Volume I, Issue 4
Footnotes Online
2008 General Assembly Reconvenes May 13th
Can we keep up the momentum? 2007 was widely recognized as an excellent year for the environment in the North Carolina General Assembly.
In the short session, which reconvenes on May 13, we will seize the opportunity to respond to the state’s ongoing water woes by lobbying to make water conservation and efficiency more than just a drought response. We’ll support passage of legislation to modernize water systems and mandate conservation. We believe that commercial water consumption should be public information and that large private water users, including the agricultural sector, should publicly report their water use.
This summer we will also take steps toward our goal of ensuring North Carolina cars are clean with the adoption of tailpipe emission standards that include carbon controls. We’ll need your help on defensive fights as well. The state’s long standing seawall ban on our coasts is threatened, and we will work to prevent S.B. 599 Inlet Stabilization Pilot Project from becoming law. We’ll make inroads toward forward-looking transportation policy by advocating for smart growth, multi-rider transit and rail options as the state starts to tackle the backlog of transportation challenges this year and in future sessions.
Sign up for Lobby Day on Tuesday, June 24th, and talk to legislators about issues important to you.
Many Sierra Club Endorsed Candidates Enjoy Victory at the Polls
In the largest primary voter turnout in state history, Sierra Club endorsed candidates enjoyed victory in all corners of North Carolina.
Janet Cowell, candidate for State Treasurer, enjoyed a large margin of victory in her three-way race.
Sierra Club endorsed candidates for the North Carolina General Assembly who were victorious in their primaries include:
Senator Vernon Malone (D), Capital Group
Senator Ellie Kinnaird (D), Orange-Chatham Group
Senator Katie Dorsett (D), Piedmont Plateau Group
Senator Fletcher Hartsell (R), Central Piedmont Group
Representative Edith Warren (D), Cypress Group
Representative Angela Bryant (D), Medoc Group
The Chapter Political Committee was pleased to work with local Sierra Club groups in endorsing many fine candidates for local office. Winning their primary elections for County Commissioner were:
Chuck McGrady (R), Henderson County, Pisgah Group
Sally Kost (D), Chatham County , OCG Group
Jennifer Roberts (D), Mecklenburg County, Central Piedmont Group
Holly Jones (D), Buncombe County, WENOCA Group
Bernadette Pelissier (D), Orange County, OCG Group
We look forward to having your help supporting these pro-environment candidates in the general election this fall!
Thanks Bob and Ann Marie!
Due to the diligent oversight and hard work of two Sierrans, you’re currently reading Footnotes Online.
Thanks to Ann Marie Amico, whose excellent design skills created the Footnotes Online masthead, your email is a little more pleasing to the eye.
An excellent graphic designer, Ann Marie is interested in gardening, traveling, and loves spending time with family and friends. She also designs the print version of Footnotes and special graphic requests for the chapter.
(http://www.annmarieamicodesign.com/ Tel: 919-557-7222)
Thanks to the computer literacy of Bob Zuber, also of the Capital Group, this message doesn’t look like a jumbled pile of computer code, which was a real possibility.
Bob enjoys being a Capital Group Excom member, Chapter and group Communications Chair, and editing the print version of Footnotes. In his spare time, he tries to get in a few bike rides, walk some greenways with his dogs, and get outside.
Mercury in North Carolina: Cliffside
Yesterday, the Sierra Club - represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center in conjunction with several other environmental groups - put Duke Energy Carolinas on notice that the company is violating the law by continuing construction of a new unit at Cliffside, which, if not ceased, could elicit a lawsuit.
Back in March, the Sierra Club filed a legal challenge against the State of North Carolina for permitting Cliffside without strong controls for hazardous emissions. The challenge stipulated that the North Carolina Division of Air Quality rescind the permit given to Duke Energy until the maximum standards were met.
In February, a federal court threw out the Bush Administration's lax mercury standard, otherwise known as the Clean Air Mercury Rule, since it did not adequately protect public health. Therefore, in light of this ruling, Duke Energy's efforts to build a new coal-plant are unlawful.
Coal plants emit a whopping 42% of industrial coal emissions, all of which returns to earth via precipitation, and all of which reaps havoc on public health and the environment.
Outings
Thu, Jun 5 American Tobacco Trail Hike Unwind and get your late-day exercise with an easy 4-mile hike on the American Tobacco Trail with the Orange-Chatham group.
Fri, Jun 6 - Sun, 8 Mt. Mitchell Shoulder Backpack with the Piedmont Plateau group to basecamp at Mt. Mitchell, the highest point in the east. Running two weeks before the solstice, days will be near their longest, and nights may provide fantastic stargazing from base camp.
Fri, Jul 4 - Sun, 6 Pisgah National Forest Grandpas' & Grandsons Mountain Get-Together Join the Capital Group for an easy 2 mile hike into an idyllic, base-camp setting. Then, easy dayhikes to high knobs with sweeping, panoramic vistas and to cool, waterfall-fed pools where we'll splash around in the bone-chilling, mountain water.
(Above photo courtesy of Philip Baron)
Can't wait for the next issue of Footnotes Online? Check out the NC Sierra Club Blog for cool cities updates, outings reports, environmental news, and developments in North Carolina.