Guest opinion: Jess Hawkins spent 30 years working with the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries and helped develop and then implement recommendations of the Fisheries Reform Act of 1997. “I believe we have lost sight of one of the most important ideas behind that landmark legislation.”
Guest Columns
What Granny Jean’s pantry can teach Capitol Hill about reuse
Our grandparents’ tradition of reuse has been replaced by today’s throwaway economy built around single-use plastic, which doesn’t vanish, and we need to nationally implement systems that last.
Opinion: Water, water, everywhere; when’s it safe to drink?
Guest commentary: We need the North Carolina General Assembly to step up and protect their constituents as the EPA rolls out its stated plans to eliminate nationwide drinking water standards for PFAS, a known human health risk.
Section 408: Missing from Cape Fear Memorial Bridge talks
Guest commentary: The project to replace the aging Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, if handled well, will for generations connect residents, military interests, the seaport and segments of the state’s economy, but a recent determination under the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 changes the discussion.
I grew up on this coast; I won’t watch right whales disappear
Critically endangered North Atlantic right whales face a crisis they can’t outswim — and a recent move by the federal government threatens to make a dire situation even worse.
Opinion: After 31 houses fall into the ocean, a viable way out
Guest commentary: As the Atlantic claims more than 30 homes since 2020, it’s past time to shift from the cycle of federal subsidies and reactive cleanups toward insurance reforms and proactive retreat programs.
A brief reprieve isn’t lasting protection: Our fight continues
Opinion: While the Department of Interior has excluded the entire Atlantic Coast from its current drilling program — a result of decades of tireless local opposition — it is time to demand permanent legislative protection for our waters before the threat returns in the next five-year cycle.
Opinion: For whose benefit are barrier island horses?
Guest commentary: Invasive species pose a serious challenge for ecosystems that have not evolved alongside them, and such is the case with North Carolina’s crystal skipper and the nonnative horses allowed to roam the barrier islands that are the butterfly’s only habitat.
Guest commentary: When the water doesn’t go away
Drainage systems that rely on gravity fail when the difference in elevation that drives water from land to sea has been shrinking as sea level rises.
Port’s Cape Fear dredge project fails taxpayers, environment
Guest commentary: Deepening the Cape Fear River will only worsen flooding around the downtown Wilmington waterfront and the North Carolina Battleship site and lead to a substantial loss of vital wetlands and floodplains.
Chemours is doubling down on its toxic history: NRDC
Chemours is not a company that can be trusted to expand its operations responsibly, and it’s an example of the national PFAS pollution crisis, writes Drew Ball of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Opinion: Ocean Isle’s terminal groin process fully transparent
Readers are not provided full context and are left with an incomplete understanding of the facts regarding the lengthy, transparent public process behind the town’s terminal groin project, writes Ocean Isle Beach Mayor Debbie Smith.
Coastal habitats are North Carolina’s hidden climate engines
North Carolina’s abundant coastal wetland ecosystems are highly effective carbon storehouses, serving to slow climate change’s pace while also providing vital fish nurseries, wildlife havens and storm buffers.
Roadless Rule protects US wildlands, Croatan National Forest
Guest opinion: The federal Roadless Rule was adopted with massive public support and now protects 58.5 million acres of roadless national forestland in 39 states, but it’s in jeopardy and our voices are powerful.
Southern flounder: Warmer seas may skew iconic fish’s future
Guest commentary: Southern flounder are unusually sensitive to climate change because water temperatures during their juvenile stage determines whether they develop as male or female — and the implications are stark.
PACT Act ignores TCE, PCE contamination on military bases
Guest commentary: With more than 620,000 veterans living in North Carolina, many likely exposed to recently banned compounds trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene while working for the military, updating the toxic agents list is essential for equal access to benefits.
