Topics Related to News and Spotlights

Last month, educators from across the state gathered in Beaufort for the annual Teachers on the Estuary Workshop, or TOTE. This workshop – hosted by the North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve – introduced lessons on estuarine processes, coastal history and marine mammal ecology for educators to incorporate into their classrooms and programs. This two-day event featured a field trip to the Rachel Carson Reserve, classroom activities, plus visits to the Bonehenge Whale Center and the N.C. Maritime Museum.  

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) celebrated the best student projects from the 2023 -2024 AQ-IQ Contest on Saturday, July 13, 2024, at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer.

DEQ has made it easier than ever for North Carolina communities to apply for the financial support they need for drinking water, wastewater and stormwater projects with a streamlined online application portal.

Atrium Health, a key provider of healthcare and wellness programs throughout the Carolinas and Georgia, is making strides on energy reduction and energy management.

Atrium Health earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Award two years in a row for 2018 and 2019. Between 2017 and 2018, Atrium Health earned ENERGY STAR certification on 10 facilities, including two of its largest acute care hospitals. Two additional facilities are currently pursuing certification.

The Department of Environmental Quality is partnering with North Carolina’s leading climate science experts to support the development of the State Climate Science Assessment.  DEQ is leading the effort to produce the climate risk assessment and resiliency plan, as directed by Gov. Cooper’s Executive Order 80, to help the state cabinet agencies evaluate the potential impacts of climate change.

The US Environmental Protection Agency has proposed the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, revising the guidelines for greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. After careful review, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) has requested the EPA abandon the proposed rule-making, and replace it with a rule that achieves meaningful emission reductions.  In comments submitted to the EPA this week, DEQ outlines key concerns with this proposal.

Aaron Sebens and his fourth grade class at Central Park School for Children in Durham, took their lessons on energy and the environment to the next level, by launching a crowd-funding campaign to add solar electricity to his classroom.

“It went viral and we ended up raising enough money to take our classroom completely off the grid,” Sebens said. “The U.S. Department of Energy made a video about the project  and then-President Barack Obama tweeted about it.”

Since 2012, environmental education researchers at NC State University have been working to understand how kids best learn about climate change.  Their work highlighted a key difference in the way children and adults process information about the climate.

In 2006, Bank of America launched its Low-Carbon Vehicle Program to provide assistance to employees when purchasing or leasing new highway-capable electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.