Clean Air and Energy: North Carolina became a national leader in sustainable energy when in 2007 it established a renewable energy portfolio standard, which requires electric utilities to switch over 12.5% of their output to renewable sources by 2021. Also, the Clean Smokestacks Act, signed in 2002 by Gov. Mike Easley, required power companies to reduce their smog- and haze-forming emissions by approximately three-fourths over the next decade.

Global Warming and Cliffside: Dr James Hansen, a world-renowned climate change expert of the Columbia Earth Institute in New York, sent a letter to Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy, on March 25, 2008. Citing the lack of carbon sequestering technologies in the Cliffside plans, he warns Rogers that the coal-plant, “…will have to be shut down… [it's] a terrible, foreseeable waste of money.” He also criticizes Rogers claim that in the case of Cliffside, near-term energy needs trump future considerations. Those near-term needs, Hansen retorts, can be met with, “massive but feasible conservation and efficiency programs, cogeneration, solar, wind, and biomass generation.” He also lists several other benefits of energy diversification.

‘Captains of Industry’ will be pivotal in shifting the world’s energy sources away from dangerous, carbon-emitting sources to sustainable and responsible sources. And Duke CEO Jim Rogers has been an outspoken advocate of the need to control global warming emissions. But Duke Energy was part of a consortioum of coal and utility interests backing a group called Americans for Balanced Energy Choices. According to the Washington Post, ABEC spent $35 million in primary and caucus states to promote electricity generated from coal and to rally opposition to Congressional action to address climate change.

Public Health: In 2000, the North Carolina General Assembly lead the Southeast in voluntarily acting to curb emissions from the state’s 14 grandfathered-in coal burning plants. The “Clean Smokestacks Act” is on tract to significantly reduce ozone-forming and sulfur dioxide (acid rain) emissions.

But mercury, a particularly dangerous neurotoxin that affects developing children, remains a significant threat in North Carolina. Our state’s 14 coal plants account for about 70% of mercury emissions in the state. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Colombia ruled that the EPA erred in not forcing utilities to use the best available technologies to suppress mercury emissions. Duke plans to remove only 90% of the mercury from its Cliffside emissions when available technologies can scrub 98% of the mercury from a coal plant’s emissions. Furthermore, the air permit allows Duke to ignore nearly 60 other hazardous chemicals – dioxins, chromium, arsenic, cadmium, etc.

Coal-fired power plants have already gained notoriety in North Carolina for their contributions to bad air days. Emissions include ozone-forming NOx, which is the pollutant of concern for “bad air” days in which children and people with respiratory problems are urged to restrict activities. Coal-fired plants also are a primary source of acid rain forming SOx emissions, which harms surface waters and aquatic populations.

On April 30, 2009, the EPA questioned the decision by NC regulator’s to award Duke Energy a “minor” source permit on one of the larger proposed coal boilers in the nation.

A history of Cliffside: In March of 2007, the NC Utilities Commission denied Duke Energy’s original request to build twin 800 mega-watt coal-fired power plants at the Cliffside location, saying that the utility had failed to prove that both plants were needed. Instead, the state commission gave approval for one plant. The debate over Duke Energy’s proposal to build two new plants was characterized by an outpour of public opposition to the facility and rapidly escalating costs. Originally estimated at $2 billion, the price tag for the twin plants had risen to $3 billion before the Utilities Commission made its ruling.

On January 29, 2008 the NC Division of Air Quality gave Duke Energy the final go-ahead to begin constructing a coal-fired power plant at its Cliffside facility, 55 miles west of Charlotte on the South Carolina border. The new plant would emit 5.5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually (the equivalent of one million automobiles), which, when combined with the emissions of an existing boiler, would bring Cliffside’s per year output of carbon dioxide to 10 million tons. Along with several other environmental organizations, the Sierra Club filed suit against Duke Energy in federal district court on July 16, 2008, in order to halt construction of the new Cliffside coal plant.

On December 2, 2008, the Sierra Club notched another coal victory in its belt when U.S. Circuit Judge Lacy Thornburg ruled that Duke Energy violated the Clean Air Act for starting construction of its new Cliffside Unit 6 coal plant in Rutherford County, North Carolina, without making adequate provisions to regulate toxic air pollution. The court ruling did not halt construction. Nevertheless, the decision effectively close a perceived loophole exploited by utilities and coal plants nationwide to avoid federal pollution standards.

In March of 2009, the NC Division of Air Quality issued a revised and less exacting air permit for the proposed coal boiler based solely on revised emissions projections submitted by Duke. For three years prior to the revised permit, the utility stated it’s new boiler would be a “major” source of pollution. The controversial minor source designation came in light of a federal court ruling that sided with conservation groups who challenged Duke Energy’s failure to use the maximum available control technologies.

The new plant is not designed to capture and sequester carbon emissions. Thus, in light of widespread expectations that Congress will act to limit global warming emissions, the new facility is outdated and obsolete before it is built. What’s more, the Division of Air Quality allowed Duke Energy to move forward despite unanswered questions about the impact of Cliffside on the Great Smoky Mountains and other wilderness areas in western North Carolina. Considering recent federal court ruling points, NC Sierra Club continues to  urge regulators to reopen the air quality permit and require more stringent controls on toxic mercury emissions.

Bruce Nilles, director of Sierra Club’s National Coal Campaign, has called Cliffside a significant factor in the national effort to move beyond coal. Nilles: “Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers has gained national prominence with his repeated calls for action on global warming. But his green rhetoric doesn’t match Duke’s actions. The nation needs businesses and industry to take a leadership role in fighting global warming, but Cliffside shows that Duke is not yet ready to take on that role.”

Getting 'em outdoors. You can't start early enough.

Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, is coming to Charlotte on October 14 to discuss a pressing crisis with our children. Louv won’t be discussing classroom size or health care but he will be discussing something of critical importance – getting our children out of the house and into the great outdoors.

When I was a young kid my family lived in a very rural setting. We had large fields surrounding our house, forest ran up to the very edge of our backyard, and several creeks cut through the landscape.

I didn’t particularly enjoy television so I spent much of each day running through my surroundings pretending to be one thing or another.

Sometimes I would come home with muddy jeans due to jumping into the creek below my house.

Sometimes my parents would have to ring this bell that they had put up beside our porch to let me know it was dinner time.

But I always, always, always had fun.

In an era of suburbs, tract homes, and sprawl this kind of experience is rapidly disappearing. The X-Box (however fun it might be) does not offer the same experience. Second Life is not the same as real life. We have to impress upon people the importance of getting outside, as well as the enjoyment of getting out there in the first place.

Hopefully this talk by Richard Louv will go a long way towards getting some excitement around the idea of getting people into the out of doors.

The event will be held in the Band Shell at Freedom Park at noon on October 14.

Moreover, Senator Murkowski (R-AK) is now pushing an amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill that would be a leap backwards. Her amendment would effectively prevent the EPA from addressing global warming pollution from our most egregious polluters or accurately measuring the potential climate impacts of biofuels. Murkowski’s amendment ignores worldwide scientific consensus that carbon dioxide - no matter what its source - is a pollutant that threatens public health and welfare, block Clean Air Act protections, and delay the move to clean, American-made energy. Worst of all, the Murkowski amendment would be a thorn in our nation’s side as we attempt to forge a global approach to climate change because adoption would send a loud signal around the world that the United States is not serious about reducing its global warming pollution. 

If I may compare the upcoming UN Talks in Copenhagen to the Elementary school cafeteria (which is surprisingly fitting), while other leading nation’s will be hanging out and unpacking really cool lunch boxes full of tasty green foods to show off to their friends, the US could end up sitting in the corner alone with a stale cheese sandwich… that may or may not have cheese.

Tell the Congress not to stand in the way of EPA Action on Climate Change!  action.sierraclub.org/DOIaprops

Around 60 campuses who signed on to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment still use coal – an ancient, dirty technology that is far too common place in the 21st Century.

One of those campuses is right here in North Carolina in the form of the flagship University of the University of North Carolina system – UNC Chapel Hill.

As a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill this is a deeply personal issue to me. I lived off of Merritt Mill road during my Junior year at UNC and I walked to campus daily. Each time I walked to campus I walked past a power plant that ran off of coal… and I had no idea. At the time I would have bet just about anything it wasn’t “dirty” energy because I knew that UNC was very proud of our environmental reputation.

And rightly so.

In 1989 student leaders had convened a conference that helped give birth to the an expanded environmental movement across campuses nationwide. That commitment and the dedication of subsequent iterations of student leadership kept the environmental cause moving forward.

The University would eventually sign on to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment – as mentioned above – that pledged the school to a 60% reduction of carbon usage by 2050. This move would be partially funded by a $4 per semester “green fee” paid by each student.

The green fee came about as a result of student led efforts and passed by a wide margin during campus elections.

This move made UNC Chapel Hill the 1st school in the Southeast with a green fee – again showing that they were attempting to offer leadership on the environment.

The green fee would help with a “solar thermal” projection when Morrison Dorm (a dorm that holds 1,000 students and a place where I spent a good bit of time in my years at UNC before it was closed for renovation) was renovated. Solar panels now adorn the top of Morrison and heat the majority of the hot water in the dorm. Their is an effort to spread this throughout the campus.

The University also founded a Sustainability Office to help guide their efforts and they have worked on campus plans that would provide better management for future growth and encourage both pedestrians and biking.
Considering all of this one has to wonder why the campus is still powered, in large part, by coal?

I will admit that they have done their part to make the coal plant as clean as it can possibly be all things considered. But it is time for them to offer leadership and eliminate it completely. They have taken steps in the right direction but they need to make strides in the right direction if they wish to offer leadership.

And if I know UNC, and if the kudos I hear about Chancellor Holden Thorp, are correct then I believe they will do the right thing.

That would make me one proud Tar Heel.

LINKS:

http://action.sierraclub.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=131181.0&dlv_id=114321

http://setenergy.org/2009/01/05/solar-campuses-a-success-story-at-unc-chapel-hill/

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There’s some recent converage in the Charlotte paper about the Queen City and ozone, mainly on the EPA’s ozone rules and how Charlotte has massaged its planning numbers to get federal road monies.

From a recent Charlotte editorial on ozone non-attainment:

Why should anyone take seriously the Environmental Protection Agency’s ozone rules if the rules let cities such as Charlotte use questionable projections in order to keep federal road money flowing?

As the Observer’s Steve Harrison reported Wednesday, local transportation planners, in following the complex EPA rules about transportation and emissions modeling, have over the years included projections that look just plain silly.

Opponents of Duke Energy’s increase for North Carolina customers are peeved about not only the amount—13.5 percent, on top of 4.5 percent already levied for fuel costs—but also about its purpose: Part of the money will go toward paying the financing costs for Cliffside, a $2.4 billion, 800-megawatt, coal-fired power plant in Rutherford County near Charlotte. Skeptics have long contended that if state policymakers and utilities focused on energy efficiency, conservation and renewable energy, Cliffside would be unnecessary; the N.C. Utilities Commission agreed, in part, when in 2007 it denied Duke Energy’s request to build two Cliffside plants.

Jim Rogers, Duke Energy’s CEO, told FAST COMPANY he’s a fan of putting solar panels on his customers’ homes and businesses — he just thinks Duke should own them. “I believe at the end of the day, we’ll be able to do it cheaper and better than everybody else.” But Urlaub says, “We know that’s not true,” pointing out that Duke recently submitted a public bid for a utility-owned 20-megawatt rooftop-solar program and came in higher than several independent, nonutility solar companies.”

Endangered and threatened turtles often mistake the bags for jellyfish.

The bill carried an exemption for bags used for storing unpackaged goods like meat or produce, which was one of the larger hang ups towards passing the legislation. Customers who bring sustainable options will also receive reimbursement (the cost of the plastic bags, usually around 9 cents a bag).

There are plenty of other reasons why this is a good idea:

1. Single use plastic bags are produced with virgin petroleum that could be used to heat homes, power cars and decrease our dependency on foreign oil.
2. Plastic bags are lightweight and non-biodegradable. Those that are not recycled or disposed of properly have little trouble finding their way to our beaches and coastal waters. According to the Wall Street Journal, of the 100 billion plastic bags used yearly by Americans, less than 1% ever make it to a recycling bin.
3. Plastic bags are remarkably detrimental to endangered and threatened animal life. Aquatic animals often mistake floating plastic bags for a food source like jellyfish.
4. The measure would only affect retail spaces larger than 5,000 square feet and chain retailers.

S1018 called attention to these problems by banning single use plastic bags in chain stores and large retail spaces. Instead, retailers would be required to offer recyclable paper bags, reusable plastic bags or encourage consumers to provide their own sustainable solution.

Dare, Hyde and Currituck counties will hopefully serve as ideal pilot counties for future expansion in the state. The Outer Banks also has a vested interest in maintaining the area’s natural beauty, both for residents and visiting tourists that sustain the local economy.