Environment
EPA Administrator Michael Regan announces $2 billion for small water systems to address PFAS contamination, $62 million for NC
The water tower is the tallest structure in Maysville, a landmark to nudge visitors from US Highway 17 to Main Street, the heart of this small Jones County town. More than 70,000 gallons of water flowed each day from the tower, when four years ago, Lee Ferguson sampled the drinking water. “We were caught off […]
Fossil fuel drilling threatens air and wildlife in national parks, advocacy group finds
WASHINGTON — A “massive” methane cloud forming over Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico. Noxious air pollution fouling Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Herds of mule deer and pronghorn at risk of decimation at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Environmental problems like these are already resulting from fossil fuel extraction near four […]
Tons of creosote-treated railroad ties burn, polluting air over largely non-white, low-income neighborhoods near Goldsboro
From 25 miles away, an inky plume of smoke and its purple tail diffused over the eastern horizon. Closer to the blaze, smoke roiled and towered behind the tree line and a shopping center. It painted the sky over a subdivision. Its reflection floated on the Neuse River. Within a few hundred yards, flames licked […]
Democratic governors pitch federal funds for housing, clean energy
Roy Cooper joins peers from Maryland, Colorado, Minnesota and New York at D.C. event WASHINGTON — Using the recent influx of federal funds to expand state and local clean energy infrastructure, affordable housing and workforce development will pay long-term dividends, a group of Democratic governors and mayors said Wednesday at an event hosted by a […]
Longtime tensions over federal wetlands rule return in U.S. House WOTUS hearing
North Carolina’s David Rouzer leads the charge to loosen federal Clean Water Act oversight A U.S. House panel renewed the decades-long fight Wednesday over how standing waters on farmland and other private property should be defined and regulated by federal authorities, with Republicans calling for a pause until the U.S. Supreme Court can provide more […]
Ready to whip up a batch of vinegar? 20,000 gallons of acetic acid is looking for its forever home. Adopt it on NC Waste Trader.
Every year the legislature’s Fiscal Research Division provides a Budget 101 for rookie lawmakers. Even if you’ve sat through the presentation a dozen times, it always unearths a new and precious gem of information. This year, I learned that 20,000 gallons of acetic acid, which makes up about 5% of vinegar, is sitting in three […]
Explain it to me like I’m 12: An analysis of the governor’s “Deep Carbonization Pathways Analysis”
North Carolina has strayed from its path to “net zero,” a crucial way to meet its climate change goals. The state needs a course correction, so last week Gov. Cooper released the “Deep Carbonization Pathways Analysis” — a 101-page, dense-as-a-flourless-cake guide to reaching the state’s 2050 benchmark. The background: Over the past five years, the […]
As Southeast states warm, TVA criticized on preparations for dealing with climate hazards
Regional demands for power could impact rates in North Carolina WASHINGTON – Extreme weather patterns have sparked several improvements to the climate resiliency of Tennessee Valley Authority electrical infrastructure over the past two decades. However, a report from a government watchdog found the huge utility still has work to do in mitigating climate hazards to […]
After years of delay EPA to commence clean-up of Superfund sites in Gastonia, Yadkinville, Charlotte and Jacksonville
The forest lay still, save for the rustling of leaves of bamboo. It was in a clearing on this 15 acres in rural Gastonia that Carl Hendrix, now deceased, scratched out a living. He took in old chemical drums from nearby industry, rinsed them, poured the toxic dregs on the ground, then flattened the metal for sale as scrap. Over the past 60 years the chemical TCE, found in solvents, has soaked through the earth, meandered through the subsurface rock, inched its way below Hemphill Road and contaminated at least eight private drinking water wells, plus another community well that served an entire neighborhood. TCE entered seeps that fed an unnamed creek where children used to play.,/p>
GOP U.S. House passes bill opening more public land to development if reserve oil is tapped
U.S. House Republicans passed a bill Friday to force the White House to make more federal land and waters available for oil and gas development if the president orders the withdrawal of more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The bill, passed 221-205, mostly along party lines, would strip the president’s power to remove oil from the reserve unless the U.S. Energy Department has a plan to allow new leasing on federal lands and waters for oil exploration.
New U.S. House Natural Resources chair opposes limits on fossil fuel development
In an exclusive interview, Rep. Bruce Westerman discusses the Republican plan for addressing climate change The incoming chairman of the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee wants to allow more mining and believes technology — not limitations on fossil fuel production — is the best way to address climate change. As part of their organization of […]
USDA to use outdoors recreation to boost economy around national forests, grasslands
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture began planning this month to develop outdoor recreation opportunities near national forests and grasslands, part of a broader Biden administration push to help communities reap economic rewards from the growing recreation sector. Three USDA agencies — the U.S. Forest Service, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and […]