Environment NC releases General Assembly scorecard

Shortly after the NC League of Conservation Voters released its scorecard of the voting records of NC House and Senate members (click here), the environmental organization Environment NC released its scorecard. The following is a press release from Environment NC:

EPA site provides green house gas data for US, NC

The Environmental Protection Agency provides detailed data on sites that release green house gases (GHG), available for the entire US and for individual states, found at: http://epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ghgdata/

State Releases Environmental Report

The NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) recently released a report “Sate of the Environment” about how the state is protecting its water, air, and land. According to the report, the air is cleaner and we are putting less raw sewage into our waters. However, the report points out that population growth is causing other pollution problems and straining drinking water supplies.

Keystone XL pipeline permit denied

 State Department News Release:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/01/181473.htm
Washington, DC
January 18, 2012
Today, the Department of State recommended to President Obama that the presidential permit for the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline be denied and, that at this time, the TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline be determined not to serve the national interest. The President concurred with the Department’s recommendation, which was predicated on the fact that the Department does not have sufficient time to obtain the information necessary to assess whether the project, in its current state, is in the national interest.

Agreement Cuts Pollution by Retiring Dirty, Old Coal Plants in Carolinas

The Southern Environmental Law Center released the following press release today:

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Conservation groups today announced a settlement with Duke Energy that will cut pollution by phasing out over 1600 mega watts of dirty, old coal-fired power while still meeting customers’ energy needs.

NC League of Conservation Voters Legislator Rankings

The NC League of Conservation Voters has released their rankings of state legislators, which can be found here.

EPA announced new mercury rules

Last month the EPA announced new rules for release of mercury and other pollutants from power plants. This will affect many power plants that presently exceed the new limits. The power companies that operate these plants will have to either install equipment to scrub the pollutants from the plants or shut down the plants. Many are expected to be shut down. Many coal burning power plants had already been shut down.

EPRI Electric Vehicle Report

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) released a report on the technology and status of electric vehicles and the effect that use of electric vehicles will have on the environment and the electrical grid. This report is available free from EPRI. Click here.

Happy Holidays

From Conserve NC to you and your family:
Best wishes for a happy holiday season and new year!

Pantego Wind Farm

Conserve NC is a supporter of alternatives to fossil fuel, including wind energy. We recognize that one of the limitations of wind energy is the environmental consequences of improper siting, particularly the effect on wildlife.

One example of bad wind farm siting is the proposed Pantego wind farm in Beauford County in eastern NC. This is a proposed 80MW wind farm that is to be located near the Pongo lake area of the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. Pantego Wind Energy LLC has asked for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the NC Utilities Commission.

Air pollution in the news

Several reports concerning air pollution have appeared in the news recently:

Wind Power

ConserveNC supports the development of wind power when the wind turbine sites will not adversely affect either people or wildlife. One of the major problems of wind energy is the fact that improperly sited wind turbines can kill birds and bats or disrupt the habitat of wildlife.

Certain locations off the shore of NC are not used by birds or other wildlife that would be disrupted by wind turbines. These areas also have relatively strong and steady wind and will supply a large amount of energy. They should be used.

For more information, see offshorewindnc.org/

In future posts, we will comment about wind power, particularly off shore wind power. So stay tuned.