NC Sierra Club at 50: Sierrans Step Up for the Croatan
August 19, 2020
The Croatan National Forest is a natural treasure worth fighting to protect. Volunteer leaders with the N.C. Sierra Club were more than willing to wade into that fight in 2016 when we filed a federal lawsuit over plans to build a highway through the...
The Green Roads State can lead the 'charge' to cleaner cars, air
July 31, 2020
About a century ago, North Carolinians earned their state the sobriquet "The Good Roads State" due to their enthusiasm and activism to build reliable roads and highways from the mountains to the coast. Our Stanback intern Rachita Gowdu explains how...
The price of dirty fuel: Costs and more costs to Duke ratepayers
July 24, 2020
The good news brought about by the failure of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline cannot be celebrated too long, though, because Duke Energy’s rate case is currently before the North Carolina Utilities Commission. Duke is asking for a rate increase that...
NC Sierra Club at 50: Volunteers, Chapter, Club work together to doom a fracked gas pipeline
July 15, 2020
In our monthly series of stories marking the 50th anniversary of the North Carolina Chapter, we look at a very recent success not only for us, but for an alliance of Sierra Club teams and allied groups and communities across three states. We see how...
Regan, N.C. volunteers honored in Sierra Club's national awards
July 15, 2020
Michael Regan, Secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, has been selected by the Sierra Club as a recipient of its 2020 Distinguished Achievement Award, for his leadership in securing cleanup of coal ash pits in the state. Two...
North Carolina Vehicle Electrification – How Is It Going?
June 18, 2020
North Carolina has 27 cities or counties that have passed a 100 percent renewable energy resolution for some future date (2030 or 2050). One important way they can fulfill those resolutions is by changing over their government fleets to electric...
Footnotes, June 2020: We're protecting the environment for all people - because we must
June 17, 2020
Lately, it may seem that the world is reverberating from one global crisis to another. Climate change was our rallying point a year ago. Then came a pandemic. Now, cities across the globe are roiled by protests against racism. Racism is nothing new...
NC Sierra Club at 50: Bill Thomas and Gorges State Park
June 17, 2020
Gorges State Park is one of North Carolina's most dramatic public spaces, with deep ravines, breathtaking waterfalls and lush, often rare plant life. Also dramatic is the story of how it became part of North Carolina's park system, thanks to the...
News: Farm Act Clears Legislature with Environmentally Harmful Sections Intact
June 4, 2020
The legislature voted today to approve the Farm Act, a bill that includes a giveaway to industrial hog operations that endanger the environment and public health with outdated lagoon-and-sprayfield waste management systems.
Senate Bill 315 will...
Footnotes, May 2020: Pandemic pause brings reflections on community, environmental health
May 19, 2020
As it does every year, spring brings beautiful new life to our environment. But this spring is like no other in the lives of most of us. And even as some make tentative, hopeful moves toward a return to pre-pandemic norms, we still have time to...