Where are they now? Plans for WNC’s energy future

by Joan Walker, Campaigns Director

Remember that time in 2015 when Duke Energy wanted to replace Asheville’s coal-fired power plant with massive transmission lines and an oversized gas-fired plant?

As you may recall, the community at large and MountainTrue were less than excited about the prospect of doubling down on fossil fuels to meet our area’s electricity demands. We saw the coal plant’s shuttering as an opportunity to reimagine our energy future and divert investments away from expensive and dirty fossil fuels to energy efficiency and renewables.

These technologies save customers like you and me on our utility bills, make our homes more comfortable, healthier places to live and create high quality local jobs. Investing in energy efficiency just makes sense. Compared to even the most efficient gas-fired power plants and renewables, efficiency remains the cheapest method of providing power — and one that Duke Energy is allowed to recover profits on just the same as they will on $893.2 million price tag for the new gas fired plant.

Together, we got a new plan from Duke and NC’s utility regulators: A smaller gas plant, no massive power lines, a commitment to 15 MW of solar and 5 MW of battery storage. A proposed additional 190 Megawatt “peaking” plant was taken off the table, and Duke Energy made a commitment (codified by utility regulators) to work with the community to find ways to avoid or delay building it through new technologies and energy efficiency and conservation initiatives.

In March 2016 an official community collaboration was launched when the City of Asheville, Buncombe County and Duke Energy brought together stakeholders from across the community to form the Energy Innovation Task Force. Since then, working groups comprised of Task Force members, community volunteers and technical experts from Rocky Mountain Institute have been researching existing Duke Energy and community programs, innovative examples from around the country, leading edge technologies, strategies for engaging communities in clean energy solutions and more.

MountainTrue’s Campaigns Director, Joan Walker, has led both the Programs and Community Engagement working groups and is playing an integral role in developing recommendations on both those fronts for Duke Energy, the City of Asheville and Buncombe County. In her role on City Council, MountainTrue Co-Director Julie Mayfield co-chairs the Task Force.

The first task of this group was to define the specific amount of peak-demand energy usage that would need to be reduced to avoid building a peaking unit. We discovered that every year, starting around 2022, Buncombe County customers would need to reduce peak electricity usage by 17 MW. That’s about the same amount of electricity that would be generated by solar panels on about 3,400 homes per year. I don’t know about you but I’d definitely rather see solar panels covering my neighbors’ roofs than paying for a power plant that would cost around $100 million dollars and be run on gas that, while better for our local environment, will still contribute to climate change and pollute air and water where the gas is extracted!

While there’s still much work to be done, we wanted to share some exciting updates on the progress that we’ve made so far and where we’re headed!

The Program Group has delivered comprehensive recommendations for energy saving programs and projects to Duke Energy, the City of Asheville and Buncombe County.
In addition to programs and projects, the Working Group calls on the City, County and Duke Energy to support statewide reforms like legislation allowing third-party sales of renewable energy in North Carolina and for Duke Energy to implement on-bill financing for energy efficiency. Both are proven effective, reliable ways to make renewables and energy efficiency more affordable for you and me.
Buncombe County has made an initial commitment of $5.6 million dollars to improve the efficiency of county schools and buildings, incentivize a 5 MW solar farm and more. Buncombe County Commission Chair Brownie Newman will bring additional Task Force recommendations into the county’s budget planning process this spring and seek additional investments.
The City of Asheville has committed to $205,000 in investments in energy efficiency, is moving forward with solar for some of its buildings, and is considering investing up to an additional $1 million in existing low-income-weatherization programs to help make those homes safer, healthier and more affordable.
Duke Energy has announced that its investments in battery storage will exceed the committed 5MW and that Buncombe County will begin getting automatic meters in 2018. These meters will make it easier for people to understand and reduce their energy use.
Duke Energy elevated the Task Force’s recommendations in a recent update to the NC Utilities Commission and will work with RMI and Task Force members over the next several months to identify viable, cost effective solutions for increasing efficiency in the area. Duke’s 2018 budget planning occurs in the fall, so we anticipate more clarity on their commitments at that time.
Duke Energy has hired Shelton Group, the nation’s leading marketing communications firm focused exclusively on energy and the environment, to work with the Task Force to develop a marketing and communications campaign to engage the community at large later this year.

We’re excited to see these first steps toward a new energy future for WNC, and we recognize there’s still a lot of work to be done.

None of these actions or entities alone can meet the short term goal of permanently avoiding the 190 MW peaking plant, much less a clean-energy future that emphasizes efficiency and renewables more than dirty fossil fuels. But as they say, many hands make light work. It will take all of us taking personal action and calling for greater investments in clean energy to make those goals reality.

Join us and get engaged with the Energy Innovation Task Force; attend public meetings, serve on a working group or get on the email listserve for updates and more exciting information as the year moves on!

MountainTrue tells McHenry: Don’t support EPA budget cuts

Photo by Joan Walker, MountainTrue Campaigns Director

Action Expired

On Wednesday April 12, MountainTrue staff met with Congressman Patrick McHenry’s Regional Representative, Roger Kumpf, to talk about some of our concerns with the Trump Administration’s spending and regulatory priorities. This is the second time we’ve met with the Congressman’s office this year, and we greatly appreciate the opportunity to raise our issues with Mr. McHenry and his staff.

We delivered the letter below, focusing on President Trump’s proposed 31% cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency — a reckless and extreme proposal that would endanger the health and wellbeing of communities across the country and right here in Western North Carolina. We outlined several instances where a strong and well-funded EPA protected the people of Congressman McHenry’s district and instances where he himself called on the EPA for help.

We will continue to raise the alarm with elected officials as long as our communities and environment remain under siege by this Administration. If you share any of these concerns, please call your representatives in Congress TODAY and do the same!

*************

April 12, 2017

Dear Representative Patrick McHenry,

On behalf of the 3,023 MountainTrue members and supporters who live within the U.S. 10th Congressional District of North Carolina, we want to share our deep concerns about the Trump administration’s proposed 31% cut to the Environmental Protection Agency’s FY18 budget. This proposal is reckless and extreme, and would put the health and safety of all Americans at risk.

The EPA has played a crucial role in protecting the health of your constituents. One example that you are familiar with is the clean up of the CTS Superfund site. CTS abandoned their metal-plating facility and left it to contaminate groundwater and air with toxic Trichloroethylene or TCE. You were a vocal advocate and a partner in our efforts to demand that CTS clean up the site because it endangered neighboring communities and, together, we pushed the EPA to take a strong stand and push CTS aggressively toward a clean up they did not want to undertake.

Your help with EPA was and is much appreciated, but our success depended on EPA having clear federal authority, being willing to use its enforcement power, and having the resources to do so. President Trump’s proposed budget could cripple the EPA, and leave our communities at risk the next time we face an irresponsible or recalcitrant corporation like CTS.

Another example of an important role EPA has played here is on coal ash. Though MountainTrue and other groups had been working for years to get the state to take action to address this significant pollution source, the state essentially ignored us and the problem until EPA stepped in with their criminal and civil enforcement efforts after the Dan River coal ash spill. Only with EPA looking over their shoulder did North Carolina begin addressing coal ash pollution in a systematic and aggressive way that will lead to cleaner water and healthier communities across the state.

Please stand with the residents of the 10th Congressional district and reject these shortsighted cuts. Our people deserve a robust, well-staffed and functional EPA.

Americans expect and deserve clean air and water. Slashing EPA’s budget by almost one-third would to take America’s environmental cop off the beat – badly eroding the government’s ability to protect our communities from pollution.
President Trump’s proposed cuts to the EPA would be the biggest in the agency’s history. They are an assault on our mainstream, bipartisan legacy of support for protecting clean air and water.
Virtually every major program would be affected, weakening and in some cases destroying the agency’s ability to:
- Send money to the states to monitor air and water quality, a critical tool for identifying pollution hotspots.
- Enforce the law against criminal polluters.
- Clean up dangerously polluted radioactive and chemical sites that threaten water supplies and community health.
- Clean up the Great Lakes and the Chesapeake Bay.
- Take action in the urgent fight against global climate change.
The real-world results of these cuts will be more:
- Pollution in waterways.
- Health problems – short term and permanent – due to contaminated drinking water wells.
- Asthma attacks for kids from increased smog.
- Breathing problems, hospitalizations, and preventable deaths for the elderly.
- Infant developmental problems from increased toxic mercury pollution.
The proposed budget eliminates funding for Energy Star, the most successful voluntary energy efficiency program ever, which saved Americans $24 billion in 2012 alone.
Out of every ten dollars the federal government spends, just 2 cents go to EPA. As Republican Congressman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said, there’s “not that much in the EPA [budget] for crying out loud.”
EPA’s job is by no means done. Even today, up to ten million homes still get their drinking water through lead pipes – not just in Flint, Michigan but in towns and cities across the nation. Half of all Americans live in counties with unhealthy air quality.

We need to move forward, not backward, when it comes to our air, water, and communities – especially children, the elderly, and others who are most vulnerable. If you and your colleagues in Congress believe EPA has overreached its regulatory authority, then we implore you to take a measured, responsible approach to guiding the EPA through statutory changes.

If the radical cuts proposed by President Trump become real, you would cripple the agency tasked with protecting the air, water and natural resources of our region and leave our communities vulnerable to the future abuses of corporate lawbreakers like CTS.

Sincerely,

MountainTrue

MountainTrue Announces Green Riverkeeper at 11th Annual Spring Green Bash

Saluda’s favorite river and block party is May 6; river, zipline and rappelling trips to benefit new Green Riverkeeper

Saluda, NC — MountainTrue is pleased to announce that Gray Jernigan, MountainTrue’s Southern Regional Director, is now also the new Green Riverkeeper and will serve as a fundamental protector of the Green River watershed. MountainTrue’s Riverkeeper programs are key to our endeavors to monitor and protect the quality of our region’s waterways.

MountainTrue is one of the few organizations in the nation with four Waterkeeper Alliance programs, also hosting the French Broad Riverkeeper, the Watauga Riverkeeper and the Broad River Alliance.

“Waterkeeper Alliance is thrilled to have Gray Jernigan to be the eyes, ears, and voice for this vital watershed and community,” says Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., president of Waterkeeper Alliance. “Every community deserves to have swimmable, drinkable and fishable water, and Gray is the right leader to fight for clean water in the region.”

Gray Jernigan has extensive experience in environmental law, policy, and advocacy and has worked on land and water conservation issues across the state. He adds his Green Riverkeeper responsibilities to his ongoing role as MountainTrue’s Southern Regional Director, serving Henderson, Polk, Rutherford and Transylvania counties. Gray received his undergraduate degrees from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned a master’s degree and a law degree from Vermont Law School.

The Green Riverkeeper got a head start on April 8 by partnering with the Green River paddling community on a clean-up effort covering the Upper, Narrows and Lower Green sections. Over 50 people turned out to clear trash and debris from the river and its banks. Car tires, a home water heater, and assorted trash and litter were enough to overflow a dumpster, not including recyclables that were separated!

Green Riverkeeper Gray Jernigan showing off the trophies and prizes for volunteers participating in the Green River Spring Cleaning on April 8.

Gray will be present to meet the community at the 11th Annual Spring Green River Bash at Green River Adventures in Saluda on Saturday, May 6. Fifty percent of the ticket price for river, zipline, and rappelling trips booked for the day of the festival will be donated by Green River Adventures and The Gorge to help fund the work of the Green Riverkeeper. Book your trip for May 6 at greenriveradventures.com with the code: GREENRIVERKEEPER

Event Details:
What: 11th Annual Spring Green Bash
Who: presented by Green River Adventures and sponsored by Oskar Blues Brewery, Prestige Subaru, WNCW and Liquidlogic Kayaks. Music by the Honeycutters. A portion of proceeds benefit MountainTrue’s Green Riverkeeper.
Where: Green River Adventures, 111 E. Main Street, Saluda, NC
When: Saturday, May 6, 5:30-9 p.m.

“I’m thrilled to get such a warm welcome to the community from Green River Adventures and all the generous sponsors of the Green Spring Bash, including Oskar Blues, Prestige Subaru, WNCW and Liquidlogic Kayaks,” says Gray Jernigan, the Green Riverkeeper. “We have a lot of great activities and programs planned for the year ahead; I’m looking forward to meeting some folks and getting people involved in protecting the Green River.”

“MountainTrue is proud of our partnership with the Waterkeeper Alliance,” says Julie Mayfield, co-director of MountainTrue. “Our Riverkeepers fight for safe and healthy waterways for all citizens of their watersheds by bringing together and empowering local residents and communities to identify pollution sources, advocate for and enforce environmental laws, and engage in restoration. We’re thrilled to be bringing this program to our Green River communities.

“Gray will have an incredibly important job. Waterkeepers defend their communities against anyone who threatens their right to clean water, from law-breaking polluters to irresponsible government officials, says Marc Yaggi, executive director of Waterkeeper Alliance. “Until our public agencies have the means necessary to protect us from polluters, and the will to enforce the law, there will always be a great need for people like Gray to fight for our right to clean water.”

Upcoming Riverkeeper Projects and Events:

May 27 – Big Hungry River clean-up
July 5 – Come help clean up Lake Summit
For more information on Green Riverkeeper programs and events: mountaintrue.org

About MoutainTrue:
MountainTrue is Western North Carolina’s premier advocate for environmental stewardship. We are committed to keeping our mountain region a beautiful place to live, work and play. Our members protect our forests, clean up our rivers, plan vibrant and livable communities, and advocate for a sound and sustainable future for all residents of WNC. MountainTrue is home to the Broad River Alliance, French Broad Riverkeeper, Green Riverkeeper and Watauga Riverkeeper — the protectors and defenders of their respective watersheds. www.mountaintrue.org

About Waterkeeper Alliance:
Waterkeeper Alliance is a global movement uniting more than 300 Waterkeeper Organizations and Affiliates around the world, focusing citizen advocacy on issues that affect our waterways, from pollution to climate change. Waterkeepers patrol and protect over 2.5 million square miles of rivers, streams and coastlines in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa. For more information please visit: www.waterkeeper.org

MT Raleigh Report | April 4, 2017 – Stream Dangers

In this installment of MTRaleigh – Rumors, deal-making and legislating surrounding the repeal of HB2 sucked up much of the air at the General Assembly this past week. In this edition of MTRaleigh, we’ll look at the danger to streams posed by legislation moving through the legislature and give a quick overview of HB2 drama.

Stream Dangers

This year’s version of the Regulatory Reform bill is moving through the General Assembly at a pretty good clip. It has already passed the Senate and has been voted out of committee on the House side. We expect to see it on the House floor early in the week.

As you probably remember, these “reform” bills often mean rolling back or weakening environmental protections. This year is no different. Of particular concern are the sections on stream mitigation. The bill includes a provision that requires the state to formally request a change from the Army Corps of Engineers to double the length of stream damage (from 150 feet to 300 feet) before developers are required to pay into a fund that supports stream repair in other parts of the state to offset the damage their projects have. The bill would also completely eliminate mitigation requirements for intermittent streams. In addition to funding stream restoration, these rules also act as an important incentive for developers to limit the impact of their projects.

While some legislators called the current regulations overly burdensome, Upper Neuse Riverkeeper Matthew Starr said that the flooding the state experienced during Hurricane Matthew demonstrates why the changes are bad policy.

“Just months after the worst recorded flood on the Neuse from Matthew the first bill that we’re doing with streams will ensure that we have exponentially higher risk from flooding,” Starr said during committee hearings.

HB2 Repeal, Reset, Redux?

Late Wednesday night GOP legislative leaders and Gov. Roy Cooper announced an agreement to repeal House Bill 2. On Thursday, both the GOP Senate and the GOP House approved the new legislation, with liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans voting against the compromise bill. Governor Cooper signed the legislation Thursday afternoon.

To date, the HB2 debate has taken up an enormous amount of time and energy, delaying the legislature’s consideration of a number of other important but less high-profile issues. With the HB2 issue now settled, look for the General Assembly to go into overdrive on a wide range of other bills and issues – the budget, tax reform and energy policy among them.

The legislation approved last week:

Repeals House Bill 2 in its entirety
Reserves the authority to regulate bathrooms to the state, essentially returning to the status quo before Charlotte passed a 2016 ordinance allowing transgender people to use the restroom of their gender identity.
Enacts a moratorium on similar local ordinances until Dec. 1, 2020.

Gov. Cooper and business leaders – including the NC Chamber of Commerce – supported the new legislation, which reportedly will meet the requirements of the ACC, NCAA and the NBA to consider locating sporting events in North Carolina.

LGBT civil rights organizations, including Equality North Carolina, opposed the bill, arguing that it continues discrimination against transgender people. HB2 supporters also opposed the new bill, arguing that it abandons the privacy protections for women and children in the original legislation.

Hendersonville Rep. Chuck McGrady was deeply involved in the extensive negotiations on the HB2 compromise. You can find an interview with him on the issue here.

In other news of interest to WNC environmentalists –

State hosts public meeting in Asheville on Duke Energy’s coal ash plans

What to Know About Trump’s Order to Dismantle the Clean Power Plan

Despite renewable energy’s impressive gains, NC lawmakers move to limit it

Tell Congress to Take AmeriCorps Off the Chopping Block

Action Expired

Laura McPherson, Mary Kate Dodge and Jack Henderson are MountainTrue’s hardworking and dedicated AmeriCorps.

Laura McPherson is our Forest Keeper. She combats non-native invasive plant species and restores native plant habitats by coordinating and leading volunteer work days and invasive species educational programs. Mary Kate Dodge is our Outings and Outreach Coordinator; she helps organize our educational events and helps us raise awareness about the work we do protecting Western North Carolina’s environment. Jack Henderson is our Water Quality Administrator and runs our river cleanups and water testing and monitoring programs.

Their work is critical to our mission.

Each year, AmeriCorps Project Conserve places more than three dozen dedicated members with local environmental nonprofits. Since its inception, 268 members have served 455,600 hours, increasing community understanding of conservation and the environment and creating sustainable improvements to at-risk ecosystems in our communities.

The federal agency that supports the AmeriCorps service program — The Corporation for National & Community Service — is at risk! It is one of 18 agencies that are recommended for elimination in the White House’s recent budget proposal.

Please take a moment to call your Congress members and let them know that AmeriCorps is making a difference in our community.

NC Senator Richard Burr (202) 224-3154
NC Senator Thom Tillis (202) 224-6342
NC Representative Mark Meadows (202) 225-6401
NC Representative Patrick McHenry (202) 225-2576
Click here to find your Senator: https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/senators_cfm.cfm
Click here to find your Representative: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

Photos from Our SMIE Water Quality Training in Henderson Co.

SMIE 1 On Saturday, March 11, MountainTrue held our Stream Monitoring Information Exchange (SMIE) bio-monitoring training at Blue Ridge Community College.

MountainTrue volunteers monitor stream health throughout Henderson County and go out into the field to do bio-monitoring twice per year, in April and October. Through the SMIE bio-monitoring program, we sample aquatic macro-invertebrates, or aquatic insects, as indicators of water quality. Bugs tell us a lot about the health and vitality of our rivers and streams.

Participants learned basic stream ecology, how to identify aquatic macro-invertebrates, why macro-invertebrates are terrific indicators of water quality, and the sampling protocol. The event was led by MountainTrue Water Quality Administrator Jack Henderson and volunteer members of the Clean Water Team.

After a morning classroom session, the class headed out to the Big Hungry River field side, where participants got to put their newly learned sampling methods and identification knowledge to practice.

Thank you to Blue Ridge Community College for hosting!

Class training

Learning starts in the classroom …

Bringing out the nets

… then it’s put in practice in the field …

Sorting and identification

… where bugs are identified and give us clues to river health.

Flowers in February: WNC’s Changing Climate

It’s a beautiful, sunny spring day in Western North Carolina. Maybe you’re out for a hike or first-of-the-year paddle, or getting a head start on your garden by planting those first sweet peas and lettuce seeds. The first days of Spring should be occasion for celebration, but not so this year–because warmer days are coming a full two months earlier than they should. Sometimes the evidence of our shifting climate and the dangers it poses to our natural and human environments is blatant; like the unprecedented wildfires raging through our mountains last summer. So far this year, the effects of global climate change may be more pleasant, but they’re no less damaging; and with the climate-harming policies we’re seeing coming out of the Whitehouse and Congress these days, it seems like there’s no relief in sight. In the past 30 days 6,096 new daily high temperature records were set over across the U.S., according to the along with 5,174 record warm low temperatures. These swinging temperatures spell possible disaster for fruit growers across the country and Western North Carolina, as we can typically expect freezes until May 15 Local farmer Janet Peterson of Cloud 9 Farm in Fletcher is being impacted by the changing climate year round:

“We’re still feeling the effects from the drought that started last year, we just haven’t gotten enough rain. Last year I lost about 1/3 of the blueberries I planted to drought. Right now my blueberries are 3 weeks ahead of schedule; they’ve come out of dormancy and buds are swelling and I have to start watering them much earlier than normal. We received a grant to extend our irrigation system for raspberries through the WNC Ag Options because a wet March just isn’t happening.”

And it’s not just her crops that are disrupted by the early Spring.

“The honeybees are also coming out of dormancy several weeks early due to the warm weather, and there’s not enough food out for them as many flowers aren’t blooming. They’re out flying on these warm days gathering Maple pollen and eating up their winter stores, so I’m having to feed some of my bees. I’m even hearing reports of bees swarming to start new hives, which shouldn’t be happening until April and I’ve never heard of it this early.”

Scientists have long agreed that climate change is happening now, and is being caused by human activity; namely the large-scale burning of fossil fuels for energy. The Southeast is an epicenter for climate change impacts, from 1980-2012 our region has experienced more billion-dollar weather disasters than the rest of the country combined: Drought, hurricanes, record rainfall, heat waves and the associated flooding, crop loss, property damage, wildfires and loss of human life. Scientists are also very clear that unless we curb the amount of greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, things are only going to get worse. Storms and droughts will be more extreme, our farmers will no longer be able to grow the crops they’re used to and we’ll start losing serious ground in our coastal cities to sea level rise. It’s likely that if we don’t reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere from 400 parts per billion to around 350 ppb, we risk “triggering tipping points and irreversible impacts that could send climate change spinning truly beyond our control”. While we can all take individual steps to lower our carbon footprint, the magnitude of change needed to avoid global climate disaster will require significant commitments from industrialized countries to move toward fossil-free means of power generation. Many world leaders have risen to the occasion, making serious commitments to energy efficiency, conservation and renewable energy and backing those commitments up with investments to drive quick growth in the clean energy sector. The United States, unfortunately, has lagged behind and the current Administration and Congress are poised to widen the gap and put us further behind in the struggle to maintain a livable planet. At a time when we need visionary leadership to avoid more climate disasters, our Representatives are putting forth bills like H.R. 637 “Stopping EPA Overreach Act of 2017“, that prevents the EPA from regulating climate change-causing greenhouse gasses by stating they are not air pollutants and requires the EPA to analyze the net impact of regulations on employment. This scare-tactic rationale pitting the economy against the environment is downright wrong: economists have found no clear evidence that regulations have a net negative effect on jobs and have actually found that the economic value health and other benefits of protecting our air and water quality, not to mention stabilizing the climate, far outweigh the costs. More now than ever, we all have a duty to call out to our lawmakers that climate change is real, it’s happening now, and we’re all going to all going to pay the price.

Don’t Let Congress Put Profits Over People and The Planet

Action Expired

The current Congress is hard at work. Unfortunately, instead of working in the public interest and to protect the natural resources we all depend on, many lawmakers are determined to dismantle regulations and structures that protect public and environmental health — all in the name of saving industry the cost of doing business in a responsible way.

Soon, your Representatives will be voting on H.R. 637 “Stopping EPA Overreach Act of 2017“. This bill prevents the EPA from regulating climate change-causing greenhouse gasses by stating they are not air pollutants and requires tthe EPA to analyze the net impact of regulations on employment. If the EPA were to determine that a regulation would have any negative impact on jobs, they would not be allowed to issue the regulation, even if the regulation would save human lives.

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES NOW! Use the script below and click here to tell us you made a call!

We’ll be in touch with you about future advocacy opportunities like in-district meetings with your Congressional Representatives.

Rep. Virginia Foxx, 5th District (Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Catawba, Forsyth, Stokes, Surry, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yadkin): 202-225-2071

Rep. Mark Meadows, 11th District (Buncombe, Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Swain, Transylvania): 202-225-6401

Rep. Patrick McHenry, 10th District (Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Polk, Rutherford, Catawba, Iredell, Buncombe): 202-225-2576

Sen. Richard Burr: 202-224-3154

Sen. Thom Tillis: 202-224-6342

**Click here if you’re not sure who represents you

WHEN YOU CALL:

Ask for the staff person in charge of environmental issues (if there isn’t one, it’s OK, just ask their name and continue)

Introduce yourself, make it personal (“I’m a mom, a teacher, a retiree, a business owner”) and give them your zip code, whether they ask for it or not.

Sample script (make it your own! The more personal the better!):

“I’m calling to ask (Representative) to oppose H.R. 637 “Stopping EPA Overreach Act of 2017. This bill explicitly prioritizes industry profits over human health, which I find unconscionable. The argument that environmental regulations destroy jobs is downright wrong. In fact, economists have found no clear evidence that regulations have a net negative effect on jobs and have actually found that the economic value health and other benefits of protecting our air and water quality far outweigh the costs. While regulations may be a contributing factor to one industry moving, they open the door for others (it’s good to use a local example such as: In Asheville the French Broad River used to be said to be “too thick to drink and too thick to plow” because of all the water pollution from industry and agriculture. Now that the river is cleaner, it supports an array of local industry, from tourism and hospitality to world-class breweries.

Climate change is happening now. Last summer WNC experienced unprecedented wildfires and now spring is coming 6 weeks early, endangering commercial apple, peach and other crops. EPA must retain the ability to regulate greenhouse gasses to protect our communities, local economies and environment, and H.R. 637 would strip the EPA of that ability.“

Public Lands are Priceless, not Worthless

Action Expired

America’s public lands are a sacred legacy for us all, but Congress is well on its way to changing that. On Congress’ first day in session, the House approved a package of rules in House Resolution 5 that sets a zero-dollar value on federally protected lands that are transferred to states. By devaluing federal lands, Congress is paving the way to hand them over to states that cannot afford to manage these lands and will likely seek to raise funds by selling off our national treasures to developers or to mining, fracking and logging industries.

All three WNC lawmakers voted yes on this bill, now they need to hear from you that they’ve made a huge mistake: America’s public lands are priceless, not worthless, and need to be protected for all to enjoy and experience!!

Call your representatives NOW, using the script below, and click here to let us know you made that call!

Rep. Virginia Foxx, 5th District (Ashe, Catawba, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Iredell, Rowan, Watauga, Wilkes and Yadkin): 202-225-2071

Rep. Mark Meadows, 11th District (Buncombe, Henderson, Transylvania, Jackson, Macon, Clay, Cherokee, Graham, Swain, Haywood, Madison, Yancey, McDowell, Polk): 202-225-6401

Rep. Patrick McHenry, 10th District (Cleveland, Rutherford, Catawba, Lincoln, Burke, Caldwell, Mitchell, Avery): 202-225-2576

Sen. Richard Burr: 202-224-3154

Sen. Thom Tillis: 202-224-6342

**Click here if you’re not sure who represents you

WHEN YOU CALL:

Ask for the staff person in charge of public lands (if there isn’t one, it’s OK, just ask their name and continue)

Introduce yourself, make it personal (“I’m a mom, a teacher, a retiree, a business owner”) and give them your zip code, whether they ask for it or not.

Sample script (make it your own! The more personal the better!):

“One of the things I love most about living in Western North Carolina is access to high quality, federally protected public lands. The Pisgah and Nantahala Forests, and all our public lands are a sacred legacy that need to be protected for all Americans and future generations. Representative/Senator [insert name]’s affirmative vote on House Resolution 5 endangers that legacy by paving the way to hand over control of these lands to the States.

States don’t have the funding and resources to protect and manage these lands, for example the expense of managing wildfires alone would break state budgets. Tracts of land or rights will be sold off to private developers and industry just to raise the money to manage lands. Our national parks and forests are priceless, not worthless, as the [Rep./Senator] seems to believe by voting ‘Yes’ on HR 5, and they’ve made a huge mistake that will transfer these national treasures from American taxpayers to private companies at no benefit to taxpayers.

President Trump has reiterated his campaign promise to not transfer public lands to states, he needs to keep that promise and Congress needs to stand with the American people. Keep all federal lands under federal management. Protect our natural legacy.”

Feb. 9: Hendersonville Green Drinks: Green, Sustainable Brewing

Hendersonville, N.C. — On Thursday, February 9, Hendersonville Green Drinks welcomes Stan Cooper, Co-Manager at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., who will speak about sustainability initiatives at the Mills River brewery.

In June 2016, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. was the first production brewery in the United States to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certified, Platinum — the highest level awarded—for its Mills River, North Carolina, brewing facility.

What: Hendersonville Green Drinks: Green, Sustainable Brewing.
Who: Stan Cooper, Co-Manager at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Where: Black Bear Coffee Co. 318 N. Main St. Hendersonville, NC
When: Thursday, February 9, networking at 5:30 p.m. , presentation at 6:00 p.m.

About Hendersonville Green Drinks
Hendersonville Green Drinks is presented by MountainTrue and the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy. Come to Green Drinks to learn more about current environmental issues, have relevant discussions, and meet with like-minded people. This is a monthly event and everyone is welcome. You don’t have to drink at Green Drinks, just come and listen. Black Bear Coffee offers beer, wine, coffee drinks and sodas. A limited food menu will be available.