Duke Energy, North Carolina’s largest utility, cites the Trump administration’s rollback of air pollution regulations and increases in power demand as factors for betting on coal.
Five of the Outer Banks homes, once propped on high stilts, collapsed Tuesday afternoon in Buxton. A sixth in Buxton collapsed overnight.
This week, as we approach the first anniversary of Hurricane Helene–one of the worst natural disasters ever to hit western North Carolina–it’s important to take stock of how we’re doing. Where do we stand and what do we still need?
In 1989, Bill McKibben wrote the first mainstream warning about climate change. Considered the preeminent climate change journalist in the country, McKibben has written often about the dangers ahead, but his new book heralds solar power as the light in the darkness...
The Trump administration canceled a FEMA program in April that would have funded upgrades to protect Hillsborough, NC, from flooding. Then the Eno River rose more than 20 feet.
The tropical system dumped massive rain across central North Carolina on Sunday, days after the state’s Democratic governor vetoed a bill canceling an interim carbon reduction goal of 70 percent by 2030. GOP lawmakers will likely attempt an override.
The Trump administration wants to slash public funding for NPR and PBS, accusing them of bias in their reporting. One of the radio stations that could be hurt by these cuts, Blue Ridge Public Radio, provided urgent information to western North Carolina residents when the power went out during Hurricane Helene.
Mount Pleasant, N.C. was about to receive $4 million to improve its stormwater drainage system from a FEMA program that helps communities protect against natural disasters and climate change. Then the Trump administration eliminated the program, upending a resiliency plan years in the making.
Among the funding Trump is trying to halt: $160 million in payments to protect the state’s power grid from wildfires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters like Tropical Storm Helene, which has caused billions in damage to western North Carolina.
Duke Energy recently announced plans to replace several coal-fired power plants with natural gas-fired stations at two North Carolina sites by 2029. Now, it’s joined nine other power companies in asking newly-confirmed EPA administrator Lee Zeldin to weaken environmental regulations regarding natural gas and coal ash.
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