Check out the recent media coverage of sustainability-related programs and practices at UNC:
Carolina moving ahead on wind
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.)
Virginia officials have long discussed placing wind turbines off the coast, but the first towers in the region are likely to appear farther south - in North Carolina's Pamlico Sound. Duke Energy and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently signed a contract to install one to three turbines in the sound west of Buxton and Avon as early as next year.
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/10/carolina-moving-ahead-wind
NC Botanical Garden’s New Education Center Opens
WNCN-TV (NBC/Raleigh)
Frank Harmon Architect PA of Raleigh, NC, has completed the North Carolina Botanical Garden’s new and thoroughly “green” 29,656-square-foot Education Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Governor Beverly Perdue attended the dedication ceremony and praised the project for being slated as the first LEED Platinum certified building in the state.
http://orange.mync.com/site/orange/news|Sports|Lifestyles/story/43063/NC_Botanical_Garden_s_New_Education_Center_Opens
Related Link:
http://www.wchl1360.com/detailswide.html?id=12057
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2849/138/
Coastal wind power (Editorial)
The Winston-Salem Journal
North Carolina is wisely dipping only its big toe into coastal wind power. The state, UNC and Duke Energy are planning to build as many as three enormous wind turbines in Pamlico Sound, between the mainland and the Outer Banks. If all goes well, the $36 million project could begin sending power into the electrical grid by this time next year.
http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/oct/13/122215/coastal-wind-power/opinion/
UNC Recognized For Green Initiatives
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
The Sustainable Endowments Institute has ranked UNC as one of the best colleges in the United States and Canada for their green initiatives. Cindy Shea, director of the Sustainability Office at UNC, says they have several programs that helped them earn this accolade.
http://www.wchl1360.com/detailswide.html?id=12051
Warming is fact; denial is harmful (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The earth is cooling!" Actually it isn't, but we have all heard that so many times recently, we're starting to wonder. Globally, the last few years have indeed been cooler than 1998 and 2005. But this has no relevance for whether the planet's climate is changing or whether people are the cause. (John Bruno is an associate professor in the Department of Marine Sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill. Mark Sorensen is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at UNC-Chapel Hill.)
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/columnists_blogs/story/134115.html
Geographer gets fellowship
The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC geographer Martin Doyle has been named the inaugural recipient of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Institute for Water Resources' Frederick J. Clarke Fellowship. The institute created the fellowship to provide scholars with the opportunity to help advise the corps on policy issues related to its environmental mission.
http://www.heraldsun.com/pages/full_story/push?article-UNC+BRIEFS%20&id=3936459-UNC+BRIEFS&instance=main_article
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2965/74/
Reclaimed water system honored
The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC recently received a national award for the reclaimed water system that began serving the main campus in April and for its innovative reuse of rainwater in a second project. The WateReuse Association gave the university its 2009 Institution of the Year award at the association's annual symposium in Seattle. The awards recognize projects and individuals that advance the beneficial and efficient use of water resources.
http://www.heraldsun.com/pages/full_story/push?article-UNC+BRIEFS%20&id=3936459-UNC+BRIEFS&instance=main_article
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2968/68/
UNC system aims for carbon neutrality (Blog)
The News & Record (Greensboro)
It's official: The 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina system will pursue sustainability in eight categories, with the most ambitious goal being achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The Board of Governors approved the sustainability policy on Friday.
http://www.news-record.com/blog/52580/entry/72453
UNC and Duke Energy sign contract to develop coastal wind pilot project
In a pilot project designed to harness the power of the ocean breezes along North Carolina’s coast, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke Energy announced they have signed a contract to place up to three demonstration wind turbines in the Pamlico Sound.
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2946/68/
Awarding-winning journalists to share reports on threats to global food supply Oct. 15
Three award-winning journalists will discuss mounting threats to the global food supply and the challenges of reporting them on Thursday, Oct. 15, at UNC-Chapel Hill. “Hungry? Frontline on the Threats to the Global Food Supply” will also feature new documentary footage reporting on the global food crisis from Africa, Asia and Central America.
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2958/68/
University Day: Perdue speaks at convocation; garden dedicates center; Thorp gives online address
Monday (Oct. 12) is University Day (http://www.unc.edu/universityday/) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, marking the 216th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of Old East and the start of public higher education in the United States. The University will hold a traditional University Day convocation at 11 a.m. in Memorial Hall. Gov. Bev Perdue is the featured speaker, and Distinguished Alumna and Alumnus Awards will be presented. Later in the day, the North Carolina Botanical Garden will dedicate its new Education Center.
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2960/68/
UNC receives Institution of the Year award for its reclaimed water system, rainwater reuse
UNC recently received a national award for the reclaimed water system that began serving the main campus in April and for its innovative reuse of rainwater in a second project. The WateReuse Association gave the University its 2009 Institution of the Year award at the association’s annual symposium in Sept. 14 in Seattle. The awards recognize projects and individuals that advance the beneficial and efficient use of water resources.
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2968/68/
America's Greenest Colleges
Forbes
Everything under the sun is being sold as green nowadays, and colleges are no different. ... Twenty-six schools received the highest grade, an A-. Among them: Arizona State University, Middlebury College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Pennsylvania and Pomona College. The schools were graded on a variety of categories, including green building initiatives, transportation, climate-change policy, investment priorities and the administration's efforts on sustainability (a buzz word for green policies).
http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/07/greenest-colleges-harvard-business-energy-evergreen.html
$100,000 to go toward economic development in Franklin
The Macon County News (Franklin)
The Town of Franklin is set to proceed with plans to improve area economics and aesthetics. Available to the town is $100,000 in grant funding to implement a plan for economic development. ...Assistant Town Manager Mike Decker made a presentation to the board on suggested rules of procedure, adapted from rules outlined by the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
http://www.maconnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5650&Itemid=34
Duke Energy to fund offshore North Carolina wind project
Reuters (Wire Service)
Duke Energy Corp has agreed to fund a pilot study of commercial wind turbines in the waters offshore of North Carolina, the utility holding company said on Tuesday. The company had contracted with the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill to place up to three wind turbines in Pamlico Sound. ...The pilot study would focus on Pamlico Sound, between North Carolina's Outer Banks and the mainland, rather than areas with more wind further offshore, because waters in the sound were under state control, University of North Carolina Vice Chancellor Carolyn Elfland said. She is project manager for the UNC Coastal Wind Study which was presented to the state legislature in June.
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE5956SL20091006
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2946/68/
Duke Plans Offshore Wind Pilot Project
GreenTechMedia (Wire Service)
...Charlotte-based Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) is funding a pilot project to erect up to three wind turbines in Pamlico Sound, the company said Tuesday. The project is taking shape as a result of a nine-month, 378-page study recently completed by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. ..."There aren't wind turbines installed elsewhere that could have endured conditions from a tropical storm - we want to know what will it do to the turbine blades or the foundation," said Carolyn Elfland, associate vice chancellor for campus services at the university.
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/duke-plans-offshore-wind-pilot/
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2946/68/
Group sues to force greenhouse gas regulation
The Houston Chronicle
An environmental group is suing the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to force the agency to regulate emissions of gases blamed for global warming. ...Victor Flatt, a professor of environmental law at the University of North Carolina, said TCEQ has the authority to regulate carbon dioxide, but the question is whether the agency is required to act. Once the EPA finalizes its finding that carbon dioxide endangers public health and welfare, then TCEQ would be forced to regulate it, Flatt said.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6654829.html
Despite Hard Times, Colleges Are Still Going Green (Blog)
The New York Times
Times may be tough, but colleges are not abandoning their efforts to be green, according to the 2010 College Sustainability Report Card, released Wednesday morning by the Sustainable Endowments Institute. ...Twenty-six schools were recognized as Overall College Sustainability Leaders, having achieved grades of A-. They ranged from elite institutions like Brown, Harvard, Stanford, Wesleyan and Yale to public universities like Arizona State and the Universities of Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Vermont.
http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/despite-hard-times-colleges-are-still-going-green/?scp=1&sq=%22university%20of%20north%20carolina%22&st=cse
Wind turbines to be installed in water
The State (Columbia, S.C.)
Duke Energy and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill said Tuesday they have signed a contract to place one to three wind turbines in Pamlico Sound, possibly paving the way for utility-scale wind farms on the N.C. coast. The demonstration project may be the first wind turbines placed in water in the United States.
http://www.thestate.com/local/story/973933.html
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2946/68/
Duke Energy, UNC join forces to launch wind turbine pilot project
The Triangle Business Journal
Duke Energy and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are partnering on a pilot project to install up to three wind turbines in Pamlico Sound that could become the first turbines placed in water in the country. The project follows a nine-month UNC study completed in June for the general assembly that concluded the state has the potential to develop utility-scale wind energy production. Duke will pay for the turbines and their installation. UNC will continue its wind energy research throughout the project.
http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2009/10/05/daily21.html
Related Links:
http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2009/10/05/daily19.html
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20091006/ARTICLES/910069948?Title=UNC-Duke-Energy-will-team-up-to-construct-first-offshore-turbines
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/business/story/987770.html
http://www.ncnn.com/content/view/5021/123/
http://www.wchl1360.com/detailswide.html?id=12013
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2946/68/
Time is right for Duke wind power project (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
Researchers at UNC Chapel Hill have concluded what many North Carolinians have long surmised: Strong winds in the coastal region mean there's a potential for large-scale wind energy generators -- offshore and perhaps in part of eastern Pamlico Sound.
http://www.heraldsun.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Researchers+at+UNC+Chapel+Hill+have+concluded+what+many+North+Carolinians+have+long+surmised-+Strong+winds+in+the+coastal+region+mean+there-s+a+potential+for+large-scale+wind+energy+generators+-+offshore+and+perhaps+in+part+of+eastern+Pamlico+Sound%20&id=3847345-Researchers+at+UNC+Chapel+Hill+have+concluded+what+many+North+Carolinians+have+long+surmised-+Strong+winds+in+the+coastal+region+mean+there-s+a+potential+for+large-scale+wind+energy+generators+-+offshore+and+perhaps+in+part+of+eastern+Pamlico+Sound
Related Links:
http://www.theherald-nc.com/opinion/story/11615.html
http://www.dailyadvance.com/opinion/wind-farms-better-than-offshore-rigs-880056.html
Study examining health issues in workplace
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
A wellness study focusing on tobacco use cessation, healthy eating, increased physical activity and stress management is moving into a new phase by examining the issues in the workplace. ...Laura Linnan, a national expert on worksite wellness, and Michael Bowling, an expert in public health statistics and evaluation design, from the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, are joining the study.
http://www.heraldsun.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Study+examining+health+issues+in+workplace%20&id=3831113-Study+examining+health+issues+in+workplace
-Thanks to UNC News Services for finding these great stories AND compiling the summaries! You can find more UNC media coverage and stories online at:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/category/8/34/103/
