Climate

Atlanta drivers have paid an average of $3.23 per gallon of regular gasoline in May, compared to $4.13 a year ago, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Kavya Beheraj report.

• That's down 22% — and 30 cents less than today's national average.

The big picture: Gas prices set record all-time highs last year amid a broader inflation crisis, and driven in part by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which destabilized global energy markets.

Allergy season in Atlanta increased by 34 days on average between 1970 and 2021, per an analysis from Climate Central, a nonprofit climate news organization, Alex Fitzpatrick and Alice Feng report.

• That's based on the number of days between the last freeze each spring and the first freeze each fall — essentially, the annual window during which seasonal allergy sufferers are most likely to rely on their antihistamine of choice to get by each day.

Georgia's carbon footprint is shrinking — but our reliance on cars and big SUVs persists.

Driving the news: Greenhouse gas emissions declined by about 8% per person between 2017 and 2021, according to new data from Drawdown Georgia looking at emissions from electricity, transportation, land sinks, agriculture and building.

Georgia Power bills will grow several times, for several reasons, over the next few years.

Driving the news: The utility is asking the Public Service Commission to let it charge 2.7 million customers $16 more monthly to cover higher fuel costs.

• "Just as Georgians paid higher prices at the gas pump in 2022," natural gas cost the company three times more, it said.
• If the commission approves the request next week, the hike will take effect June 1.

Metro Atlanta ranks third in the nation for the number of Energy Star-certified buildings dotting the landscape, trailing only L.A. and D.C.

Why it matters: Commercial and residential buildings account for more than 30% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA and the White House's National Building Performance Standard Coalition.

Armadillos are not the first things that come to mind when you think of animals regularly seen in Georgia, but these creatures are increasingly inhabiting our landscape — and they're on the move.

What's happening: A native of central America, armadillos don't have the bodily insulation to withstand cold temperatures. But as winters in the South become milder, the scaly critters are relocating to areas they once avoided.