Recent action

Defending clean water rules

Environment North Carolina is working to defend new rules that will protect North Carolina’s sensitive coastal waters from polluted runoff. Though adopted by the Environmental Management Commission, big developers have vowed to fight the rules in the North Carolina General Assembly.

As development increases across the state, more parking lots, roads and other paved areas serve as swift conduits for gasoline, pesticides, sediment and other pollutants to flow right into North Carolina’s rivers and streams. Coastal waters are particularly sensitive—runoff pollution has already caused the closure of more than 76,000 acres of shellfish bed in eastern North Carolina.

The new rules would require developers to control polluted runoff for projects above a 12 percent density threshold.

Million-acre goal within reach?

According to Environment North Carolina research, North Carolina is closing in on its goal of protecting an additional million acres of forests, farmlands and other open spaces by 2010.

That’s because North Carolina lawmakers have stepped up funding for land conservation in recent years, and because every dollar the state government spends on land conservation can leverage up to $1.40 more from local and federal sources. Allocating $250 million more could get North Carolina across the finish line in the next two years.

With development claiming more than 300 acres of forests and farmlands each day, Environment North Carolina will continue to advocate a permanent, dedicated source of land conservation funding, even after state leaders reach the million-acre goal.

North Carolina needs permanent, dedicated funding for land conservation.

Mission statement

We all want clean air, clean water and open spaces. But it takes independent research and tough-minded advocacy to win concrete results for our environment, especially when powerful interests stand in the way of environmental progress. That’s the idea behind Environment North Carolina. We focus exclusively on protecting North Carolina’s air, water and open spaces. We speak out and take action at the local, state and national levels to improve the quality of our environment and our lives.

credits (copy)

Photos: First page: top: Jill Lang, under license from Dreamstime.com, center: Ron Chapple Studios, from Dreamstime.com, bottom: Staff; page 2, top: Npage from Dreamstime.com, bottom: Staff, sidebar: Will Ross of Creative Commons; page 3, top: Tk Edens from Dreamstime.com, bottom: Staff; page 4, top: Staff, bottom: Jill Lang from Dreamstime.com. Editor: Elizabeth Ouzts. Contributors: Cecily Anderson, Justin Boyles, Zach Cullimore, Matthew Curtis, Sara Landis, Ethan Lavine, Jenna Perry Leschuk, Ryan Moeckly, Leana Nordstrom, Dan Platt, Nathan Proctor, Drew Stephan, Jenne Turner, Chris Wand.

Design: Public Interest GRFX (215) 985-1113 E-mail: info@EnvironmentNorthCarolina.org