Environment
Local blogger Crazy John pledged last Thursday night to not drive for one week. He's documenting each day on his blog.
Day 1: John becomes increasingly aware of the world around him.
Day 2: John takes the bus, enjoys seeing friends and sometimes getting rides from them.
Day 3: John's resolve is weakened when he realizes that the buses don't run on Sunday and his feet are killing him. "I walked to Carrboro and back in my foot-unfriendly Chuck Taylor's. I can't believe those shoes were worn in the NBA for decades."
What will happen next? Will John's feet make it through the week?
Have you gone car-free, readers? How do you make it work? What can local governments do to make it easier?
We all knew it was coming, In today's News and Observer, Progress Energy confirms plans to build 2 more nuclear reactors at Shearon Harris with a target completion date possibly 10 years from now.
McGehee, Charman and CEO of Progress Energy, says he "doesn't expect major opposition to the Shearon Harris plan, especially after the company lays out its arguments that nuclear power is safe, clean and reliable."
Hmm...
According to the N&O, "The final decision whether to build a nuclear reactor won't be made for about two years. However, Progress Energy plans to begin holding town hall meetings within several weeks to start making its case to the public for the need for more nuclear power." Progress Energy will also need to convince the N.C. Utilities Commission that the plant is necessary.
Progress Energy invites you to email your thoughts www.progress-energy.com
Good coverage of the story at http://www.newsobserver.com/104/story/392027.html
STAYING PROGRESSIVE IN THE 21st CENTURY â— A COMMUNITY FORUM ON SOLAR BUILDING TECHNOLOGIES â—Â
co-sponsored by Neighborhoods for Responsible Growth (NRG) and the Town of Chapel Hill
This forum will be held TONIGHT at the CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 405 MARTIN LUTHER KING BOULEVARD at 7:00 PM.
The goal of the forum is to investigate ways to protect our neighborhoods and quality of life by promoting clean, renewable, and affordable building technologies. These technologies, if applied in future developments like town buildings, schools, development on UNC's Horace Williams property, other UNC buildings, etc., can cut the greenhouse gases being produced by coal- and gas-generated electricity, and reduce our dependence on these and on costly nuclear power. Our region should continue to lead in this direction toward a better future.
WITH SHORT PRESENTATIONS ON SOLAR HVAC, DAYLIGHTING, PHOTOVOLTAICS BY:
Sustainability - it's the buzzword that gets used and abused but somehow a useful replacement word is never found. It gets bandied about constantly as corporations, governments, and other agencies seek to position themselves for a future of inevitable resource scarcity, increasing energy costs, and pollution blowback. It gets hard to tell the greenwashers from those authentically committed to adaptation and innovation.
The Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) recently published its first Sustainability Report (download PDF). It reports on many aspects of providing water and sewer services in an environmentally sound manner such as strategies for maintaining high water quality, a commitment to water conservation, the partnership with UNC for the utilization of wastewater for non-potable uses, energy efficiency, green design features at the new Operations Center, hiring a Sustainability Administrator, and recycling – to name a few.
So I've been wondering why our neighbors to the east and south have been generally freaking out over water, while Orange County has none of our familiar mandatory conservation rules in place. (I got so used to it in 2002 that I started to enjoy showering with a bucket that I then used to water my garden.)
I feel like I should know this, but is our lack of drought due solely to OWASA's now-permanent conservation measures or are there other factors keeping our western end of the Triangle moister this year?
Either way, kudos to OWASA for continuing Orange County's position of environmental superiority in the Triangle.
Roses to Orange Water and Sewer Authority, for the long-range planning and year-round conservation measures that have kept our taps flowing while Raleigh and many other nearby areas face a water-supply crisis.
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