Conservation Insider Bulletin, August 10

[Attention Southern Pines, Aberdeen, Pinehurst, etc. When are we going to sign on, see below? When the federal govt. is foot-dragging, the 'little guys' must get up and lead the leaders.]

Conservation Insider Bulletin

Published weekly for the Conservation Council of North Carolina

Conservation News to Peruse & Use

Editor: Dan Besse, earthvote@ccnccpac.org

August 10, 2007


Only the most radical true-believers are wasting their breath denying the reality of climate change THIS week. The dog days of summer are howling, but we still have environmental news to report.

Around the State: More Cool Cities Greet Heat Wave

Asheville, Winston-Salem, Durham, Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and a dozen others were already included. Now Raleigh and Gastonia have signed on, and Greensboro is considering it. In this case, "it" is the U.S. Conference of Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement.

Twenty North Carolina cities and towns are now among the more than 600 United States municipalities to formally join in this cooperative effort to help control global warming through cumulative local action. Raleigh's city council this week voted 7-1 to join the agreement.

Charlotte, the Carolinas' largest city, has approved climate-related actions, but its Mayor Pat McCrory has declined to sign on to the Mayors' agreement. However, neighboring city Gastonia's Mayor Jennie Stultz has signed. She told the Gastonia Gazette that the city already has a no-idling policy for vehicles and may consider purchasing alternative-fuel vehicles. She said, "We're also asking, 'What else can we do?'"

On a related note, we observe that University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers said this week that the area of floating ice in the Arctic Sea has shrunk farther this summer than in any previous year monitored.

The Other Side: Bad Timing

It arrived during record-breaking heat, in the midst of a string of unhealthy air days throughout North Carolina's major metro areas—Charlotte, the Triad, the Triangle—and beyond. It was the latest Carolina Journal, the John Locke Foundation's house organ, squealing about the "alarmist organizations" affecting North Carolina's policies toward climate change.

Results of the latest public opinion poll by the Civitas Institute indicate that 63% of the surveyed public "believe global warming is a threat to North Carolina."

Campaign Watch: Round One Warms Up in Charlotte

Charlotte's environmentally interesting mayoral contest is warming up for round one, which will culminate with the Republican primary on September 11.

Incumbent Mayor Pat McCrory is a pretty progressive type when it comes to transportation issues, especially his strong support for development of the Mecklenburg rail transit system. That stance has put him sideways with the anti-tax, anti-transit wing of his own Republican party, which has produced a challenger as a result.

Republican challenger Ken Gjertsen, a Mecklenburg County school board member, has made a campaign centerpiece of repealing the local half-cent sales tax which supports transit services (buses as well as rail). Further, Gjertsen says that if he's elected and voters decline to repeal the tax, he'll push to divert more of it from bus and rail service to building new roads.

The Republican winner will face N.C. Rep. Beverly Earle, the Democratic candidate, in November. Transit supporters are likely pulling for a McCrory-Earle contest, in which the incentive for anti-transit voters to turn out (and vote to repeal the half-cent sales tax) would be reduced.

Education & Resources: Sustainability Awards; Clean Transportation Alternatives

Sustainability Awards: The group Sustainable North Carolina is inviting applications for its sixth annual North Carolina Sustainability Awards. The awards are intended to recognize organizations that "have taken up the challenge of integrating social responsibility and environmental stewardship into their operations." The awards include three business categories and one category for public/non-profit organizations. The application deadline is August 31. Past winners have included programs by recipients as varied as Warren Wilson College, Wyeth Vaccines, the Cherry Point Marine Air Station, Piedmont Biofuels, and the N.C. Solar Center. More information is available at www.sustainnc.org/2007/awards.

Clean Transportation Alternatives: Speaking of the N.C. Solar Center, here's an online resource we recommend for your review: www.cleantransportation.org. The clean transportation program which it features focuses on "alternative fuels and advanced transportation technologies." The website includes fact sheets, news, meetings and events, funding opportunities, and other resources. (For example, it includes a map to alternative fuel stations.)