Protecting N.C.’s Air Toxics Program

Do you enjoy our beautiful mountains, clean air and water and wonderful wild places? Me too, so I was shocked to find out that some of our legislators want to severely weaken or totally dismantle North Carolina's Air Toxics Program. The General Assembly claims that environmental protections and safeguards cost jobs and hurt businesses, but […]

MSD gives itself high marks in its 2011 performanc­e report

Every day, the Municipal Sewerage District collects and treats — and discharges into the French Broad — an average of 18 million gallons of wastewater, relying on millions of microbes to do what they’ve been doing since the Earth was young: consume organic waste. And every year, the Clean Water Act requires the utility to provide an assessment of how well they’re doing. That report was submitted to DENR August 30; let’s take a look.

Burdens or bunkum? Proposed laws could destroy WNC’s water quality

To most Western North Carolinians, it might seem obvious that protecting access to clean water should be a top priority for our elected leaders. Besides making up 60 percent of the human body and being essential for drinking, irrigation and fisheries, water is a vital regional asset for recreation and scenic beauty.

But even putting all that aside, it’s also one of our most powerful economic engines. …