If you’re a sustainable energy wonk, then this is your week. The State Energy Office presents the N.C. Sustainable Energy Conference March 7-8 at the McKimmon Conference and Training Center, 1101 Gorman St., Raleigh. Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle will be the keynote speaker. Topics include energy policy and legislation, the state’s climate […]
Lisa Sorg
Bio: Lisa Sorg is the editor of INDY Week.Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/lisasorg
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Great expectations
Whenever 2-year-old Caleb McElreath was placed on the changing table at his day care center, he would tense his body into a taut arc and cry at a caregiver’s touch. Trapped inside himself, he could not explain why the hum of an overhead fan, the drone of a distant airplane and the clamor of a […]
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Utilities commission appointment spotlights potential for conflicts
Gov. Mike Easley’s controversial appointment to the state Utilities Commission raises questions about the objectivity of a group charged with regulating energy, telecommunications and water companies. The day before the legislative session began, Jan. 23, Easley appointed attorney Ed Finley, a partner in legal heavyweights Hunton & Williams, a Raleigh firm whose clients include utility […]
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Redouble your recycling effort
In 2005, the United States generated 246 million tons of trash, and of that, 79 million tons was recycled. Hold your applause: That amount has increased only slightly since 2000. And a recent federal report concluded that the nation won’t meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s goal of recycling 35 percent of all U.S. municipal trash […]
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Clock ticking on Cliffside decision
Legislators, environmental activists and Duke Energy officials are holding their breath todayand not because the air is bad. The N.C. Utilities Commission is scheduled to decide Feb. 28 if it will green-light Duke’s proposed Cliffside project, two 800-megawatt coal-fired power plants near Charlotte that will cost at least $3 billion. With commission approval, Duke must […]
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More hogs, more pollution
Smithfield Packing in Tar Heel could slaughter up to 9 million hogs a year12 percent more than now allowedunder a draft wastewater permit proposed this month by the N.C. Department of Environmental and Natural Resources. The increase at the world’s largest hog processing plant has environmental implications, says Michelle Nowlin, attorney for the Southern Environmental […]
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Don’t let sleeping computers lie
Yes, your screen saver is mesmerizing, but it’s not conserving any energy. And instead of letting your computer doze, turn it off if you don’t plan to use it for several hours. Left on, a sleeping computer, depending on the model, can use from 15 watts for a laptop to 250 watts for a desktop, […]
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Bills address nuances of executions
The furor over the death penalty continued last week with SB 89, introduced by state Sen. Ellie Kinnaird (D-Orange), which would form a 15-member legislative study committee to review North Carolina’s lethal injection procedure. (See “Death penalty issues bounce back to judge,” Feb. 7.) Fellow Triangle delegates state Sens. Bob Atwater, Janet Cowell and Vernon […]
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Triangle lawmakers take leadership positions
HOUSE House Speaker Joe Hackey gave out gavels this week to nine Triangle lawmakers who will chair or co-chair 11 House committees. Key positions include the powerful appropriations committee, co-chaired by state Rep. Mickey Michaux of Durham; ethics, chaired by state Rep. Deborah Ross; and finance, co-chaired by state Reps. Paul Luebke and Jennifer Weiss. […]
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Bills address domestic violence; property rights
Three by gun, one by knife Four women were murdered in domestic violence incidents in North Carolina in just the first two weeks of 2007. At that rate, the number of domestic violence homicides in the state this year will be the highest since 2004, when 81 people were killed, according to statistics compiled by […]