Check out the recent media coverage of sustainability-related programs and practices at UNC:
Did a single week reverse energy fortunes forever? (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Houston Chronicle (Texas)
The week following April 20 will go down as one of the most pivotal and important weeks in the history of energy in this country. Two defining events, from different parts of the energy world, indicate that we may have reached a sea change in how we get and use energy. First was the tragic explosion of the Deepwater Horizon, with its toll in human life and the continued upward revision of environmental impacts.(Victor Flatt is the Taft Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Click here to read more.
Coal cutoff victory for activists
The Chapel Hill News
A UNC decision to phase out coal use by 2020 is a victory for a group of student activists. For the members of the local chapter of the Sierra Club's "Beyond Coal" campaign, last week's announcement was the happy ending to several months of news conferences, campus events and badgering of campus officials. At a news conference to discuss the plan, Chancellor Holden Thorp said the students "pushed us to take another look at how we do things."
Click here to read more.
Taking the long view (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill News
The university took a bold and welcome step last Tuesday, making public its intention to phase out its use of coal within 10 years. Although there are a number of issues to be worked out before that commitment can become reality, the public pledge puts UNC's goal on record and places the university among those at forefront of such efforts in academia.
Click here to read more.
Saving the Earth, or hurting it?
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
...Geoengineering most often refers to deliberately altering Earth's atmosphere to slow or halt the climate-changing effects of greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide. Most geoengineering schemes actually do little or nothing to reduce these emissions. ...Jose Rial, a geophysicist and climatologist at UNC-Chapel Hill who studies abrupt climate change, said most geoengineering projects "rank from craziness to lunacy." They also detract research dollars and attention from renewable energy technologies with scalable potential - like geothermal, wind, and biomass - and improving efficiencies in buildings and transportation, he said.
Click here to read more.
Vanishing coral reefs hinder biodiversity
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Efforts to protect the Earth's diverse plant and animal populations are failing, as evidenced by disappearing coral reefs and other ecological markers, according to a report in the journal Science. Marine scientist John Bruno, from UNC-Chapel Hill, was among a group of international researchers who contributed to the paper. The report represents the first global assessment of targets made by world leaders through the 2002 Convention on Biological Diversity.
Click here to read more.
Women make strides, but diversity goals largely unmet
The Triangle Business Journal
The prolonged economic slump has set back a long-term effort in the Triangle and nationwide to attract and retain more women and minorities into the legal profession. ...“Getting into the profession is easier,” says Paul Meggett, associate general counsel for UNC Health Care and adjunct professor at the UNC School of Law who leads a diversity task force for the North Carolina Bar Association. “Getting positions of leadership is still hard. Our profession still looks like old white males, and to some extent that is hard to crack.”
Click here to read more.
-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
