Yet the region remains far behind the rest of the country on even the most basic policies to lower climate-changing emissions, according to research published Tuesday by the Southern Economic Advancement Project, a nonprofit founded by Stacey Abrams, a former Democratic candidate for Georgia governor.

Now, as coronavirus cases are charting a record surge in Southern states, the region’s reliance on aging coal plants risks inflaming infections with air pollution.

The report ― co-authored by the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Leah Stokes and the Roosevelt Institute’s Mark Paul, two heavyweights in the climate policy sphere ― tracked a range of climate issues from wetlands restoration and forest conservation to public transit and electric vehicles, and identified vast potential across the region for economic gains and improvements in quality of life through such policies.

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The climate report marks the debut research from Democrat Stacey Abrams' new group, the Southern Economic Advancement Project.

Yet coal remained the dominant fuel for electricity in the Southeast, making the utility sector the region’s top source of emissions, with 40% of the pollution share.