Mountain Top Removal Mining

Ever wonder what mountain top removal mining looked like? Check out this excerpt from The Appalachians.

Env Photos of the Year

Check out the environmental photos of the year, published in the Guardian.

N(Y)C

NC leadership can learn a thing or two from NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

At the National Clean Energy Summit, the mayor announced PLAN NY, which will foster the switch to renewables and grow green infrastructure right in NYC; plans are in place for windfarms off the coast and solar fields just outside the city. The mayor also called for federal leadership on building a national grid for renewables; oil magnate T. Boone Pickens stressed similar needs for leadership, and Al Gore reiterated that a renewables grid could be finished in ten years.

More interesting proposals resounded at the meeting, such as eliminating carbon emissions for all new buildings by 2030.

Climate Change and Fresh Water

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently released a report on the effects of global warming on fresh water supplies. The section on North America has some projections North Carolinians might find concerning.

Conservation vs. Clean Energy

An interesting article ran in the Chicago Tribune this morning. To cherry-pick:

Unlike offshore drilling and other oil and gas ventures in which developers and environmentalists are obvious adversaries, renewable energy is increasingly pitting two kinds of green advocates against each other as the nation seeks alternative sources in the face of record oil prices and global warming...

In making the shift to renewable energy - for instance, in capturing and delivering the immense solar capacity of the Mojave Desert - a new type of infrastructure will have to be built: the energy has to make it from the solar field to the living room, obviously. This fact is routinely annoying to conservationists, who would see their beloved wild spaces,or their communities, untouched by drilling equipment, wind turbines, or power lines.

The article tails off at the end, and doesn't really ask the probing questions one would like. How will conservation concerns affect the national energy debate? What is better: installing solar panels on buildings, where deliverability (meaning the energy transport infrastructure) is higher, or installing solar panels in the desert, where open skies bring more energy?

Still, this reviewer finds the article's impetus pretty important. How "green" are we going to be?

Offshore Drilling - some primers

Across the nation, and here in NC, offshore drilling is repeatedly cited (by some) as the be-all-end-all to our economic and energy woes. What is clear, though, is that drilling in NC could potentially devastate our coastal economy.

But no harangues today. Just some reading materials.

This is the 2007 governmental report that details how offshore drilling won’t really do anything.

Drilling advocates claim the report is flawed. Here’s a (flawed) critique of the report published on the Heritage Foundation website:

Here is a link to a NYTimes article explaining the global lack of drilling ships needed for offshore drilling:

Here is a report about the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge’s potential oil production. The report concludes that prices would drop only $1.44/barrel if the refuge hit peak production.

Here’s an unusual fact used by the pro-drilling commentators that I stumbled across (though the health of these fish will be affected by the ‘produced formation water’ and ‘Drilling mud’ of offshore platforms)

Let's Get Started

Hello All! I’m the newbie, so I’ve been spending the past week researching our Cool Cities and talking to the good people who have played a role in Cool Cities Campaign. I must say, I am very pumped by all the good “energy” from the town leaders. As of date, we have 49 Cool Cities and Counties! Several towns have formed a “Cool Cities Committee.” And, at least 8 towns are already conducting a greenhouse gas emissions inventory--- including Winston-Salem, Raleigh, Greensboro, Durham, Charlotte, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Orange County.

It’s a very exciting time to be in North Carolina. Thank you for asking me to join and I look forward to working with you.

Green Building

Recently, I heard of two great sites relevant to our Cool Cities campaign:

GreenPlaybook
US Green Building Council

Both, as you can see, abound with useful information.

New Staff

Faithful readers -

Please join me in welcoming Kara Craig, our new Conservation Organizer, into the NC Sierra Club fold.

Kara has a master's in environmental policy and non-profit management in addition to a strong history in community organizing. At the Foundation for Renewal of E. North Carolina, she worked to ensure sustainable development in local communities.

As a soon-to-be frequent contributor to our blog, she'll give you the inside scoop on the Cool Cities initiative here in our state.