WNCAADMIN, Author at MountainTrue

Meet our donors

Meet our great donors!

Our donors mean the world to us. So every now and then, we spotlight a different donor and let them say in their own words why they support MountainTrue!

Donor Spotlight: Deidre Duffy and Michael Kohnle

“Every forest and stream and critter needs an ally who can help protect them from human greed and ignorance. We appreciate Mountain True’s broad scope of work. Whether working in the halls of Raleigh or in the middle of a stream Mt. True is helping to enlighten people about the richness of our woods and waters. The organization’s effectiveness can be seen in the new coal ash legislation that the Beyond Coal campaign helped promote as well as in the Paddle Trail camp sites along the French Broad. MountainTrue True rocks!”

See the ways you can become a MountainTrue supporter here.

MountainTrue cancels Mountain Brew Fest, cites regulatory obstacles

MountainTrue announced today that it has canceled the upcoming Mountain Brew Fest scheduled for August 22 in downtown Hendersonville, and has issued the following statement:

Our hope was that this festival would be an opportunity to build community, support local brewers and help display MountainTrue’s presence as an advocate for a healthy environment in Henderson County and the region as a whole.
Unfortunately, due to our and others inability to get clear and consistent answers regarding event requirements from the Alcohol Beverage Control and Alcohol Law Enforcement agencies, we determined that it was impossible to ensure the kind of high-quality event our community deserves.

Despite being in constant communication with ALE and ABC since early June, we were unable to get the answers we needed to proceed. Although some agency staff were very helpful, in the final weeks leading up to the festival, the continued ambiguity, as well as the prospect of disciplinary action, led several brewers to decline participation, diminishing the event’s core attraction.

Craft brewing is a major economic driver in our area, and we want to maintain constructive relationships with our wonderful brewing community. In this case, that meant not moving forward with an event in which they were at risk of being penalized by agencies who provided unclear and even conflicting information.

Increased enforcement of previously unregulated permitting hurdles has created an environment of uncertainty for the future of beer festivals, which often provide financial support for non-profits like MountainTrue. Indeed, MountainTrue is also a beneficiary of both the Winter Warmer Beer Festival and the Oskar Blues Burning Can festival in Brevard.

In July, such enforcement resulted in the loss of fundraising revenue from the Burning Can Festival. Amazingly, brewers and attendees have responded to that setback with donations of their own. Both before and since that event, MountainTrue and brewers have worked diligently to avoid repeating that situation, only to be met with delays and lack of clarity.

This kind of uncertainty in the face of harsh penalties has an unfortunate chilling effect in an area where craft beer has built such an impressive reputation. MountainTrue would welcome the opportunity to be part of the conversation with ABC and ALE, brewers and others, on how to overcome these issues, and we hope to be able to revive Mountain Brew Fest in 2016.

We would like to thank all of the brewers, sponsors, volunteers, musical acts and food vendors who made their commitment to MountainTrue and Mountain Brew Fest, as well as the City of Hendersonville.

All ticket holders will receive a full refund. MountainTrue appreciates everyone who wanted to make this a great community event.

MountainTrue Calls for Duke Energy to Justify WNC “Modernization” Plan

Duke Energy’s so-called “Modernization” Plan doubles down on fossil fuels and threatens to disrupt hundreds of property owners, sensitive habitats, and the visual beauty of Western North Carolina’s mountains. In an August 2 article in the Hendersonville Times-News, Duke Energy cites “explosive” growth and increased energy demand in WNC to justify both a bigger fossil-fueled power plant at Lake Julian and a massive and expensive 56-mile network of high-voltage transmission lines between WNC and Campobello, South Carolina. However, Duke has so far not provided solid data to back up their claim or an explanation WNC deserves.

While Asheville and other areas are growing, according to the NC Office of State Management and Budget, outlooks through 2020 indicate WNC will see only moderate or low population growth across all 23 counties.

Additionally, population growth does not necessarily mean a proportional growth in demand for electricity and per capita demand is decreasing with more efficient construction and appliance standards. Duke Energy’s focus on the growth of peak energy use disregards even its own programs designed to reduce consumer demand (see more about those here). These programs are working, so why not increase those efforts?

Notably, Duke has failed to show why further investment in fossil fuels is the best choice for our region rather than unlocking the full potential of renewable energy to meet electricity needs. By moving forward with a gas-fired plant, Duke Energy is committing WNC to a dependence on fossil fuel and denying the rapidly accelerating reality of affordable renewable energy resources.

Duke Energy relies on the same population argument when justifying the need for its proposed expansive network of transmission lines, but has not provided a cost comparison for upgrading existing lines. Duke maintains that these lines are needed to supply WNC extra power during peak seasonal energy usage, but a company spokesperson told the Hendersonville Times-News that “the lines will be able to send power both ways.” It is our belief that WNC does not want to be an exporter of energy to South Carolina. And again, Duke has yet to make a convincing case for this level of infrastructure, or address whether the proposed lines impact the ability to import cleaner renewable energy from other parts of the state and country.

We still need answers. Duke is guaranteed a rate of return on all capital investments, and has a profit incentive to build both of these large projects. Duke has made broad statements of need, but still has not released a true detailed analysis demonstrating that need. All of these factors should be examined together to ensure Duke is proposing the least impactful project both in terms of the environment and rates.

In the absence of this analysis, and by locking WNC into a fossil fuel future with these oversized projects, this plan appears to be a backward-looking “Fossilization” plan rather than a true “Modernization” plan.

Want to know more? Find out if your property is in the crosshairs of Duke’s plans for transmission lines and submit your comments (whether or not you’re impacted) at bit.ly/DukeLines.

Contact: Brian Postelle, Interim Communications Manager
(828) 258-8737
brian@mountaintrue.org

Waterfalls and Wildflower talk

8/5: Waterfalls and Wildflower talk

The Sierra Club, Green Drinks, and Mountain True will present Timothy Spira, emeritus professor of botany at Clemson University on “Exploring Waterfalls & Wildflowers in the Southern Appalachian Mountains” on Wednesday, August 5, 7 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, (corner of Charlotte & Edwin).

Please be aware the church is under remodeling. There will be signs posted as to where to enter!

For more info, contact Judy Mattox at judymattox@sbcglobal.net or 828-683-2176.

8/2: Broad River Alliance Paddle and Picnic

The Broad River Alliance, an affiliate of the Waterkeeper Alliance, will host a group river float Sunday August 2 to kick off “Swimmable Water Weekend.” This is an easy paddle trip from Lake Hauser to the Broad River Greenway. Meet up at Lake Hauser (1342 Lake Hauser Rd, Mooresboro, 28114) at 10:30 am to drop off boats and then the group will take most of the vehicles down to the Greenway take-out point (126 Broad River Drive, Shelby, 28152), then carpool back up to Lake Hauser to start the float.

Depending on the water levels, the trip will take an estimated 3.5 to 4 hours, so bring a lunch, drinks, and sunscreen. Let the BRA know if you are planning to join on the trip and if you have extra boats others could use.

Come swim, paddle and picnic in celebration of our beautiful rivers!

To join, contact David at broadriveralliance@gmail.com or send a message on the Broad River Alliance facebook page here.

8/22 – Mountain Brew Fest in Hendersonville

8/22 – Mountain Brew Fest in Downtown Hendersonville

Come out and celebrate community, clean water and great beer at MountainTrue’s first Mountain Brew Fest in Downtown Hendersonville on August 22.

Enjoy live music, food, and craft beer from the region’s best craft brewers while helping MoutainTrue advance its mission to champion resilient forests, clean waters, and healthy communities across Western North Carolina. Mountain Brew Fest provides a great opportunity to connect quality of life with a healthy environment.

Mountain Brew Fest is Hendersonville’s first beer festival, and will be held from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Locust Street and Bearcat Boulevard adjacent to the Southern Appalachian Brewery.

Find more info and purchase tickets at www.mountainbrewfest.com.

Clean Water = Great Beer!

Court Rejects North Carolina’s Attempt to Weaken Air Pollution Protections

On Wednesday, the Southern Environmental Law Center, who represented Clean Air Carolina, North Carolina Coastal Federation, and Mountain True in the case, and Earthjustice, who represented the Sierra Club, issued the following:

CHAPEL HILL, NC— In a win yesterday for the people of North Carolina and everyone across the country who suffers health problems from breathing soot, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected North Carolina’s challenge to federal standards that protect people from increases in dangerous fine particle pollution.

North Carolina waited over three years to seek to weaken the fine particle standards—long after the statutory deadline of 60 days. No other state joined North Carolina in its challenge.

“We applaud the court’s rejection of North Carolina’s baseless lawsuit,” said Myra Blake, attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “This case has been a tremendous waste of North Carolina taxpayers’ resources, as the state chose to expend valuable time and energy challenging an important public health protection, even though it knew the deadline for filing its lawsuit had already passed.”

The court rejected the challenge because it was not filed within the statute of limitations.

“We’re glad the Court rejected North Carolina’s attempt to undermine the public health protections the Clean Air Act guarantees every person living here. Soot kills, and EPA established solid protections against it. North Carolina’s efforts to put profits over people’s lungs rightly failed,” Seth Johnson, attorney at Earthjustice, said.

The Southern Environmental Law Center represents Clean Air Carolina, North Carolina Coastal Federation, and Mountain True in this matter, and Earthjustice represents Sierra Club. These conservation groups intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of the federal government to oppose North Carolina’s attempts to relax the fine particle standards.

“Fine particle pollution is linked to over two million premature deaths around the globe each year, and there is no level of exposure that is considered safe,” said Mike Giles, Coastal Advocate for the North Carolina Coastal Federation. “That’s why local citizen groups representing over 15,000 North Carolinians joined forces to oppose the state’s lawsuit.”

Fine particles come from a number of sources, including coal-fired power plants and motor vehicles, and are linked to significant health problems, including asthma, heart attacks, bronchitis, and premature death.

“We are so glad that reason and science prevails to protect public health” said Clean Air Carolina’s Terry Lansdell. “North Carolina’s attack on fine particle protections would have wiped out substantial progress and pollution reductions that have occurred in the past several decades. The people of North Carolina can breathe easier knowing that this setback was averted.”

North Carolina had attempted to block citizen groups’ participation in the fine particle case, but the court rejected North Carolina’s arguments on this front as well in an earlier decision.

“Rather than promoting the interests of the people of North Carolina, the State actively tried to stifle citizen involvement in this matter. That effort fortunately failed, along with North Carolina’s attempt to rollback protections for people from the mountains to the coast” said Julie Mayfield, Co-Director of MountainTrue.

EQI needs water quality volunteers to sample local streams

The Environmnetal Quality Institute (EQI) is in search of volunteers to help collect monthly water samples at three sites in Fairview and one site in South Buncombe for the Volunteer Water Information Network (VWIN). VWIN is a stream monitoring program where volunteers collect stream water samples that are later analyzed at the EQI laboratory in Asheville.

Buncombe County stream samples are collected at established sites on the first Saturday of each month. After collection, the volunteers take the samples to a designated drop point (usually a gas station cooler) where the samples are refrigerated. The volunteer coordinator picks up the samples from the drop point and delivers them to the EQI laboratory Monday morning. EQI tests the samples for pH, alkalinity, conductivity, orthophosphate, ammonia-nitrogen, nitrate-nitrogen, turbidity, and total suspended solids each month.

Volunteers are currently needed for the following sites:
Fairview – Cane and Ashworth Creeks at Hwy 74 and Cane Creek at Mills Gap Road (3 sites)
South Buncombe – French Broad River at Corcoran Park (1 site, even months only)

If interested, please contact Nicole Parrish at staff@eqilab.orgor 828.333.0392.

8/22: Save the Date for Mountain Brew Fest

More details coming soon!

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“Merchants of Doubt” screening at the Orange Peel

Join the Sierra Club of WNC, the Orange Peel and MountainTrue for a screening of the climate change documentary “Merchants of Doubt” on Thursday, August 13.

Created and directed by Academy Award nominee and creator of the film, “Food, Inc,” Robert Kenner, the film “Merchants of Doubt” is a look at how the “climate change denier” industry has found such success.

The documentary, based on the book by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway, is an inside look at how public opinion is formed in this country, how spin doctors and media manipulators get people to ignore science at their own peril.

“Merchants of Doubt” will be shown at the Orange Peel in Downtown Asheville on Thursday August 13th at 7:30.

Doors open at 7pm. This will be a fully seated event, open to all ages. Entry is free, but a $5 donation is suggested to support the event’s co-sponsor organizations, Mountain True and Sierra Club of WNC.