Asheville’s air quality “borderline” under new standard Every five years, the Environmental Protection Agency is required to take a hard look at its air-quality standards to verify that they’re strict enough to protect public health. During the latest assessment, announced March 12, the federal agency concluded that its restriction on ground-level ozone—the pollutant that causes […]
Author: Rebecca Bowe
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No more excuses for not building green
It’s often said that growth is inevitable in Western North Carolina. No, we’re not referring to kudzu, but “growth” as in the new construction of homes and commercial buildings. However, rampant development heaps a load of environmental pressures upon this lovely mountain region. To name a few: Projects wedged up against the boundaries of national […]
Tree commission passes resolution to protect downtown-Asheville magnolia ***UPDATED WITH DOCUMENT**
A 100-year-old magnolia that stands at the center of a controversy surrounding a City/County Plaza land deal, as well as a debate between two polar-opposite local groups, has now gained the favor of the Asheville Tree Commission.
The Green Scene
Imagine if you couldn’t produce more than one-third of a shoebox worth of trash per month. Imagine if, every time you used a paper towel to dry your hands in a public restroom, you had to carry the soggy thing with you everywhere you went. Road trip! From left to right, Mark Dixon, Ben Evans […]
ACLU questions publicizing prostitution arrests
The Asheville Police Department’s new online Police Blotter, which publicizes prostitution arrests, has come under fire from the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina. The Raleigh-based group challenged the practice in a March 6 letter to Assistant City Attorney Curt Euler. “With regard to the posting of arrestees’ names and photos on the police […]
Prostitution-arrests Web site draws fire from ACLU
The Asheville Police Department’s new online Police Blotter, which publicizes prostitution arrests, has come under fire from the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina.
Will Asheville flunk the ozone test?
Stricter standards for ozone have been issued by the EPA. Under the new rules, Asheville’s air quality could once again be in nonattainment.
The Green Scene
Pressure is mounting against Duke Energy’s recently permitted 800-megawatt, coal-fired power generator, which would emit some 6 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. The new unit, slated for the Cliffside facility on the border between Rutherford and Cleveland counties, received final approval from the North Carolina Division of Air Quality on Jan. 29. Construction […]
YERT coming round
The YERT team rolls in to Asheville.
Greening Asheville, full-time
It requires a lot of energy to hatch a plan for greening a city, but Asheville’s new energy coordinator, Maggie Ullman, says she’s up to the task.
Environmentalists charge Duke’s Cliffside permit is illegal
This morning, the Southern Environmental Law Center and 18 other environmental organizations from across the state issued a petition to the state Division of Air Quality, urging the agency to revoke or modify an air permit issued to Duke Energy for its new Cliffside facility.
The Green Scene
Food for thought Community gardens can play a powerful, multifaceted role in nourishing individuals as well as the neighborhoods they live in. From the Ground to the Plate, an African-American-sponsored food forum, aims to promote those benefits while shining the spotlight on one such garden in particular. The Shiloh Community Association, in partnership with The […]
Another stab at cleaning up “the dirty bird”
Group plans “Love Your RIver Rally” at the Canton paper mill this Saturday to promote a stricter wastewater-discharge permit and a cleaner Pigeon River.
Railroad quiet zone coming down the track
RiverLink is pushing to establish a railroad quiet zone, where trains would be limited from sounding their horns, in Asheville’s River District. The nonprofit hosted a meeting with some 30 people at A-B Tech on Feb. 21 to explain what a quiet zone is, and why some locals believe one is needed. RiverLink Executive Director […]
The Green Scene
Dave Hollister, president of Sundance Power Systems, is no newcomer to environmental issues. A former Greenpeace activist, he’s been in the solar-panel business for about 14 years, and until recently his small-scale company operated out of a converted tobacco barn in Madison County. Thru the web portal: In this clip from AdvantageGreen, a marketing video […]
Mastering eco-sanity on your wedding day
While much has been written about how extravagant weddings can deal a blow to couples’ finances, concern is just beginning to surface about the toll they take on the planet. Travel emissions, food waste, flowers shipped from faraway and then discarded—at the end of the day, it all becomes a hefty contribution to the landfill […]
Guide to selecting a green gift
It’s the simple things that make life rich. For the all-natural types, nothing keeps love going strong like, say, hiking to a waterfall together or sharing a delicious organic meal supplemented with a bottle of organic wine. Choose a gift that encourages this sort of thing, and you won’t disappoint. Here are a few guidelines […]
What has Heath Shuler ever done for the environment?
Actually, quite a bit, as a new League of Conservation Voters legislative scorecard points out.
Challenges addressed at State of Black Asheville
Some 300 people gathered at UNC-Asheville’s Highsmith University Union on Feb. 16 for the second annual State of Black Asheville Forum, a daylong event featuring panel discussions about blacks’ experiences in education, employment, law enforcement and health care in Asheville. The event was started last year by UNCA political science professor Dwight Mullen. Taking stock: […]
The Green Scene
For biologist Scott Bosworth of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, a typical day on the job may involve descending into caves and mines to count bats. Although Western North Carolina’s bat colonies are small compared with those that flock to the caverns of Kentucky, West Virginia or New York, a few caves in this […]
Recap: State of Black Asheville
Today’s forum at UNCA covered education, employment, health care and law enforcement.