Cypress Group of the NC Sierra Club

Welcome!

Egret, Beaufort, NC photo Monico

Updated October 27, 2024

UPCOMING EVENTS

Our next program meeting occurs,

Tuesday, November 12

7:00 PM,

at Tapped, Firetower Rd, Winterville.

The main even event will be Paul Gemperline, ECU, Professor Emeritus, talking about at-home, solar-generation of electricity. Yes, you can supply your home with electricity using a residential solar system. Dr Gemperline does, and he will describe his experience. Interested in home solar power? This event is a must-attend.

In addition to solar, you will hear an overview of recent environmental happenings and meet some friendly people who like the natural environment.

All are welcome. Being a member of the Sierra Club is not necessary.
Prefer to participate from home. Attend via Zoom. Here is a link.

(Photo by Al Braden)

Photo of homes with solar panels, Al Braden

You may have missed the fun in the creek October 16, when the Cypress Group partnered with Sound Rivers to clean the trash trap on Green's Mill Run in Greenville.

You also missed the chance to rock trendy and stylish hip waders, as these volunteers did. Our goal of removing all non-organic material (trash) and releasing down stream all organic material (the natural debris of waterways) was met.

The team removed 84 lbs of trash in two hours. More projects with Sound Rivers are planned, and you can work from the shore if you wish. Stay tuned to Facebook for details. For more pictures of this river clean up and one in New Bern see Sound Rivers' webpage

Volunteers cleaning Greens Mill Run trash trap.

(photo J Monico)

The Cypress Group participated in Greenville Museum of Natural Science's STEM Expo, Oct 5, at their beautiful facility on 8th St in Greenville.

The Cypress Group had a table full of branches and leaves from native tree species. Everyone got a chance to see, touch, and smell these woody perennials. Did you know that native wax myrtle are quite pungent and some people say they repel insects?
Noteworthy were the numerous interactive science exhibits and the many wide-eyed kids. Stay tuned for more events.

Cypress Group Table at STEM Expo

Other Exciting Recent Events

Our First Outing This Fall: A biology walk in Wildwood Park with ECU Professor Scott Cory.

Scott talks about a red maple tree during the Wildwood Park outing.

Cypress Group had a wonderful and enlightening hike on a beautiful fall day Sept 28, at Wildwood Park in Greenville. The event, organized by new Outings Chair Kevin McGoldrick and featuring ECU Biology Professor Scott Cory, followed the trails of Wildwood while Dr Cory explained the growth and biological nature of different tree species we saw. Everyone came away with a better understanding of how trees compete for water and sun, how they grow and reproduce, and how they ultimately fill a very important niche in our environment. Thank you Scott and Kevin for a fabulous excursion.

Sound Rivers' Katey Zimmerman discussed trash traps in Cypress Group's September 10, Program Meeting.

Here is a picture from Sound Rivers website. And here's a link with more information.

Political News

Cypress Group Member Marian Swinker is running for public office.

Here is exciting information: Marian Swinker, a long-time Sierra Club member, Cypress Group Leader, and physician retired from Brody School of Medicine's faculty, is running for the Pitt County Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors. The Conservation District's role is to provide solutions to natural-resource problems by developing conservation programs. It also enhances protections of natural resources through environmental awareness.

Marian describes herself in part as an advocate for good stewardship of our natural resources, including soil and water. During her career, she held positions of responsibility in government such as Commissioner of Public Health in West Virginia and was also a member of the Public Health Commission in North Carolina.

Marian reminds us she entered the contest after the filling deadline, and therefore is a write-in candidate. Please support one of our own when you vote this fall by writing Marian Swinker on the ballot for the position of Soil and Water Conservation District Board. No other candidates threw their hats into the ring, so if enough Cypress Group members enter her name, she will be elected.

Information and Musings

10/27/2024 The possibility of something bad for Blounts Creek in Eastern NC is back in the news. Sound Rivers describes it this way on their website. "Mining company Martin Marietta Materials recently applied to renew its wastewater permit for a 649-acre limestone mine in Vanceboro, a permit that would potentially discharge up to 12 million gallons of fresh water per day into the brackish tributary of the Pamlico River in Beaufort County." Brackish water is defined as water that is somewhat salty though not as salty as ocean water.

Pumping a lot of non-salty ground water into its brackish-water eco system will likely change Blounts Creek's environment, making it difficult or impossible for some aquatic species to survive while allowing non-native species to migrate in. We humans need to be very cautious about disrupting ecosystems! In this case, the consequences are likely only partially understood and may in the long term be quite bad.

Do we want to disrupt and change Blounts Creek ecosystem in order to obtain cheap limestone?

Sound Rivers is pushing action to prevent renewing the permit. Here is how you can be involved. Attend, and maybe speak at, the public hearing on the permit, Nov 19 at 6 PM at Beaufort County Community College in "Little" Washington (more information). Also, Sound Rivers is having a workshop Nov 6 on making effective public comments. Use this Sound Rivers link to get the information.

A brackish water ecosystem in Eastern NC, not too far from Blounts Creek.

Photo J Monico

9/19/2024: The City of Greenville (NC) recently approved a new environmental job: Sustainability Coordinator, and is recruiting to fill the position. Here is a link with information. If you know anyone who may be good in the role, please forward them the link. Some key responsibilities, according to the website, are implementing sustainability plans across city departments, researching and applying for sustainability grants, working on environmental education, and staying up to date on trends and technologies; and more.

7/21/2024: Here is a great quote: “We built our world for a climate that no longer exists.” This is from an opinion piece by Jeff Goodell writing in CNN online. Here’s the link. Mr. Goodell theorizes that the world’s infrastructure; things like highways, buildings, dams, electrical grids, buildings, and air conditioning systems; built up over the last two hundred years are designed for cooler and less stormy environments.

In the past few years, we have seen increasing numbers of news stories about events like flooding, dam failures, never-before-recorded droughts and rainfall, bridge failures, heat waves that create temperatures and humidity high enough to cause death, ocean level changes, and die-off of species. This is a big deal. During the centuries we were building all the things that advanced us, we spent many trillions of dollars and used trillions of hours of labor. Now, rapidly changing climates are making inadequate many of these creations. In response, people of the world must promptly dedicate their money and time to redesign and rebuild our expensive artifacts. Please support those who understand climate change is happening and those that create plans to respond to this unprecedented threat.

6/26/2024: Last year, North Carolina's legislature changed state laws in a way that eliminated protection for wetlands not having a surface-water connection to a river or lake. The new law allows removing the vegetation and wildlife and backfilling with gravel and dirt. In other words, filling in the wetland so that it becomes dry ground. Hundreds of thousands of acres of NC wetlands are under threat from this new law.

Here is some scientific information. A wetland is defined by the US EPA as: "... areas where water covers the soil, or is present either at or near the surface of the soil all year or for varying periods of time during the year, including during the growing season." The EPA goes on to explain their importance. "Wetlands may support both aquatic and terrestrial species. The prolonged presence of water creates conditions that favor the growth of specially adapted plants (hydrophytes) and promote the development of characteristic wetland (hydric) soils." Wetlands also cleanse water moving from the surface to aquifers.

6/26/2024: A recent AP online article (Iowa floodwaters breach levees as even more rain dumps onto parts of the Midwest) had a great quote by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. The AP quotes Gov. Walz as saying "Nature doesn't care whether you believe in climate change or not. The insurance companies sure believe in it. The actuarials believe in it, and we do."

6/15/2024: On the evening of Thursday, June 13, Greenville's (NC) City Council passed a budget for the next fiscal year. It included a new position: Sustainability Coordinator. This is wonderful news. It indicates more people are understanding that humans now have life and death influence over Earth's environment.

The domination started at the beginning of the industrial revolution, and ever since humans have had steadily increasing abilities to change our Earth's environment. And we have.

Progressive cities are acting on this environmental dominance by hiring Sustainability Officers. Sustainability Officers are responsible for understanding the effects of local environmental dominance and then communicating their knowledge. They also define actions for mitigation. Sustainability officers bring together environmental study and environmental solutions in one person thereby overcoming weaker responses that occur when responsibility is spread across many departments.

Thank you Greenville City Council for taking this environmental step. Recognition and loud support of your foresight and political courage are deserved. Funding a Sustainability Coordinator position shows Greenville Leaders understand quick and organized actions are needed. We support your work.

1/27/2024: Here is positive news about efforts to reverse global climate change. Some climate-change deniers appear to be switching to acceptance, even a number of those who dogmatically called it a hoax.

A recent article in Greenville's (NC) The Daily Reflector (Friday, January 26, 2024) may be an example. The story, titled "Summit floats ideas to fight flooding" described comments made in the recent Water Adaption to Ensure Regional Success (WATERS) Summit held at the Greenville (NC) Hilton.

One of the event organizers was Republican Greg Murphy, a Conservative representing NC District 3 in the U.S. House. Murphy, notably, is Vice Chairman of the Conservative Climate Caucus. The Daily Reflector reported Representative Murphy said that he and others do not doubt that weather has increasingly impacted the state.

Comments like this from conservative politicians seem to indicate a change in opinion is occurring. Are comments like these tacit agreement by Conservatives that climate change is real?

As always, you should read everything you can about the environment, on all sides of the debate. Think about what you read, make decisions, and then talk about it a lot.

12/11/2023: Here are two N.C. environment wins to celebrate. The Coastal Federation reports in the fall Our Coast newsletter that their work with N.C.’s Legislature generated two new pieces of legislation. The first prohibits unencapsulated polystyrene for being used in floating docks. Unencapsulated polystyrene is fragile and easily breaks apart into tiny foam beads. The second adds residential docks to our state’s building code. This means docks must now be built to withstand severe storms. If you have kayaked in our salt marshes or the Intercoastal Waterway after a big storm, you will have seen floating debris from docks. This will now be reduced. Small wins eventually add up to large-scale environmental victories!

12/9/2023: Solar and wind power are in the news lately and not always in a good way. Recent media stories talk about canceled wind-farm projects, decreases in solar company stock prices, and weakening sales of all-electric cars. Don’t despair, alternative energy is continuing to expand. The reason for the stories is Economics 101. For example, the Federal Reserve Bank has been successfully working to decrease inflation by slowing the economy though higher interest rates. Also, a year or two ago, alternative energy companies received strong financial incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act. In response, they quickly expanded. Not everybody who expanded or jumped into the business was good enough to succeed. Finally, all-electric (not hybrid) vehicles are probably being purchased by early-adopters. The rest of us will take more time to get comfortable. We will. The technology is sound (and getting better and better). Hybrid, electric/gasoline, cars continue to sell well. To stay sane in these times, read a healthy cross-section of news stories. You will see we are dealing with a shakeout in the industry and not a collapse. Don’t forget, the planet requires alternative energy!

11/26/2023: "This year, investments in renewable energy projects will surpass investments in new oil and gas extraction." (Sierra Magazine, Fall 2023). Environmentalists can't rest though. In a recent Pitt County Board of Commissioners meeting, a solar project was voted down despite the county zoning board unanimously recommending it go forward. Supporters of the environment and those that believe accelerated climate change is occurring, please get involved with your local governments and speak out about your views.

11/22/2023: Stephen Lapp from Plug-in North Carolina educated us on electric car technology, usability, charging, and importance for the Earth, at our meeting Nov 13. Questions from the audience proved many Sierra Club members own or are strongly considering buying an electric vehicle. Stephen painted a picture of what to expect when owning one. More on Plug-in North Carolina can be found here. A switch to electric vehicles from ones with engines running on carbon-based fuels is a necessity that needs to occur in our lifetimes, according to almost all environmental scientists.

11/9/2023: Sound Rivers, the riverkeepers for the Neuse, Tar, and Pamlico waterways, provided in their recent newsletter some positive news. They reported, "We have a new, amazing partnership with Cummins Rocky Mount Engine Plant that will engage employees and community members in our work in the upper Tar River basin." This illuminates the often-ignored fact that many industries are interested in helping keep the environment healthy, especially in their local community. Yes, industries need to make profits, and yes, many industries want to preserve the environment. Seek out and support the ones that are pro-environment!

10/28/2023: You may have heard about the increasing global awareness of the existence of PFAS chemicals in the environment, including, sometimes, in containers we use every day. Ongoing research is seeking to define health risks associated with levels of PFAS chemicals ordinary people are exposed to and may have in their bodies. If you want to be cautious, here is a tip from Business Week magazine. Flip the container over. If printed on the bottom is "PET" or "PETE," the container is not suitable for treatment with PFAS chemicals. If it says "HDPE," the plastic is suitable for treatment with PFAS chemicals. Treatment makes the plastic tougher and more resistant to what is stored in the container. Business Week goes on to say, keep in mind, seeing "HDPE" does not mean it was treated with PFAS. In fact, many product manufacturers say they take steps to prevent PFAS in what they sell. Still, these are good things to be aware of.

10/12/2023: Recycling is a very green, very environment-benefiting thing, and is easy to do. Recycling reduces material going to landfills and reduces energy used to mine and process ore. Counties in North Carolina have multiple drop off locations at their trash transfer stations. One note, many things are recyclable, and many are not. Here is a link to what Pitt County accepts for recycling.

10/10/2023: Wind and solar power work! This from the Fall 2023 edition of Sierra Magazine: "Wind and solar power provided a record amount of renewable power during a Texas summer heat wave," 35% percent. This renewable power helped protect Texas's gird from becoming overstressed.

10/9/2023: The Cypress Group of the NC Sierra Club just finished two exciting events: participating in the Tar River Community Science Festival at Greenville's Town Commons on Oct 7, and a wonderfully informative presentation by Heather Deck from Sound Rivers, Oct 9, at Greenville's UUCG chapel. Sound Rivers is the river keeper for the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse River basins.

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