2012 — Issue 2 (Apr/May)
Environmental Summer Camps — The Sequel!
Spring is here and that means it’s almost time for summer camp fun! From the coast of North Carolina to the mountains of West Virginia, there are camps tailored to young nature lovers. We’ve compiled a list of summer camps to get your kids outside, where they can meet lifelong friends and learn about protecting…
Read MoreBertha’s Love
Energy Efficiency in the 112th Congress
A number of bipartisan energy-efficiency bills have emerged or been reintroduced in the 112th Congress. The following four Senate and three House bills are representative of the suite of legislation that aims to incentivize energy-efficiency in homes and businesses. There many bills not listed here, including bills that would extend tax incentives for efficiency upgrades…
Read MoreStudy Weighs Risks, Benefits of Fracking in North Carolina
By Brian Sewell A series of public hearings in March concluded that, with proper regulation, hydraulic fracturing, the controversial natural gas drilling method can be done safely in North Carolina. The hearings, held in Sanford, Chapel Hill and Pittsboro, received public comment on a draft report of the state’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources’…
Read MoreThe Dirty Money Dozen
According to both the Center for Responsive Politics and Oil Change International, contributions from oil, gas and other energy industries skyrocketed in the past five years, with the coal industry alone contributing more than $8 million in 2009-2010 — more than twice what the industry had contributed in any previous election cycle. And during 2011,…
Read MoreState Legislature Kills Mountaintop Removal Ban Through Delays
By Molly Moore The Scenic Vistas Protection Act, a bill to end mountaintop removal coal mining in Tennessee, was killed by a state House subcommittee after the bill was heard by the state’s Senate this March. The Tennessee hearing marked the first time that a bill to ban mountaintop removal was heard by a full…
Read MoreD.C. District Court Overrules EPA’s Spruce Mine No. 1 Permit Veto
By Brian Sewell On March 23, a District of Columbia District Court ruled in favor of Arch Coal and overturned a 2011 veto by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, restoring the permit of the Logan County, W.Va., Spruce No. 1 mountaintop removal mine. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that the EPA had overstepped…
Read MoreRebuilding The American Dream
Excerpts from “Rebuild the Dream” by Van Jones The time has come to turn things right side up again and declare that America’s honest, hard-working middle class is too big to fail. The aspirations of our low-income, struggling, and marginalized communities are too big and important to fail. The hopes of our children are too…
Read MoreFox Squirrels Making a Comeback in N.C.
If you’ve ever seen what you thought was a gray squirrel on steroids, what you actually saw was most likely a fox squirrel. This bushy-tailed, colossal squirrel is common throughout most of Appalachia, but was not seen in the North Carolina mountains in several decades — until relatively recently.
Read MoreUnder The Same Sun: Pen Pals Introduce Young Readers To Social Justice
By Molly Moore While on a class field trip to a New York City supermarket, Meena Joshi spies a box of okra, one of her favorite foods in her native India. Emblazoned with the word “KENTUCKY,” the box displays mountains that remind her of her childhood home. When her teacher offers the class a list…
Read More