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Carolina in the News

  

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:14:00 +0000

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, and people at UNC: 


Energy efficiency means lower utility bills, less mortgage risk 
The Christian Science Monitor 
Here’s some new impetus for those sitting on the fence over household energy efficiency: the risk of mortgage default is one-third lower for people with energy efficient homes, according to a recent study. The study, released in March by the University of North Carolina’s Center for Community Capital, claims that energy efficiency can be the difference between mortgage repayment and foreclosure. Read more »



New federal map rates wind turbine risks to birds 
The Outer Banks Voice (Nags Head) 
A new map developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would seem to put a damper on future development of land-based wind energy projects in eastern North Carolina. But Kathy Matthews, a service biologist who worked on the map, and Charles “Pete” Peterson said that shouldn’t be the case. Peterson is a professor and researcher at the University of North Carolina’s Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City. He helped lead a state-funded team several years ago that developed a similar tool for offshore wind. The maps are intended to minimize wind turbines’ effects on birds and other wildlife. Read more »


Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu.


Mon, 22 Apr 2013 20:02:00 +0000

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, and people at UNC:


New Orleans levee risk studies by Corps already outdated; new studies could guide future improvements, engineer says 

The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.) 

Complex risk studies developed by the Army Corps of Engineers to govern the rebuilding of the New Orleans area levee system in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina already are outdated, a civil engineer told the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East on Thursday. ...“It’s time to redo it,” said Rick Luettich, an authority member and a University of North Carolina marine sciences professor who helped design one of the surge models used by the corps. Read more » 

Crabs, supersized by carbon pollution, may upset Chesapeake’s balance 
The Washington Post 
It is the dawn of the super crab. Crabs are bulking up on carbon pollution that pours out of power plants, factories and vehicles and settles in the oceans, turning the tough crustaceans into even more fearsome predators. ...“Higher levels of carbon in the ocean are causing oysters to grow slower, and their predators — such as blue crabs — to grow faster,” Justin Baker Ries, a marine geologist at the University of North Carolina’s Aquarium Research Center, said in an recent interview. Read more »

Greenbridge: A look back as the town looks ahead 
The Chapel Hill News 
Approved by the Chapel Hill Town Council in 2007, Greenbridge came to emblemize long-simmering tensions about race, growth and affordability in the community. ...“Timing was a disaster,” said Emil Malizia, a UNC professor of city and regional planning. “They built the project at the peak of the market and tried to sell it at the bottom of the market.” High-density, urban-style development is environmentally sound,… It is as “green” a concept as features like solar panels and locally sourced building materials. It prevents suburban sprawl and automotive commutes for things like groceries, Malizia said. Read more » 

Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu.


Tue, 09 Apr 2013 18:44:00 +0000

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, and people at UNC: 

Can a divestment campaign move the fossil fuel industry? 
The Guardian (United Kingdom) 
US climate activists have launched a movement to persuade universities, cities, and other groups to sell off their investments in fossil fuel companies. But while the financial impact of such divestment may be limited, the campaign could harm the companies in a critical sphere — public opinion. ...But enthusiasm for divestment, already high on college campuses — student referenda at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, for example, showed 72 and 77 percent support for divestment, respectively — is leaking into the outside world. Read more »

Creatures in Alabama coastal marshes mostly unaffected by BP spill, according to study (Blog)
Al.com (Alabama) 
A three-year study of an Alabama marsh suggests the 2010 BP spill had little effect on the number of juvenile fish, shrimp and crabs living there before and after the disaster. ...The marsh work bolsters research conducted in the grass beds of the Mississippi Sound by Ken Heck, who is one of the coauthors of this study, and Joel Fodrie, a University of North Carolina researcher. They conduct trawl surveys of seagrass meadows along the Gulf Coast. Recruitment of snapper, speckled trout, cobia and other offshore species appeared to be about normal during the year of the BP spill, according to that work. Read more » 

Fracking health study results likely years off 
The Associated Press 
The Geisinger health study cited by leading environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as pivotal in helping persuade Gov. Andrew Cuomo to hold off on plans for limited gas drilling is likely years away from conclusions about whether the technology involved is safe, according to the project's leaders.... Cuomo's health commissioner, Dr. Nirav Shah, mentioned the Geisinger study among three health reviews that could influence Cuomo's decision. The others are an Environmental Protection Agency study, due for completion in 2014, of potential effects of fracking on drinking water, and a study recently announced by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania in collaboration with scientists from Columbia, Johns Hopkins and the University of North Carolina. Read more » 

“Animal Factory” forum to examine river water quality issues 
The Sun Journal 
The continued negative impacts of industrial meat-producing facilities such as hog and chicken farms on the quality of the Neuse River are among the topics for an environmental forum in New Bern. ...UNC-Chapel Hill Epidemiology professor Steve Wing will talk about the public health effects of air and water emissions outside the communities where animal production facilities are located. Read more » 

Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu.


Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:29:00 +0000

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, and people at UNC

Referendum on coal a success at UNC 
The Herald-Sun (Durham) 
Seventy-seven percent of UNC students who voted in a recent referendum agreed with the UNC Sierra Student Coalition that the university should divest its $2.1 billion endowment from the coal industry. More than 4,200 of the students who voted supported the non-binding referendum. The coalition wanted to give university officials a clear picture about how students feel about the university’s investments in the coal industry, which the student coalition places at about $100 million. Read more » 

Thorp honored with first Nourish International Impact Award 
The Herald-Sun (Durham) 
Over the group’s signature Hunger Lunch of beans, rice and cornbread on Tuesday, Nourish International presented its first Impact Award to Chancellor Holden Thorp of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The group honored Thorp, and co-founder Sindhura Citineni, as part of the celebration of its 10th anniversary. Thorp was recognized for his work with innovation and student entrepreneurs. Nourish International began at UNC as Hunger Lunch, founded by students Citenini and Joel Thomas in 2003. The students sold an inexpensive meal of rice, beans and cornbread and used the profits to fund a nutrition initiative in Hyderabad, India. Read more » 

Christie won't consider climate change in rebuilding after Sandy; scientists say he should (Blog) 
The Philadelphia Inquirer 
While scientists acknowledge that evidence doesn't yet exist to say climate change caused Sandy, they do know that sea levels are rising - maybe an additional four feet in New Jersey by 2100, according to a Rutgers University estimate. Research also shows that climate change may be making storms more intense. That means that, if there's another storm surge of the kind that swept houses off foundations during Sandy, even more water may rush ashore. All of this must be evaluated before the state rebuilds, scientists say. "How do you balance those issues, when there's intensive pressure to show that you're taking decisive action to help alleviate community suffering?" asked Gavin Smith, who runs the Center for the Study of Natural Hazards and Disasters at the University of North Carolina. "It's very difficult, but it happens routinely." Smith has worked on storm recovery for two governors and is sympathetic to Christie's plight. He knows that making "hazard mitigation" part of disaster recovery is "not as sexy" as repaving roads, reopening schools, and restarting electricity. Read more » 

Harnett County farmer uses hog waste to create renewable energy 
News 14 
Carolina Farmer Tom Butler of Butler Farms, located an hour southeast of Raleigh, traps methane gas, a byproduct of hog waste, in order to create renewable energy. ...Most hog farmers keep the waste in open pits called lagoons, where the methane escapes. UNC professor Mike Aitken says the farm industry has not adopted technology to deal with this pollution. “We still manage most waste, including hog waste, in a way that we were dealing with human waste over a century ago. We have never entered the 20th century with animal waste management, never mind the 21st century," said Aitken. Read more »

Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu.


Wed, 13 Feb 2013 14:34:00 +0000

Check out the recent media mentions of sustainability-related programs, practices, and people at UNC:

Students Want UNC to Drop Coal Investments 
The Herald-Sun (Durham) 
A student group at UNC is calling on the university to divest its $2.1 billion endowment from the coal industry over the next five years. The UNC Sierra Student Coalition is campaigning to convince the university to divest from what it calls the “Filthy Fifteen,” or the worst major coal mining and coal-fired utility companies in the U.S. “We [UNC] really pride ourselves on sustainability,” said Erin McAnulty, a sophomore from Charlotte and a spokesperson for the coalition. “Passing the resolution would send a real large message to the entire nation that climate change is the greatest threat we have in this generation.” The student coalition, like other such student groups that have launched similar efforts on campuses across America, is concerned about the environmental and public health impacts of burning coal. Read more »

Research to Examine Neighborhoods Still Dependent on Well Water 
The News and Observer (Raleigh) 
Rogers-Eubanks is a residential neighborhood surrounded by the thriving towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill, yet residents there lack the most basic of services: public water and sewer. That these residents must rely on wells and septic tanks isn’t just an oversight of planning. It is part of a pattern that pops up repeatedly in poor and minority communities, said Jacqueline MacDonald Gibson, assistant professor and environmental scientist who studies disparities in access to public water and sanitation at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. Gibson recently received a $100,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to examine public water access issues, health consequences, and potential links to race and socio-economic status in North Carolina neighborhoods. Some of the communities she will study have had problems with contaminated wells and failing septic tanks. Read more » 

Universities Team Up to Assess Health Impacts of Gas Drilling 
The New York Times 
A coalition of academic researchers in the United States is preparing to shine a rigorous scientific light on the polarized and often emotional debate over whether using hydraulic fracturing to drill for natural gas is hazardous to human health. ... The University of Pennsylvania’s Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology has organized a working group with researchers at other top universities including Columbia, Johns Hopkins and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to investigate and analyze reports of nausea, headaches, breathing difficulties and other ills from people who live near natural gas drilling sites, compressor stations or wastewater pits. Read more » 

Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at http://uncnews.unc.edu.


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