Appalachian Institute for Renewable Energy
Pioneering community-owned renewable energy
Winds of Change Dear Editor, Although I disagree with Don Hendershot by about 180 degrees on wind development in the mountains, I’m glad he’s started the conversation again. As Don mentioned, NC State Senators Nesbitt, Queen and Snow attempted to turn the wind energy siting bill, SB1068, into a ban on wind development in western
From Jessilyn Kemp of the North Carolina Conservation Network… Earlier this week we sent you an email about protecting the responsible development of wind energy in North Carolina. We have a quick update and another chance for you to take quick action: //ncconservationnetwork1.org/campaign/windmtns Senate Bill 1068 is essentially a good bill that the environmental community
The raging wind policy war in North Carolina exposes a vast gulf in understanding, and in limited cases, the inability to carry on a civil discourse to explore difference. This has a polarizing effect on the discourse and creates a blind spot for the third way– “distributed generation” or community-based renewable energy. Certainly some favor
If there is any doubt that Washington D.C. is where hyperbole, distortions and silly arguments come home to roost, that doubt disappears as we listen to congressional debate on climate and energy policy. Even some of the statements coming from the Obama team lately inspire a loud “Huh?” Jon Stewart would win a Nobel Prize
In the volatile debate on wind power permitting in North Carolina (SB1068), it seems that the only versions of the story being told are utility-scale wind farms and anti-wind. In other words, it’s a polarized, “all or nothing” framing of the issue as shaped by the media and the over-simplified public rhetoric. Here’s a closer
In this rapidly changing story, WNC wind escapes the senate’s ax in the eleventh hour this afternoon. It now heads back to senate Ag/Environment/Natural Resources Committee. More shortly on this unfolding plot. We’ll have a fully updated analysis and resource page asap. Stay tuned!
Please read the below articles for a description of the setback realized today by North Carolinians seeking clean environmentally-sensitive wind energy development in the Old North State: – //blogs.newsobserver.com/bullseye/state-lawmakers-reject-wind-power
Thanks to a huge grassroots effort, the ban on windpower in the NC mountains has been averted, at least for the moment. By our count, AIRE and other groups were able to mobilize hundreds of calls and emails to senators over the 4th of July weekend. The senate Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources committee discussed
“We think there is a way to create long-term, sustainable jobs so you can feed your families.” Steve Owen Executive Director, AIRE speaking directly to the Massey Energy counter-protestors On Tuesday, June 23, hundreds of people gathered at an anti-mountaintop removal coal mining rally at Marsh Fork Elementary School in West Virginia to protest the
“Given today’s economic and environmental realities, Appalachian has a tremendous opportunity to leverage its decades of leadership in the field of sustainability,” Moody said. “I want to create an environment that will educate every student at Appalachian about the virtues and methods of sustainability, and by doing so, position them to be the green leaders