Conserve Online

At the Nature Conservancy's new interactive sight (http://conserveonline.org/), interested parties can publish their conservation work, check out an extensive library, and join or create specific workspaces.

One can peruse conservation efforts locally, across the US, and internationally. From their "About" page:

ConserveOnline is a "one-stop" online, public library, created and maintained by The Nature Conservancy in partnership with other conservation organizations. The library makes conservation tools, techniques, and experience available to a broad community of conservation practitioners. This site is intended to foster learning and collaboration, and provide information and support to anyone making conservation-related decisions, from the staff of conservation organizations to land managers at government agencies to local land trusts to private landowners. Through discussion groups and information sharing, ConserveOnline is an open forum for sharing successes and failures, and for connecting scientific research with field-based conservation practice.

Pricey Harrison grabs Grist coverage

NC State Representative Pricey Harrison (Dem) introduced into the House potential legislation that would ban the burning of coal gathered from mountain tops. You can check out the coverage at Grist, one of the country's foremost environmental sites:

If it passes, North Carolina would become the first state in the nation with such a law.

The mining method isn't practiced in North Carolina, but 61 percent of the state's power comes from coal; North Carolina is second only to Georgia in the amount of MTR-mined coal it burns. According to Appalachian Voices, a group devoted to ending the controversial and destructive mining practice, 13 power plants in North Carolina buy coal from mountaintop-removal mine sites. Most of it comes from nearby West Virginia, Kentucky, and Virginia.

Rep Harrison has been a staunch advocate for smart, foresighted legislation, and has been a key member in protecting North Carolina's environment. Here's hoping the bill finds the necessary support in the House.

Sierra Club volunteer has ideas on reducing fuel prices

This nation faces an extremely significant problem with rising fuel prices. It is time for us to make a small sacrifice in order to have an affect on this problem.

In the early 1970's when we had a gas shortage we lowered the speed limit on the interstate highways to 55 mph. Implementing a similar policy at this time would help us use less gas and thus help reduce our energy consumption. We should immediately reduce the speed limit on our interstates to 60 mph.

At 60 mph the average trip from Raleigh to Wilmington would only be increased by a few minutes. Surely this is the very least we can do to lower the price of gas.

Millions of low and middle income people are struggling to make ends meet because of the high price of gas. With a little less speed and a little more patience we could go a long way toward helping solve some of our energy problems.

Marvin Woll
Raleigh, NC

P.S. If you have energy saving techniques you use at home would you please send them to: alan.wolf@newsobserver.com

Duke Energy buys solar field output

Yesterday, Duke Energy announced it purchased the output (16 megawatts) of what will be the largest solar field in the US - to be built, owned, and operated by SunEdison just north of Charlotte in Davidson County. By law, Duke is required to produce 12.5% of its energy from renewable sources by 2018.

You can find coverage on CNN, the N & O, the Charlotte Observer.

North Carolina will see a large upswing in greencollar jobs due to the solar field, which will employ only three permanent positions but is expected to require many contractors.

From the Charlotte Observer:

Wednesday's agreement is part of Duke's expansion into renewable energy."It shows (the state law) is working, and it's a highly visible step toward a renewable-energy economy," said Molly Diggins, state director of the Sierra Club. The deal also proves, Diggins said, that the sun and wind are viable energy competitors in a South of cheap coal.

A Couple of Great Op-Eds

I direct your attention to a couple of recent op-eds in the Asheville Citizen Times:

Richard Fireman writes about Cliffside and our self-deception in regards to NC air quality:

CEO Jim Rogers’ PR machine manages to get national and international attention by talking green, but when the rubber meets the road we get a new Cliffside power plant that will add 6 million new tons of CO2 to our atmosphere every year. This is the equivalent of 1.5 million new cars...Who owns the air — the atmosphere? Is it Duke Energy? They will claim it if we allow them. To learn more about how you can help, log on to www.stopcliffside.org.

Bill Thomas writes about the Horsepasture River:

I confess that for me personally, it is the majesty and grandeur of the Horsepasture and its surroundings that move my soul and lead me to call for protection and preservation. The time to save something is while you still have it! I and Sierra Club feel strongly that the future welfare of our county depends heavily on protection of our natural assets.

Morganton is a Cool City

Morganton makes for a Cool City within the borders of all 13 groups, and the main city in 11 out of 13 local groups (all but Charlotte and Wilmington). Congratulations Sierra Club volunteers on adding the 45th Cool City in North Carolina.

Visit the chapter's Cool Cities page.

Listen to this interview (audio) with Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, where he discusses emissions standards, the role of developing nations like China and India in climate change, and the role Europe and North America will have to play in lightening the carbon load on our atmosphere.

Wind Energy Can Supply 20% by 2030

Read this report - a US Dept of Energy analysis on the capabilities of wind, which finds that 20% of all US energy needs could be supplied by wind sources by the year 2030. The report is, forgive me, a breath of fresh air.

Think of the ramifications if the US Govt actually pursued and encouraged wind technologies...

- 25% cut in carbon emissions, as old-school power plants fall off the grid
- decreased water consumption by utilities (a liferaft to NC, if ever we needed one)
- new wind- and green-related jobs

Unfortunately, the analysis is not a committment, only a hard look at the possibilities of wind.

One more boon to consumers:

- no rising fuel prices

Eco Design, and also the Governator

Check out this gorgeous slide show from the Guardian. One of the fastest growing green fields will soon be eco-friendly home design, and from this you can see how sustainable, efficient houses can actually look nice, too.

On a Governator note: Arnold asked US carmakers to ramp up fuel efficiency.

"Today, I made it clear to the automakers that California will not back down in the fight to protect our own environment by regulating pollution that causes global warming. We will continue to press the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to grant our request for a waiver, and we will use legal remedies if they fail to do so."

Schwarzenegger said hiding behind the federal government's proposed emission standards will not work, and it will not effectively reduce the pollution that causes global warming.

California, along with 13 other states, has proposed stricter limits on gas emissions for cars, but President George W. Bush's administration maintains that only the federal government has the right to set gas emission standards.

Good Reads, Part Deux

On Energy:

• Check out this article from Mother Jones
• This one from the Hoover Institution's Policy Review

On the Market force of Nature:

• Read this from Seed Magazine

On a cosmological approach to climate change:

• Read this, also from Seed Magazine

NC Public Greenways

Hat tip to NC Policy Watch for dissecting the latest right-wing attack against public lands.

First, read the (so-called) analysis of a questionairre disseminated by the John Locke Foundation, a "think tank" in Raleigh. The analysis deems a proposed public greenway adjacent to the Neuse River a terrible burden to homeowners, a threat to public property, and a development that will assuredly see an increase in crime and other such dissatisfying aftereffects once built.

As NC Policy Watch points out, some of the questions were clearly designed to invoke fear and disapproval amongst homeowners. What it boils down to is a case of anti-green incitement that asks no helpful, constructive questions about the idea of a public greenway on the Neuse.

Now there is an anti-anti-greenway movement springing up in the neighborhood.

Producer of 'An Inconvenient Truth' answers questions

Nothing overly profound that our members weren't already aware of, but Laurie David's phrasing is good and concise. Her calling card - she says it all the time and again in the interview - is that lowering one's impact on climate change isn't about being perfect; it's about doing something, anything, to lower one's personal impact.

On another note, for nuclear news in NC:

Nuclear Power in the News & Observer

Shearon Hearis Facility coverage in the News & Observer

Good Reads

Interesting read from the Hoover Institution on the politics of energy independence and going green, which, the paper reports, are not goals necessarily aligned with one another.

Take a look at this website for climate change events in Charlotte: http://www.worldaffairscharlotte.org/.

Here's an excellent interpretation of the recent spat of good and bad science journalism stemming from a paper recently published in Nature. Island of Doubt examines the growing trend of sensationalist headlines that rarely relate to the real conclusions and ideas put forth by scientific examinations of climate change. Here's an example of good reporting.

And last but not least, apparently Dick Cheney hates whales, as reported by the Washington Post.