Alligators in North Carolina were granted a reprieve… for a little while anyway. The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, heeding the advice of scientists, decided not to allow an alligator hunting season this year.
News Briefs
Lake Mattamuskeet Plan Ruffles Feathers
A plan that will allow the state to collaborate with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the management of Lake Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge in Hyde County has birding and wildlife groups worried.
Poll Shows Support for Clean Power Plan
Public Policy Polling’s latest poll shows 65 percent of N.C. residents favor the Obama administration’s plan to address climate change, compared to only 27 percent who said they oppose it.
Justices Side With McCrory on Appointments
The N.C. Supreme Court has ruled that legislators overreached in 2014 in creating commissions to carry out executive-branch functions, including the coal ash commission.
Cedar Point Opposes Testing, Drilling
The Carteret County town of Cedar Point joined Tuesday the chorus of coastal communities voicing opposition to testing and drilling for oil off the N.C. coast.
Application Filed for Sunset Beach Bridge
The Coast Guard seeks public comments on a plan to build a private bridge to access a planned oceanfront housing development in an area of Sunset Beach that was once an inlet.
Kure Beach Opposes Drilling, Testing
The Kure Beach Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday to oppose seismic testing and drilling for offshore oil and gas.
EMC OKs Exemption of Small Polluters
Despite overwhelming opposition, the N.C. Environmental Management Commission approved new permit rules that exempt small air polluters from needing state permits.
DEQ Secretary Responds to Warning
N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Donald R. van der Vaart has responded to an EPA administrator’s warning over pollution permit challenges.
Study Finds Lack of Coral, Fish Protection
A new study finds that designated marine protected areas do not adequately conserve the evolutionary history of fish and coral in reefs across the globe.
Outer Banks Chamber to Host Energy Forum
Lunchtime talk to include representatives from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association and the N.C. Electric Membership Corp.
Study: Marshes Repond to Rising Seas
New research shows that marsh plants can trap more sediment and create more soil as CO2 levels rise in the atmosphere, bolstering their resistance to drowning.
Study Challenges Oil Industry Report
A new study finds that North Carolina and neighboring states would see little or no benefit from offshore oil drilling and that the industry could hurt existing parts of the economy.
Two Ship’s Officers Are Indicted
A federal grand jury has indicted two engineering officers on a container ship at the Wilmington port on nine counts of dumping oily waste into the ocean.
Ocean Outfall Work Resumes in Nags Head
Work to replace and extend a 50-year-old stormwater drain pipe into the Atlantic Ocean in Nags Head is now expected to be completed by the end of the month.
Law Center Urges Pause on Bridge
The Southern Environmental Law Center is urging state transportation officials to hold off on a plan to advance construction of the mid-Currituck toll bridge.
