacks, sacrificing our health so companies can make more money. It’s past time for utilities to clean up their mess, protect coal ash workers and stop polluting our water and communities.
Your voice can make a difference!
You can sign the petition here
Mental Health, Climate Change, and Youth
The Climate Mental Health Network focuses on the intersection of mental health and climate change and works towards building emotionally resilient communities. They developed the Climate Emotions Wheel as a way to help describe the emotions we are feeling. Youth are particularly impacted by the effects of climate change and to support this, they are leading a free interactive webinar designed to explore how to support children’s emotional wellbeing amid climate change and other collective challenges.
You can attend their free webinar entitled Back to School Night: Raising Resilient Kids in an Age of Disasters takes place on September 11th at 7PM EDT and registration is here.
Learn more about the Climate Emotions Wheel here
One Last Action Item for Albemarle Residents:
From Sierra Club’s Donna Shaunesey: An Indivisible Activist is looking for (at minimum) 6 Albemarle County residents interested in collaborating over the next 1 1/2 months to persuade the Albemarle Board of Supervisors to vote against a by-right data center rule. Your community will thank you!! if you can help, email Donna @ otterlyinsane@gmail.com
The Board of Supervisors currently requires special use permits for data centers, so they review the plans and allow a period of public comment before approving the construction of any new data center. This allows them to control data center growth and requirements and prevent a proliferation of data centers that would consume more electricity and water than we can spare.
In October, the Board will vote on a proposal to largely relinquish their supervisory responsibility by creating 4 “by right” zones, all near residential areas, where data centers could be built without special permits. If you can invest about 10-15 hours over the next month and a half to persuade the Board to forego this dangerous and unjustifiable policy change by
- -Collaborating to develop well-supported arguments against the proposed policy
- -Publicizing these arguments by reading (3-minute) speeches at Board meetings and submitting letters to the BOS or the editor of a local paper
- -Attending BOS meetings to demonstrate visible support for those speaking against the policy.
- -Attending a Community Climate Collaborate teach-in about the proposed change and effective methods for arguing against it (not required, but very helpful)
For the Planet!
Ellie Syverud, Editor