SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN)

"Federal nuclear regulators have wrapped up a seven-year environmental study partly clearing the way for two new reactors at Turkey Point, just as work gets underway on a massive cleanup of leaking cooling canals connected to the plant’s old reactors."

"The Florida Supreme Court has rejected a request from solar industry advocates to remove a utility-backed solar amendment from the Nov. 8 ballot due to its language, the AP reports."

"When the remnants of Hurricane Matthew threatened the coastal lowlands of South Carolina, 335,000 people fled for higher ground. Marquetta Goodwine stayed put."

"Beaches in the Southeastern U.S. took a tremendous beating last month from Hurricane Matthew. The U.S. Geological Survey has found that the storm washed over and damaged 15 percent of sand dunes on Florida's Atlantic Coast, 30 percent along Georgia's coastline and 42 percent of the dunes on South Carolina beaches."

"An explosion and fire at a pipeline that delivers about one-third of the gasoline used on the East Coast is expected to raise prices at the pump and shows the fragility of a delivery system that is relied upon by tens of millions of people."

"Facing opposition from politicians, this North Carolina scientist is urging coastal communities to get ready for rising water."

"Colonial Pipeline Co shut down its main gasoline and distillates pipelines on Monday after an explosion and fire in Shelby, Alabama, killing a worker and sending five to the hospital - the second time in two months it had to close the crucial supply line to the U.S. East Coast."

"Six months into a deepening drought, the weather is killing crops, threatening cattle and sinking lakes to their lowest levels in years across much of the South."

"Florida’s biggest electric utility companies are backing a proposed constitutional amendment that, the campaign says, 'promotes solar in the Sunshine State.' Not so: If Florida voters approve the ballot measure, it could pave the way for utilities to raise fees on solar customers and cast a heavy cloud over the future of rooftop solar energy in Florida."

"South Carolina’s newest social media star is young, friendly, and could weigh up to 700 pounds. It’s a bull elk that likely wandered from North Carolina across state lines, the first time an elk has been spotted in the woodlands of South Carolina in more than 200 years."