Guest column: The Environmental Management Commission should enact temporary rules restoring the Department of Environmental Quality’s authority to regulate activities in wetlands that no longer require federal permits.
Guest Columns
Frank Nesmith: ‘Kindred Spirit,’ Coastal Hero
Guest columnist Lauren Kolodij shares her perspective on the life and coastal preservation mission of Frank Nesmith, “the Mayor of Bird Island,” who died in July at 93.
Dorian Remains Part of Life on Ocracoke
Hurricane Dorian, which struck the North Carolina coast a year ago this weekend, was a game-changer for Ocracoke Island, creating a new normal.
Value Fisheries, Communities Who Provide
Guest columnist Timothy P. Clark writes that in order to promote sustainable seafood, coastal North Carolina needs to promote local purveyors and that the social consequences of fishery decline are drastic.
Second Wave of COVID-19 May Be Deadlier
Guest columnist Richard Hilderman, former chair of Clemson’s Genetics and Biochemistry Department and Genomic Institute director, warns of a second wave of COVID-19 infections from a rush to restart the economy.
Birds Tell Us That It’s Time to Act
Guest columnist Robbie Fearn, director of Audubon’s Donal C. O’Brien Jr. Sanctuary at Pine Island, writes that birds along the N.C. coast serve as harbingers of the effects of climate change.
Lessons from Dorian: Oil, Water Still Don’t Mix
Guest columnist Jean-Luc Duvall of Environment North Carolina writes that the oil pollution resulting from Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas could also happen to the N.C. coast if offshore drilling is allowed here.
Strategies for Weathering the Next Storm
As many N.C. residents continue to deal with Hurricane Florence’s effects a year after the storm’s landfall here, Will McDow of the Environmental Defense Fund offers four steps toward a more resilient future.
Fish to Eat? License Fee May Be Waived
For those who fish for food and receive certain government assistance, a subsistence waiver can save the annual $15 recreational fishing license fee, but few who qualify may be aware.
Coastal Lands Melting Away Into the Sound
In today’s guest commentary, Matt Paulson, Dare County Soil and Water Conservation District supervisor, writes that important steps can be taken to lessen the effects of climate change here where it matters most.
On Flood Control, The Dutch Are Masters
The storm surge barrier near Rotterdam, Netherlands, a feat of engineering, is but one example of what coastal North Carolina can learn from the Dutch about flood prevention.
Our Military, Wind Farms Can Coexist
Guest columnist Katharine Kollins of the Southeastern Wind Coalition writes that a bill recently introduced in North Carolina is an attack on wind energy that does nothing to protect military bases.
WOTUS Rollback: ‘No Wetlands, No Seafood’
Guest columnists and North Carolina watermen Morty Gaskill and Ryan Bethea write that the EPA’s rollback of water quality protections threatens the state’s seafood industry.
We Must Do More To Protect Coastal Waters
Guest columnist Stevenson Weeks writes that the Newport River, known for its tasty oysters, is in peril unless lawmakers act on water quality recommendations to protect the resource.
Smarter Energy Investment Needed Now
Guest columnist R. Bruce Holsten writes that market conditions, inherent risks and other business-related factors make Atlantic offshore exploration and drilling an unwise investment.
Improving NC’s Floodplain Buyout Program
David Salvesen and Todd K. BenDor of UNC-Chapel Hill explain in today’s guest commentary their research on identifying ways to improve the floodplain buyout process in North Carolina.
