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  <atom:title type="html">NC Conservation Network Blog</atom:title>
  <atom:subtitle>Welcome to our blog.  If you have comments or questions, please email us at blog[at]ncconservationnetwork.org.  Please leave your comments, and be sure to include your name and location. </atom:subtitle>

  <atom:updated>2008-07-23T15:21:06-07:00</atom:updated>

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    <atom:entry>

      <atom:title>New species found in Great Smoky Mountains</atom:title>

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          &lt;p&gt;With all of the talk about threatened &lt;a href="http://www.worldwildlife.org/"&gt;wildlife&lt;/a&gt;, species extinction, and loss of habitat, I was very refreshed to stumble across an article from the Asheville Citizen-Times entitled "&lt;a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NC_NEW_SPECIES_NCOL-?SITE=NCASH&amp;amp;amp;SECTION=STATE&amp;amp;amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT"&gt;Survey finds new species in national park in N.C.&lt;/a&gt;" According to the article,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;"A 10-year study has found more than 6,000 species of plant and animal life previously unidentified in Great Smoky Mountains National Park."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully this new information will not only encourage folks to learn more about the importance of preserving native species, but will also provide an incentive for protecting the habitat of the &lt;a href="http://www.nps.gov/grsm/"&gt;Great Smoky National Park&lt;/a&gt; in years to come!&lt;/p&gt;
          ]]>
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      <atom:author>
        <atom:name>Mindy Hiteshue</atom:name>
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      <atom:published>2008-07-23T15:19:45-07:00</atom:published>

      <atom:updated>2008-07-23T15:21:06-07:00</atom:updated>

      
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      <atom:title>After the destruction is....more destruction</atom:title>

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          &lt;p&gt;Last week, Emagazine.com featured an &lt;a href="http://www.emagazine.com/view/?4285"&gt;interesting commentary&lt;/a&gt; about the environmental destruction taking place in the Middle East, as a result of the Iraq War. Apparently, the man who wrote the commentary (Steven Hanks) lived and worked in Iraq and is writing from first-hand experience with the issues. While I haven't heard anything else about this issue, I found the article intriguing, albeit, depressing. Here are some of Hanks' main points:&amp;nbsp; &lt;img style="margin: 5px 0px 10px 5px; float: right;" alt="waste" src="http://www.emagazine.com/images/upload/1216050540Comment1.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Civilians create excess amounts of garbage that is included in the military’s massive open burns. Choking the sky with black smoke, these burns can be seen from miles away. The stench of burning trash permeates the air and infects the soil, containing high levels of carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, arsenic, mercury and barium. These compounds cause reactions ranging from mild irritation to deadly disease among the local population and wildlife." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;"At central military bases and sub-compounds, raw sewage is trucked off-site and pumped directly into roadside canals. Rarely is waste transported more than a mile from a base or compound before being recklessly discarded. At some sites, the waste is taken directly to a hole in the exterior wall of the compound and simply sprayed into the desert."&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;"[hundreds of thousands of] plastic water bottles must go somewhere. They are certainly not trucked out of the country and recycled. Without a sufficient system to recycle these items, they often end up buried, burned, or strewn across the countryside." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Hundreds of miles of open junk fields scar the Iraqi landscape. Thousands of vehicles, ordnance items, construction materials, air conditioning units, armor, tires, and parts litter these fields. Never is this vast destructive creation reused, recycled or rebuilt. It is all left to decay in the sand, poisoning the very land upon which it sits."&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;This made me realize, once again, that even after foreign troops have left, the devastation&lt;meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /&gt;&lt;meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document" /&gt;&lt;meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11" /&gt;&lt;meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11" /&gt;

&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;;"&gt;—&lt;/span&gt;economic, social, and environmental&lt;meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /&gt;&lt;meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document" /&gt;&lt;meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11" /&gt;&lt;meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11" /&gt;

&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;;"&gt;—&lt;/span&gt;will affect the Iraqi region, and the Iraqi people, for centuries to come. &lt;/p&gt;
          ]]>
      </atom:content>

      <atom:author>
        <atom:name>Mindy Hiteshue</atom:name>
      </atom:author>

      <atom:published>2008-07-21T14:41:44-07:00</atom:published>

      <atom:updated>2008-07-21T16:10:47-07:00</atom:updated>

      
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      <atom:title>Legislature goes home!</atom:title>

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          &lt;p&gt;The NC General Assembly wrapped up its 2007-2008 biennium today. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It sometimes take a while to get a perspective on a legislative session, but at this point, it looks like the legislature did decently by water this year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;One of bills receiving final approval today is &lt;i&gt;H2499, Drought/ Water Management Recommendations&lt;/i&gt;, which will help strengthen North Carolina’s drought response – a good thing, since drought conditions this week are already worse than they were a year ago, and we’re not into August yet.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another bill approved this week is &lt;i&gt;S1967, Improve Coastal Stormwater Management&lt;/i&gt;, a compromise bill that strengthens coastal stormwater rules over currently law. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Three bad ideas – hardened structures on our beaches, indefinite reconstruction of hog lagoons, and promotion of offshore oil drilling – all died in committee at the end of session.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;All good reasons to celebrate the end of session!&lt;/p&gt;
          ]]>
      </atom:content>

      <atom:author>
        <atom:name>Grady McCallie</atom:name>
      </atom:author>

      <atom:published>2008-07-18T10:17:18-07:00</atom:published>

      <atom:updated>2008-07-18T10:17:18-07:00</atom:updated>

      
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      <atom:title>Calculate your water usage</atom:title>

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          &lt;p&gt;Grady sent me this cool online tool called &lt;a href="http://www.h2oconserve.org/home.php?pd=index"&gt;H2O Conserve&lt;/a&gt;, where you can calculate your water footprint (much like The Nature Conservancy's &lt;a href="http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/"&gt;Carbon Footprint Calculator&lt;/a&gt;). From the H2O Conserve website:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;"The Calculator gives you an estimate of the total amount of water you use, what is called your water footprint. The Calculator takes into account not only the water used in your home, but also the water used to produce the food you eat and the products you buy. Your water footprint includes other factors such as water utilized to cool power plants that provide your electricity, and water saved when you recycle. You may not drink, feel or see this water, but it makes up the great majority of your water footprint."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;According to the calculator, the average American uses over 1,000 gallons of water a day. My estimated usage was 571.96 gallons a day. At the end of the "quiz" it also gives you some tips for things you can do to lower that number even more. Pretty cool little tool. &lt;a href="http://www.h2oconserve.org/home.php?pd=index"&gt;Check it out&lt;/a&gt; and post your results below by adding a comment (I'm sure there are a lot of you out there who can one-up my 571.96 gallons a day figure!)&lt;/p&gt;
          ]]>
      </atom:content>

      <atom:author>
        <atom:name>Mindy Hiteshue</atom:name>
      </atom:author>

      <atom:published>2008-07-15T10:19:38-07:00</atom:published>

      <atom:updated>2008-07-15T10:19:38-07:00</atom:updated>

      
        <atom:category term="water"/>
      
      
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      <atom:title> Transportation lessons from China</atom:title>

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          &lt;p&gt;A few months ago, I read a fascinating (and troubling) report from a panel of American transportation professionals who visited China in September 2007.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; While there, they met with Chinese national, regional, and local officials and business leaders, and toured a number of ports and other facilities to see how goods are being transported (and exported) in the Chinese economy.&amp;nbsp; The report is available from the &lt;a href="http://www.trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=8453"&gt;Transportation Research Board&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some of the American panel’s conclusions include: that China expects to continue growing rapidly; that China has a national strategy for the transportation, including freight; and that China’s highly centralized state power has made it easier for the nation to build projects rapidly, without getting derailed by such concerns as environmental impacts.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Travel can broaden the mind; it can also reinforce what one was predisposed to believe.&amp;nbsp; In that regard, one of the panel’s most telling comments is this statement:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;"There was a strong perception that the United States lacks the political will to invest in infrastructure and could not deliver needed investments in infrastructure in a timely manner even if desired. China is viewed as being very proactive with respect to infrastructure provision by building for the future and clearly stating in their strategic plans what will be built and when; the United States is perceived as being very reactive."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;The panel report also offers some practical insights – the US has a strong advantage in our rail network; US port capacity, rather than foreign port capacity, is the key drag on volume of imports into the US; widening of the Panama Canal is likely to increase pressure on already strained East Coast ports.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Largely overlooked by the panel is the &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_of_China"&gt;enormous price&lt;/a&gt; China is paying – in &lt;a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2007/12/05/world/asia/choking_on_growth_6.html"&gt;ecological and human health and social instability&lt;/a&gt; – for prioritizing engagement in global markets above sustainability.&amp;nbsp; The report omits any discussion of the likely impacts of climate change regulation.&amp;nbsp; That’s a striking gap, since the massive increases in truck, rail, and shipping imagined by the panel aren’t reconcilable with the reality of massive carbon reductions.&amp;nbsp; It seems to us that there’s a strong argument for United States to adopt a coherent national freight transportation strategy – it will take a proactive strategy to keep the current level of goods moving at much lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions – but the vision of rapidly ever-expanding volumes of freight, with bigger cargo ships, busier ports, more diesel trucks, and many more roads, is nuts.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
          ]]>
      </atom:content>

      <atom:author>
        <atom:name>Grady McCallie</atom:name>
      </atom:author>

      <atom:published>2008-07-10T13:23:56-07:00</atom:published>

      <atom:updated>2008-07-10T13:23:56-07:00</atom:updated>

      
        <atom:category term="global-warming"/>
      
      
        <atom:category term="transportation"/>
      

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      <atom:title>Poaching our recyclables</atom:title>

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          &lt;p&gt;I found a &lt;a href="http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2008/jul/08/waste-not-recycling-bin-poaching-by-organized-grou/?business"&gt;rather interesting article&lt;/a&gt; today regarding urban poachers who are setting up organized systems to nab recyclables from curbsides in San Francisco. Due to the increasing value of substances like aluminum, newspaper, and cardboard, these folks are making a lot of money. In addition to being illegal, the late-night trucks are a nuisance for neighborhoods.&amp;nbsp; And sometimes the poachers&amp;nbsp; take &lt;i&gt;new&lt;/i&gt; newspapers, prior to anyone getting to read them!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That got me thinking--I wonder if this has hit North Carolina yet? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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      <atom:author>
        <atom:name>Mindy Hiteshue</atom:name>
      </atom:author>

      <atom:published>2008-07-08T15:47:34-07:00</atom:published>

      <atom:updated>2008-07-08T15:47:34-07:00</atom:updated>

      
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      <atom:title>An easy way to recycle CFLs</atom:title>

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          &lt;p&gt;Got &lt;a href="http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls"&gt;compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs)&lt;/a&gt;?&amp;nbsp; Until now CFLs had to be taken to specific recycling centers throughout the state--a far drive for many folks! But just days ago, The Home Depot launched a &lt;a href="http://www6.homedepot.com/ecooptions/index.html?"&gt;new initiative &lt;/a&gt;that allows residents nationwide to safely and properly recycle CFLs. The new, energy efficient light bulbs can be brought in to any Home Depot store and given to the employee at the return desk. You can find more information, and view their press release, &lt;a href="http://www6.homedepot.com/ecooptions/index.html?"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you didn’t know already, the one downside to CFLs is that breaking the bulb releases mercury vapor. You can only bring unbroken bulbs to be recycled, so be sure to handle them with care when transporting. Carefully recycling CFLs prevents the release of mercury into the environment (and your body) and allows for the reuse of glass, metals and other materials that make up fluorescent lights.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;
          ]]>
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      <atom:author>
        <atom:name>Nicole Stewart</atom:name>
      </atom:author>

      <atom:published>2008-07-03T14:25:01-07:00</atom:published>

      <atom:updated>2008-07-03T14:25:01-07:00</atom:updated>

      
        <atom:category term="toxics"/>
      
      
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      <atom:title>The secret about WALL-E</atom:title>

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          &lt;p&gt;I'm a huge Pixar movie fan. Their last film, &lt;a href="http://www.pixar.com/featurefilms/cars/"&gt;Cars&lt;/a&gt;, choked me up. So, I expected a lot out of their newest movie, &lt;a href="http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/wall-e/"&gt;WALL-E&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;img src="../../wall-e.jpg" style="width: 275px; height: 275px;" align="right" hspace="3" vspace="3" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;My husband and I went to see it last night, and within seconds of the movie starting, we looked at each other with shocked expressions. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Before getting to the theater, all we knew about the movie was based off of the marketing we'd seen: a cute and funny cartoon love-story with great graphics. So, we were taken aback when the movie opened with a scene of desolate urban wasteland - abandoned skyscrapers and mountains of trash piled just as high in cubes. The messages just balloon from there, hitting on the issues of consumerism, big box stores, in your face advertising, throw-away societies, and obesity. It was a bit surreal. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Truth be known, I'm pleased that the movie is &lt;a href="http://www.vh1.com/movies/news/articles/1589910/20080624/story.jhtml"&gt;not being marketed&lt;/a&gt; as an "environmental" or "anti-consumerism" movie - it likely wouldn't get the &lt;a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/30/content_8459736.htm"&gt;box office ratings&lt;/a&gt; it's getting if it had.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So, while you're enjoying your (3-day) 4th of July weekend, make sure you take a break from the heat and check out the movie for yourself and then tell us what you think.&lt;/p&gt;
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      <atom:author>
        <atom:name>Nicole Stewart</atom:name>
      </atom:author>

      <atom:published>2008-07-02T11:06:57-07:00</atom:published>

      <atom:updated>2008-07-03T05:33:39-07:00</atom:updated>

      
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      <atom:title>Wake County needs to wake up on transit</atom:title>

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          &lt;p&gt;Last week, &lt;a href="http://wakeupwakecounty.com/cms/"&gt;WakeUP Wake County&lt;/a&gt; (an &lt;a href="http://www.ncconservationnetwork.org/about/affiliates/current"&gt;affiliate&lt;/a&gt; of the NC Conservation Network) hosted a public forum on transit titled, &lt;u&gt;Transit: Is Wake County Ready for It?&lt;/u&gt; The event was a huge success: 300 folks in attendance including many elected officials and top-level Raleigh city planners and tons of media coverage, both &lt;a href="http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/SOTseg1.mp3/view"&gt;before&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://wakeupwakecounty.com/cms/"&gt;after&lt;/a&gt; the event.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The overall tone of the event was clear - Wake County is ready for transit. To see for yourself, &lt;a href="http://wakeupwakecounty.com/cms/"&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to watch the entire event. But, there are some hang ups - specifically funding a large-scale transit project and getting the project up and running in a timely fashion (on average, it could take seven years from start to finish).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Charlotte passed a 1/2 cent sales tax in the late 1990's to begin its light-rail project (thanks to special authority granted to the city by the state legislature). Now that it's up and running, the only complaints Charlotte and Mecklenburg County officials are hearing are that individuals want more trains and more rail lines.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, Raleigh is waiting its turn for the state legislature to grant it special authority to pass a 1/2 cent sales tax for &lt;a href="http://wakeupwakecounty.com/cms/node/89"&gt;public transportation projects&lt;/a&gt;. However, the bill is on shaky ground and may not pass in the 2008 short session.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;My concern is this: at the rate at which it is taking us to approve a comprehensive transit plan coupled with how fast the Triangle is expected to grow (an additional 1,000,000 people in the next 20-30 years) we could end up doing too little, too late.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So, what do you think? Is Wake County ready for transit? And, if so, how do we go about funding the project? &lt;/p&gt;
          ]]>
      </atom:content>

      <atom:author>
        <atom:name>Nicole Stewart</atom:name>
      </atom:author>

      <atom:published>2008-06-30T13:08:51-07:00</atom:published>

      <atom:updated>2008-06-30T13:11:40-07:00</atom:updated>

      
        <atom:category term="transportation"/>
      

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    <atom:entry>

      <atom:title>NC activists star in video postcard</atom:title>

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          &lt;p&gt;Our friends over at &lt;a href="http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/"&gt;Environment North Carolina&lt;/a&gt; have put together a great little video postcard to send to decision-makers regarding global climate change. The clips came from interviews at this spring's &lt;a href="/mainblog/archive/2008/06/09/changingclimatechange"&gt;Take Action Tour&lt;/a&gt; and feature activists from around the state expressing their concerns regarding this "hot" topic.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt; 

&lt;object width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LpRFlJhaCrg&amp;amp;hl=en"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LpRFlJhaCrg&amp;amp;hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
          ]]>
      </atom:content>

      <atom:author>
        <atom:name>Mindy Hiteshue</atom:name>
      </atom:author>

      <atom:published>2008-06-26T10:12:06-07:00</atom:published>

      <atom:updated>2008-06-26T10:12:06-07:00</atom:updated>

      
        <atom:category term="global-warming"/>
      

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    <atom:entry>

      <atom:title>Some thoughts on voting (or not voting, as it were)</atom:title>

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      <atom:id>9f5c870df0b85b6b053b17b287ecc74c</atom:id>
      

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          &lt;p&gt;During my lunch break today, I headed over to my local precinct to do my civic duty (you know, vote). The street as I walked up was deserted, the fire station void of any life except for the fabulous poll workers (thank you!) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Out of curiosity, I asked the gentleman in charge of the ballots how many folks had voted already. (Now keep in mind the polls had been open for over 6 hours by the time I showed up.) He said, "Ma'am, you're our afternoon rush. You're the eleventh person to vote here today."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hearing about this low turn-out, I started thinking about the voting process. Do people not know about these smaller elections (I had almost forgotten myself)? Or do they not care? What makes people vote or not vote? What are the best ways to get voters out to the polls at lower-profile elections? Would more people vote if the voting system was set-up differently?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And please, if you haven't voted, you don't get to complain about decision-makers. The next time a non-voter starts griping about a certain person in charge, I'm going to hand them this fine sticker:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img style="width: 287px; height: 158px;" src="http://www.ncconservationnetwork.org/mainblog/blogimages/shouldve_voted" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
          ]]>
      </atom:content>

      <atom:author>
        <atom:name>Mindy Hiteshue</atom:name>
      </atom:author>

      <atom:published>2008-06-24T13:57:58-07:00</atom:published>

      <atom:updated>2008-06-24T13:57:58-07:00</atom:updated>

      
        <atom:category term="current-events"/>
      
      
        <atom:category term="general"/>
      

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    <atom:entry>

      <atom:title>Déjà vu: Debate over offshore drilling</atom:title>

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      <atom:id>d3d95396f3d1aa542f44781b1b666d0b</atom:id>
      

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          &lt;p&gt;Why do I have this weird feeling I've been here before...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It's no surprise that &lt;a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/energy/"&gt;President Bush's proclamation&lt;/a&gt; "Our nation must produce more oil, and we must start now" has sparked a heated debate between and among party leaders across the state of North Carolina and the country itself. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;While offshore drilling has been a long-debated issue, the recent surge in gas prices has, shall I say, &lt;i&gt;fueled &lt;/i&gt;the federal government to reconsider &lt;a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/washington/19energy.html?ref=science"&gt;the ban on offshore drilling&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here's the rub, though. Offshore drilling would have many cumbersome side effects, with limited positive outcomes. Firstly, you have the oil companies making &lt;a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/business/01cnd-exxon.html?hp"&gt;more and more money&lt;/a&gt;, instead of investing money in renewable and sustainable energy sources. You also have severe environmental impacts on an already &lt;a href="newsItems/save-ncs-coastal-waters"&gt;vulnerable coast&lt;/a&gt;, and although some offshore-drilling supporters envision using profit-sharing from the drilling to renourish beaches, what about all of the &lt;i&gt;other&lt;/i&gt; environmental impacts at risk? From the &lt;a href="http://www.charlotte.com/local/story/676466.html"&gt;Charlotte Observer&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Fueled by $4-a-gallon gas, the growing clamor for new energy sources still faces opponents who envision oil spills, blighted ocean views and shorelines industrialized by pipelines and refineries."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;I was also surprised to hear this little tidbit from &lt;a href="http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/6/19/115937/898"&gt;Grist&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;"...oil companies already have millions of acres allocated to them upon which they have not gotten around to exploring let alone drilling. When asked the delicate question, as some have been recently, why they have not explored these millions of acres to which the federal government has granted them rights, oil companies typically respond that the public should understand that oil exploration takes time."&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;Let's face it folks: offshore drilling would do nothing to help us in the next 7 to 10 years. We'll still be sitting here at square one--in dire straights, using the crutch of the mere &lt;i&gt;potential&lt;/i&gt; success of offshore drilling to subsidize our energy-hungry lifestyles, which, if it came to fruition, would only provide us with borrowed time anyway.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
          ]]>
      </atom:content>

      <atom:author>
        <atom:name>Mindy Hiteshue</atom:name>
      </atom:author>

      <atom:published>2008-06-20T12:51:27-07:00</atom:published>

      <atom:updated>2008-06-20T12:52:29-07:00</atom:updated>

      
        <atom:category term="energy"/>
      
      
        <atom:category term="coastal"/>
      

    </atom:entry>

  
  

    <atom:entry>

      <atom:title>The Big Green Bus comes to NC!</atom:title>

      <atom:link rel="alternate" type="text/html"
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      <atom:id>192b58247cfaa7042538a3d25da2f96a</atom:id>
      

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          &lt;p&gt;What happens when 12 Dartmouth students take a 37-foot &lt;a href="http://www.thebiggreenbus.org/"&gt;veggie oil powered bus&lt;/a&gt; road tripping across the US?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px 8px 5px 0px; float: left;" alt="bus" src="http://www.thebiggreenbus.org/images/bus190.jpg" /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Well, education for one! If you're in the Chapel Hill area tomorrow,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;"The Big Green Bus and its crew will roll into Morehead’s parking lot at 9:30 a.m., June 18. From 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the crew will give public tours of the bus, explain how its engine works and provide information comparing the energy use of an SUV versus a hybrid vehicle."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href="http://www.moreheadplanetarium.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=news_item&amp;amp;id=478"&gt;UNC's website&lt;/a&gt;, here are more details about The Big Green Bus:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;"The mission of the Big Green Bus is to promote education and discussion about environmental responsibility, global energy issues and to show that alternative fuels are available for use right now."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;They are also scheduled to stop in Raleigh this Thursday, but I've yet to find details on when and where. Be sure to post a comment below if you know.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Also, check out all the &lt;a href="http://www.thebiggreenbus.org/summer_tour/index.html"&gt;tour stops&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.thebiggreenbus.org/the_bus/crew.html"&gt;meet the crew&lt;/a&gt;, and find out how it &lt;a href="http://www.thebiggreenbus.org/the_bus/howitworks.html"&gt;all works&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;
          ]]>
      </atom:content>

      <atom:author>
        <atom:name>Mindy Hiteshue</atom:name>
      </atom:author>

      <atom:published>2008-06-17T12:39:49-07:00</atom:published>

      <atom:updated>2008-06-17T12:41:35-07:00</atom:updated>

      
        <atom:category term="energy"/>
      
      
        <atom:category term="current-events"/>
      

    </atom:entry>

  
  

    <atom:entry>

      <atom:title>Climate change murals delivered to Congress</atom:title>

      <atom:link rel="alternate" type="text/html"
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      <atom:id>31fff2be257045559afb2b8d21a1a540</atom:id>
      

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          &lt;p&gt;From our good &lt;a href="http://www.1sky.org/mothers-day-delivery"&gt;friends at 1Sky&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;"On Friday June 6, moments after a major policy debate on climate change, 1Sky volunteers delivered more than 100 murals calling for bold action to Congressional offices on Capitol Hill. The murals were created over Mother’s Day weekend by families and communities in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Check out this short video capturing the big day:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/h34M9yjNHY4&amp;amp;hl=en" width="425" height="344" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"&gt;
          ]]>
      </atom:content>

      <atom:author>
        <atom:name>Mindy Hiteshue</atom:name>
      </atom:author>

      <atom:published>2008-06-16T13:41:00-07:00</atom:published>

      <atom:updated>2008-06-16T13:44:58-07:00</atom:updated>

      
        <atom:category term="global-warming"/>
      

    </atom:entry>

  
  

    <atom:entry>

      <atom:title>Yellow light on toll roads</atom:title>

      <atom:link rel="alternate" type="text/html"
                 href="http://www.ncconservationnetwork.org/mainblog/archive/2008/06/13/yellow-light-on-toll-roads">
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      <atom:id>ca54c8492bad80058e6eda423439e43f</atom:id>
      

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          &lt;p&gt;With the completion of I-540 westward, NC will likely get
its first &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toll_road"&gt;toll road&lt;/a&gt;, in
large part due to the lobbying force of the &lt;a href="http://www.ncturnpike.org/"&gt;NC
Turnpike Authority&lt;/a&gt; – a division of the &lt;a href="http://www.ncdot.org/"&gt;NC
Department of Transportation&lt;/a&gt; (NC DOT). It seems that the “good roads state”
continues to be committed to building new roads, even in the face of skyrocketing
construction (see #4 &lt;a href="http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2008/05/30/stop-and-yield-to-common-sense/"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;) and fuel costs (over $4/gallon). &lt;/p&gt;



&lt;p&gt;To get our first toll road, it will take an act of the &lt;a href="http://www.ncleg.net/"&gt;NC Legislature&lt;/a&gt; (because toll roads, contrary
to what you might assume, don’t pay for themselves). And, last week the NC
House gave the green light for funding of the construction of a new six-lane
toll road: the &lt;a href="http://www.ncturnpike.org/projects/Triangle_Expressway/"&gt;Triangle
Expressway&lt;/a&gt;. In the face of a budget crunch, you might ask yourself ‘where
are they going to get this money?’ In short, the House has proposed
transferring $25 million from the General Fund to the NC Turnpike Authority, so
it can quickly build the Triangle Expressway. In recent years, this $25 million
has funded education, crime prevention, human services, and more. In the face
of rising transportation and fuel costs, this appropriated money will still not
cover the costs of building this toll road. Compile this fact with the new
knowledge that data used to base cost estimates for the Triangle Expressway are
&lt;a href="http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/cms/2008/06/11/questionable-assumptions-underlie-toll-road-plans/"&gt;out-of-date&lt;/a&gt;,
and you inevitably create a black (pot) hole for taxpayer dollars. &lt;/p&gt;



&lt;p&gt;While many have been frustrated by how I-540 dead-ends
(including those of us who vow to stay inside the beltline), one has to wonder
if it makes sense for the completion of this loop to be made into a toll road. And,
does it make sense for NC to continue funneling money into new road projects,
rather then maintaining the current infrastructure we have? Especially in light
of the recurring &lt;a href="http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2908923"&gt;problems&lt;/a&gt;
and criticism the DOT has faced. &lt;/p&gt;



&lt;p&gt;For all of the &lt;a href="http://www.charlotte.com/409/story/663280.html"&gt;problems&lt;/a&gt; toll roads
(and new roads in general) bring, it seems like a good idea for North Carolina
leaders to take some time to think about how we can continue to &lt;a href="http://www.charlotte.com/109/story/644352.html"&gt;travel sustainably&lt;/a&gt;,
without wasting tax payer money and killing our small towns.&lt;span style=""&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
          ]]>
      </atom:content>

      <atom:author>
        <atom:name>Nicole Stewart</atom:name>
      </atom:author>

      <atom:published>2008-06-13T14:55:04-07:00</atom:published>

      <atom:updated>2008-06-13T14:55:04-07:00</atom:updated>

      
        <atom:category term="politics"/>
      
      
        <atom:category term="transportation"/>
      

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