by Darya Silchenko Last week Darya Silchenko (The National University of Ireland, Galway) traveled to Glasgow to attend the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, a.k.a. COP26. She shares her reflections from the conference with CleanAIRE NC here as a guest author. My observations of COP26 began as soon as I landed at the Glasgow...

by Nancy LaPlaca Power plants waste 65% of their energy. Cars waste even more. The fossil-fueled cars we drive today are extremely inefficient. What does that mean? It means that 70-80% of the energy in the gasoline that you put into your car doesn’t do any work, it doesn’t move a car an inch. Instead,...

by Nancy LaPlaca The Age of Consequences for so-called ‘externalities’ has arrived – but what is an externality? In the jargon of economists, an externality is a cost (or benefit) to a third party who did not agree to it. Air pollution is a classic externality. For example, power plant owners or car manufacturers don’t...

by Joel Porter and Daisha Williams Last week CleanAIRE NC and SELC reached a settlement agreement with Align RNG and the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) that will improve community health protections at a proposed biogas plant in Sampson County. Align RNG has agreed to set new limits on air pollution coming from the...

by Joel Porter The state of North Carolina has taken a monumental step in the fight against climate change. On July 13, the NC Environmental Management Commission (EMC) voted to approve our petition for North Carolina to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI – pronounced ‘Reggie’). This is a huge win that will improve...

Methyl bromide is an incredibly dangerous air pollutant. Exposure to methyl bromide can damage our eyes, skin, lungs, kidneys, and central nervous system. Yet despite the risks, this neurotoxin is commonly used through eastern North Carolina at log fumigation plants, endangering the health of the communities that surround these facilities. CleanAIRE NC worked for several...

by Ulla Reeves Every year, over 12 million people visit North Carolina’s most treasured natural area, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Despite it being our region’s most iconic natural area, and the most visited national park in the United States, the Smokies are constantly facing threats from air pollution. The people visiting and enjoying the...

Trying to navigate North Carolina’s air quality permitting process? Need guidance on how (and when) to submit public comments on air emission sources? Then watch Air Permitting 101! Last week CleanAIRE NC Policy Associate Andrew Rasetti was joined by Mark Cuilla and Heather Sands from NC DEQ’s Division of Air Quality to go through the...

by Joel Porter, CleanAIRE NC Advocacy Program Manager Over the course of the last fifteen years, Clean Air Carolina has striven to accomplish its mission of reducing sources of pollution. In that pursuit, we’ve had victories big and small. Clean Air Carolina has secured pollution controls on large industrial plants in the Southeast, helped to...

Press release from the Southern Environmental Law Center   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 13, 2021 MEDIA CONTACT Kathleen Sullivan Sothern Environmental Law Center 919-945-7106 [email protected] NORTH CAROLINA TO DEVELOP RULE TO LIMIT CARBON POLLUTION FROM POWER PLANTS CHAPEL HILL, N.C.— The groups behind a rulemaking petition to reduce heat-trapping carbon pollution from power plants in North...