Short Session: Down to the Wire

The 2008 Short Session is expected to end this Friday. There are still important environmental bills yet to be decided. Take a look at what we're working on in the final hours of the short session and add your voice to shape North Carolina's environmental future.

Beaches
S599, Inlet Stabilization Pilot Project
Status: still threatening our coasts, passed Senate, House could still vote before session ends.

This bill threatens to undo the state's longstanding ban on construction of seawalls, also known as terminal groins or jetties. North Carolina must protect its legacy of publicly owned beaches and vibrant coastal communities and avoid making changes to state law that could potentially put all our shorelines at risk.

Building seawalls means paying for expensive "beach renourishment" forever. Read our recommendations. Here's what you can do.

Drought
H2499, Drought/Water Management Recommendations
Status: passed the House, improved in Senate, we hope the House will accept the Senate's version.

H2499/S1879 intended to prepare and cushion North Carolina residents from drought and the resulting economic distruptions.

See our drought handout for NC Sierra Club's drought policy recommendations. Here's what you can do.

Hogs
H822, Amendments to the Swine Siting Act
Status: slow-tracked, may not come up this session

Last week, the NC Senate hurried through a contentiously altered bill, H822, that will allow some industrial hog farms to remain environmentally unsound in perpetuity.

Proposed amendments seem to allow grandfathered structures to be replaced, modified and enlarged at will, with no limits on time. The changes circumvent the commonly understood meaning of grandfathering, thus creating a preferred class of non-conforming sites. Rather than amending the existing variance process, the proposed changes create a separate process that does not require notification or the consent of adjacent property owners. Here's what you can do.

TV Recycling
H819, Electronics Recycling Amends/Adds TV's
Status: Final House vote expected Thursday!

Basically, H819 expands the computer equipment management law to provide a way to recycle your old television. Manufacturers that sell 1000+ televisions in the state per year will be required to enable recycling programs and educate consumers about recycling opportunities.

Sierra Club looks forward to the final piece of an electronics recycling program that we've been working on for several years.

Outings

Greenway Bike Tour of Shelly Lake   26 Jul, Saturday 

Join the Medoc Group around Shelly Lake, a 53 acre lake and park land that connects to 12.5 continuous miles of paved, scenic green-way trails.

National Public Lands Day   27 Sep, Saturday  

Come celebrate the 15th Annual National Public Lands Day at Greenbelt Park, MD. The National Park Service needs our help to replant trees in the park.  

Check out the Charlotte Observer's Top 10 waterfall hikes in NC.

In the News

Bush approves offshore oil rigs     News & Observer    Jul 15, 2008

North Carolina Sierra Club director Molly Diggins criticized Bush's statement Monday, but didn't sound especially worried. "It is probably the single biggest step backwards the president could take," Diggins said. Still, she added, "I do not see Congress rushing into anything on this. The stakes are too high."

New state water powers win vote     Charlotte Observer    Jul 15, 2008

Supporters of a separate meter, such as the Sierra Club, said the mandate would enable local governments to monitor water use and, if necessary, shut off a sprinkler system without interrupting the water supply to the house.

N.C. hog farmers could rebuild under old rules    CNN   Jul 09, 2008

"This represents the first significant erosion of existing protections," Molly Diggins, state chapter president of The Sierra Club, told the panel, before the Senate Environmental Committee agreed to the changes.

Can't wait for our next issue? Check out our new look NC SIERRA CLUB BLOG for conservation links, volunteer ideas, and news relevant to all our members and supporters.