Topics Related to Environmentally Speaking

By: Sarah Young

Two people instrumental to recycling and stormwater programs in North Carolina have retired from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.

Scott Mouw and Bradley Bennett both retired from the state of North Carolina on Feb. 28. Scott was the section chief for the Recycling and Materials Management section of the Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service (DEACS), and Bradley served as the head of the state’s Stormwater Permitting Program in the Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources (DEMLR).

For gardeners or anyone interested in water conservation, rain barrels are essential. These barrels allow homeowners to collect rainwater from a roof to use as an alternative water supply in place of groundwater. Most rain barrels have a closed top to help control mosquitoes and keep out extraneous materials, but I have always had an open-top barrel with a spigot to be able to dip water out for quick trips to vegetable and flower gardens. 

Aaron Sebens, a teacher at Central Park School for Children in Durham, just completed his state Environmental Education Certification, a professional development program provided through the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.

Sebens is the school’s media specialist and technology director and also assists other teachers with environmental education projects. His favorite part about the program was learning outside and being exposed to many environmental science topics, including  landfills, raptors, watersheds and evensolar power.  

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced last week that 122,405 acres offshore of Kitty Hawk, N.C. will be offered in a commercial wind lease sale on March 16, 2017. The Kitty Hawk lease area begins about 24 nautical miles from shore and extends 25.7 nautical miles in a general southeast direction.

Chandler Holland, a Teens & 20s writer for the Burlington Times-News, is in her senior year of homeschooling and plans to complete the N.C. Environmental Education Certification during her gap year before attending Warren Wilson College with a merit-based scholarship.

Governor Roy Cooper on Tuesday named Michael Regan, a leader in environmental advocacy with ample experience working with energy and businesses, to lead the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.

Regan served as Southeast Regional Director of the Environmental Defense Fund and National Director of the Energy Efficiency Southeast Climate & Energy Policy from 2008-2016. He also worked with the EPA on air quality for the Clinton and Bush administrations from 1998-2008. 

DEQ was recently recognized nationally as a 2016 Best Workplaces for Commuters Race to Excellence Award Winner for Best Employer! Best Workplaces for Commuters, a program designed to encourage sustainable transportation innovation, recognized 17 employers nationwide earlier this month during the annual “Race to Excellence” Virtual Awards Ceremony. The awards recognize organizations who have taken exemplary steps to offer transportation options such as vanpool and transit benefits or telework and compressed workweek for their employees.

A state environmental program that has helped create thousands of jobs and spurred more than $14 billion in economic growth has celebrated a big milestone. 

Educators from all regions of North Carolina gathered at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences’ Nature Research Center last week for the 6th annual meeting for nonformal educators. The meeting reached its highest attendance to date with more than 90 nonformal educators representing a wide variety of nonprofit and city, county, state and federal agencies and facilities, including nature centers, science museums, gardens, arboretums, aquariums, state parks, the N.C. Forest Service, the Wildlife Resources Commission, 4-H, Soil and Water Conservation Districts and others.