One Day, Two Big Victories

One Day, Two Big Victories!

Yesterday we got great news on two efforts MountainTrue has been leading the way on for years: coal ash and the I-26 connector. The Department of Environmental Quality announced that all of Duke Energy’s coal ash in Western North Carolina will be cleaned up and moved away from our Broad and French Broad Rivers. Additionally, the NC Department of Transportation chose our preferred final plan for the I-26 expansion through Asheville that minimizes impacts to the environment and neighborhoods. Here’s a roundup of MountainTrue’s official statements and related news on these victories:

STATEMENT REGARDING SELECTION OF ALT. 4B FOR I-26 EXPANSION

Below is a statement from Julie Mayfield, co-director at MountainTrue, regarding today’s announcement by the North Carolina Department of Transportation regarding the selection of Alternative 4B for the bridge section of the I-26 Connector Projector:

After 20 years of community conversations about the I-26 Connector Project and its impact on Asheville, we welcome the selection of Alternative 4B for the bridge section. This decision reflects thousands of hours of hard work that residents of Asheville put into developing and advocating for an alternative that will benefit Asheville rather than just moving highway traffic through our city.

The thousands of people who have engaged in this project in our community have worked through several groups that deserve recognition today. An early citizen group was the I-26 Group that advocated for the design principles that remain a touchstone for citizen advocacy today. The Asheville Design Center was founded for the express purpose of addressing this project, and it was their original design that formed the basis for the alternative selected today. The I-26 ConnectUs Project formed in 2009 and is made up of several community organizations and representatives from the Asheville neighborhoods that stand to be most impacted by the I-26 Connector Project: Burton Street, Hillcrest, Montford, West Asheville, MountainTrue, Asheville on Bikes, and the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville. We also have to recognize the invaluable legal counsel provided by the Southern Environmental Law Center for the last 15 years.

We appreciate NCDOT and other agencies responding to the overwhelming calls from Asheville to prioritize the people who live and work here. This alternative allows Patton Avenue to return to being a surface street rather than an interstate. This opens the door for a new signature gateway to Asheville’s downtown, for cyclists and pedestrians to get from West Asheville to downtown across the Jeff Bowen Bridge, and for new infill development that will create a vibrant urban boulevard and an expanded tax base for the city.

Alternative 4B also minimizes impacts on the historic Burton Street community that stood to suffer significant harm in other alternatives, and it offers an opportunity for a new connection between the Hillcrest community and Patton Ave. There are, of course, still impacts to other neighborhoods, especially Montford, and we continue to work with NCDOT to reduce those impacts.

Today’s decision represents a huge step forward, and we happily celebrate it. Tomorrow, we will get back to work on other aspects of the I-26 Connector Project. We continue to believe that the project overall remains too large for Asheville, and we look forward to continued discussions with NCDOT about options for reducing the size. We also continue to advocate for more bike and pedestrian infrastructure that should be developed in conjunction with the project. We anticipate that work will lead to future decisions that will benefit Asheville and its residents and that we can celebrate as we do today’s decision.

MountainTrue Raleigh Report, Issue 20

MountainTrue Raleigh Report

Issue 20: Tuesday, May 3, 2016

They’re Baaacck
Legislators returned to Raleigh last week for the “short session.” Aside from dueling protests over HB2, the big news was the release of the Governor’s budget. The $22.8 billion proposal contains pay raises for teachers and represents a 2.8 percent spending increase over last fiscal year.

Conservation and the Budget
There was good news in the Governor’s budget for those of us who care about conservation and natural spaces. McCrory’s budget:

Provides an additional $1 million annually for the Department of Agriculture’s farmland preservation fund.
Restores the cuts made last year to the Natural Heritage Program, the state program that compiles information about the most important natural areas in North Carolina.
Restores funding for the Air & Water Quality Management Account, which pays for the Division of Air Quality to do much of its monitoring and oversight of air quality.
Maintains funding approved last year for the state’s trust funds for clean water, parks and other conservation efforts for the upcoming 2016-17 fiscal year.

There’s still plenty of work to be done before the budget is complete. Both the House and Senate will release their own versions of the budget and then differences will have to be ironed out before the final spending plan goes to the Governor for signature. Early chatter inside the legislative building indicates a strong desire among both House and Senate leaders to have the final budget approved on or very shortly after the new fiscal year begins July 1 – a very ambitious goal. We’ll see if they can pull it off.

Welcome to NC – Just Don’t Drink the Water
One bill we are already following is SB 779/HB 1005, which limits when state agencies, local boards of health or local health departments can issue health advisories for pollution in drinking water wells and public water systems. This bill stems from confusion over notices sent by the state to well owners near coal ash ponds about the safety of their drinking water over the last year or so. The State first told the residents their water was NOT safe to drink, then, several months later, under a different standard, the state sent new letters to many well owners saying their water was indeed safe.

If approved, this legislation would limit the instances in which health advisories can be sent to the public essentially to those instances in which the water already violates a health standard or in which there is an interim standard and state-led investigation that uncovers an imminent threat to public health, safety or the environment. The bill would effectively prohibit health agencies from issuing a health advisory when, for instance, experts know the water is dangerous but the actual standard has not yet been violated. The law would also prohibit health agencies from warning people that their water is close to violating a health standard.

MountainTrue opposes this bill as written. Clearly, health authorities should be allowed to provide the public with all the information we need to make informed decisions about the safety of the water we drink. The good news about this issue is that, as MTRaleigh goes to print, we are getting indications that legislators are reconsidering this unnerving proposal. We’ll continue to keep and eye on it and keep you posted.

Movers and Shakers
For local political watchers, it will come as no surprise that three WNC lawmakers were recently named among the most effective in Raleigh. The rankings are based on a recent survey of members and lobbyists conducted by the nonpartisan N.C. Center for Public Policy Research. Publicly, most legislators will dismiss these rankings as little more than a popularity contest. Nevertheless, the rankings are widely read by legislators, lobbyists and other close followers of state politics.

In the Senate, Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson – the Senate’s Rules chairman – ranked as the second-most effective member of the Senate, behind only Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger. Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, was sixth. Hise is co-chair of the Senate’s Health and Human Services appropriations subcommittee and a key player in the reform of the state’s $12 billion Medicaid system. (He’s also our early bet for Apodaca’s replacement as Rules chairman in 2017). In the House, Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson, was eighth. McGrady is one of the three chairman of House committee that oversees the budget process for the House Republican majority and is a major voice in just about all environmental legislation that comes through the General Assembly.

Movin’ and Shakin’
MountainTrue members will be heading to Raleigh soon to meet with McGrady, Hise and other legislators to discuss MountainTrue’s priorities for the 2016 session. Stay tuned for updates on these meetings and more information on how you can be part of MountainTrue’s advocacy efforts.

Get to Know Your Legislators
Keep your eye on our WNC Legislator Profiles. We continue to update them so you can get to know our legislators better.

Vote MountainTrue for Best of WNC

Voting is now open in Mountain Xpress’ annual Best of WNC readers’ poll. The deadline to cast your ballot is May 4, but don’t delay! Vote Now and Vote MountainTrue for:

✔ Best Environmental Nonprofit for our work to retire Asheville’s coal-fired energy plant and keep pollution out of our rivers and streams.

✔ Best Conservation Nonprofit for our work bringing conservation and recreation groups together to support more wilderness in our national forests.

✔ Best Activist Group for Civic/Political Action for defeating Duke’s plan to build transmission lines through Henderson, Polk and Buncombe counties.

✔ Best Nonprofit that improves Asheville for working to protect our neighborhoods from an oversized I-26 highway expansion project, and working to make the French Broad Paddle Trail #11 in Outdoor Magazine’s list of Best Trips for 2016.

✔ Vote for the Save the French Broad Concert at the Orange Peel for Best Fundraising Event. Last year Matisyahu performed; this year’s band will be just as awesome.

Vote here: http://mountainx.com/bestofwnc/

Looking for more reasons to support MountainTrue? Check out our 2015 year in review: https://mountaintrue.org/2015-year-review/

Josh Kelly, A Pioneer in Our Midst!

MountainTrue’s Public Lands Field Biologist Josh Kelly is an avid angler.

Josh Kelly, MountainTrue’s dedicated field biologist, has been recognized by Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine as one of 100 pioneers who have helped shape our region’s recreation, conservation, and adventure resources. The magazine explains:

“While benefactors and leaders in art, science, business, politics, medicine and other realms see their names emblazoned on buildings and their legacies revered for centuries, the people who advance outdoor recreation and the protection of public lands generally do their work without fanfare, quietly pushing the boundaries of human endurance and selflessly advocating on behalf of resources to benefit mankind.”

Josh is lauded for his work defending the wild forests of western North Carolina and beyond and joins such luminaries as author, anthologist and recording artist Thomas Rain Crowe, President Jimmy Carter and Daniel Boone. Josh tells the magazine, “the most rewarding work I have done has involved helping to steer Forest Service management towards a paradigm where we as a society give back to the land, rather than just take.”

As part of his work on the U.S. Forest Service’s Management Plan for the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests, Josh has helped bring together a broad coalition of wilderness advocates, conservationists and recreation groups that supports more trails and more public access, and also protection for more backcountry and wild places. Learn more at: https://mountaintrue.org/a-win-win-mou/

Katharine Hayhoe at First Baptist Church in Asheville

Katharine Hayhoe Discusses Faith and Climate Science at First Baptist Church in Asheville

On April 5, 300 people gathered at First Baptist Church in downtown Asheville for a presentation by climate scientist and evangelical Christian Katharine Hayhoe.

Scott Hardin-Nieri, director of the Creation Care Alliance of WNC begins the night by acknowledging our partners.

Katharine was uniquely able to make the clear connection between science and faith on the subject of climate change. She explained climate change in simple language and well-understood metaphors and made a strong case for why Christians should care about and act on climate change.

You can now listen to the full lecture online here: http://www.fbca.net/worship-a-music/worship-this-week-6361

Katharine argued that faith and science are not in direct competition and are not two alternate systems of beliefs. Climate change is an observable scientific fact, and “whether you believe in climate change or not, or whether you believe in gravity or not, if you step off the cliff, you’re going down.” In her speech, she reviewed the substantial evidence and scientific observations that show that climate change is real and happening now.

Katharine Hayhoe reviewing the conclusive data supporting climate change.

A charge often levelled against climate scientists is that they are “alarmist”. Refuting that characterization, Hayhow showed that when you compare the past 20 years of climate projections against the past 20 years of climate data, that the projections have been too low. Rather than being alarmist, scientists have been too cautious, too conservative. Scientist “suffer from ESLD, we error on the side of least drama,” she explained to chuckles from the crowd.

Despite this, polling has shown that the public opinion is turning against the scientific consensus, and that opinion is divided less by religion but by political and cultural/social identification. These divisions must be bridged because “climate change doesn’t just affect all of us, it takes all of us to fix it.”

Katharine reinforced Pope Francis’ understanding that slowing climate change is about loving our global and local neighbors more fully. Those who attended left the event with a better understanding of the science, a sense of renewed hope, and tips on how to talk to others about the challenges ahead.

This event was organized by the Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina, a program of MountainTrue. We’d like to thank our generous sponsor, Krull & Company, socially and environmentally responsible investment management and financial planning – and our other partners: Green Sage Cafe, Climate Listening Project, Citizens’ Climate Lobby – Asheville Chapter, and the Wild Goose Festival.

Katharine Hayhoe with Pete Krull of Krull & Company – socially and environmentally responsible investment management and financial planning – the lead sponsor of the event.

If we’re going to act in time to avoid the worst effects of climate change, we need to bridge political and ideological divides. This event is an example of the role that the Creation Care Alliance can play in our community as a convener of people of faith and a facilitator of that necessary dialogue.

If you’re not yet a member of the Creation Care Alliance or MountainTrue, I hope you will consider getting more involved.

To become a member of MountainTrue, click here: https://mountaintrue.org/get-involved/mountaintrue/

To find out how you can volunteer with the Creation Care Alliance of WNC, contact Scott Hardin-Nieri at: scott@creationcarealliance.org