environment

Sierra Club Announces Chapel Hill, Carrboro Endorsements

Press releases containing the following endorsements were received this afternoon:

Chapel Hill Mayor: Pam Hemminger
Chapel Hill Town Council: Allen Buansi, Ed Harrison, and Karen Stegman
Carrboro Mayor: Lydia Lavelle
Carrboro Board of  Aldermen: Barbara Foushee, Jacquelyn Gist, Randee Haven-O’Donnell, and Sammy Slade

Emerald Ash Borer killing trees in Orange County

The NC Forest Service has just shared that Wake, Orange and Durham counties are joining the quarantine area for emerald ash borer. This has wiped out millions of trees in Ohio and Michigan. Locally I have noticed that with new road construction often shade trees are not replaced. This needs to change. The easiest way for the ash borer to spread is to move firewood from one county to another. This also needs to change. See for more info: http://www.ncagr.gov/paffairs/release/2015/fivecountyexpansionEAB.htm
Addition information about the emerald ash borer and the quarantine can be found at these websites.
http://www.ncforestservice.gov/forest_health/fh_eabfaq.htm
http://www.ncagr.gov/plantindustry/Plant/entomology/EABFAQ.htm

NC Pork Council

Has anyone else been getting phone calls from Karen of the NC Pork Council and also junk mail? We have received two phone calls and one postcard during the past week.  Is some new lobbying effort going into the the state legislature to change rules about hog farms and waste lagoons? Our rural buffer and other rules limit large scale hog farms in Orange County. I hope no one is trying to make things worse.

 

What Does Quality of Life Mean to You?

In 2013, a couple of European psychologists reviewed the literature in an attempt to define the term “quality of life.” Their conclusion was that it “turn[s] out to be an ambiguous and elusive concept.”

In an editorial in the Chapel Hill News, Travis Crayton and Molly DeMarco claimed “Many of us might have originally chosen to live in Chapel Hill/Carrboro because of the high quality of life, exemplified by a vibrant student life, arts and music scene, and abundance of unique, local businesses.”

CHALT members have staked out their desire to “Protect the quality of life in Chapel Hill’s residential neighborhoods, where we live and raise our children.”

Social science researchers learn in introductory methodology courses to define their terms up front. So I am asking you to share your thoughts. What does ‘quality of life’ mean to you? We know there isn’t a “right” answer, but that doesn’t mean we can’t come to a local consensus. If we can construct a shared definition, perhaps it will make conversations about solutions more inclusive, or at least less divisive.

State Government and local regulation

I just received this article from a neighbor. It focuses on the state once again opting not to use federal monies for important state activities. My guess is that in the future the state will do less environmental monitoring and then use that as an excuse to repeal current regulations making them even weaker. The last two days I have been attending LUMO (land use meetings.) An important issue is  House Bill 74 which was passed this year. It's goal was to prevent local governments from passing regulations which will protect towns more than the state or federal laws. (The Republican logic was that government regulation prevents job formation. By that logic Chapel Hill should have one of the highest unemployment rates in the state but of course we have one of the lowest unemployment rates. ) Fortunately it did NOT repeal current local legislation such as the rules Chapel Hill has to protect water sheds, prevent erosion and regulate development near streams. However, any revisions of those rules under HB74 would require 100% (not majority vote) by the local government. This means that as the town rewrites and in some cases

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