N.C.'s Senators Reject Greenhouse Gas Caps

Less than a week after new research published in the journal Science warned that global warming would bring more intense hurricanes to vulnerable areas like North Carolina, the state's U.S. senators rejected mandatory reductions in global warming pollutants.

Republicans Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr were among those senators who voted this week against a proposal that would have capped heat-trapping greenhouse gases at 2000 levels within five years. The vote was on the Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act (S. 1151) sponsored by Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT), which they offered as an amendment to the energy bill. The Senate defeated the amendment by a vote of 38-60.

The McCain-Lieberman legislation is the only proposal in Congress that guarantees a reduction in global warming pollution. It calls for imposing mandatory limits on greenhouse gases by using a market trading system to meet the caps.

Instead, the Senate passed a measure by Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) that provides tax subsidies for less-polluting technologies. "The Hagel bill is an inadequate response to a very serious problem," said Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense. "But it does signal the shift from debating whether we should do something to what we intend to do."

Wake County Seeks Volunteers for Home Radon Study

Wake County residents have an opportunity to find out for free whether their homes and drinking wells are harboring radon, a naturally occurring gas that has been linked to lung cancer and other health problems.

Wake County Environmental Services is leading a countywide study to evaluate radon levels in indoor air and groundwater in homes throughout the county. It is working in partnership with N.C. State University's Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Radiation Protection Section.

Interested residents can register online here or by calling the Radon Hotline at 919-664-5560 during July. The first 500 eligible households to volunteer will receive free testing in August.

A colorless, odorless gas produced when uranium decays, radon is known to be present in elevated levels in areas of Wake County. Radon exposure is second only to cigarette smoking in causing lung cancer deaths in the United States and is linked to as many as 22,000 deaths a year.

For more information about radon, contact Talytha Moore at the Radiation Protection Section at 919-571-4141.

Honor Uniqueness of Horseshoe Farm Park, Former Owner Urges

Today's News & Observer reported on the controversy over plans for Horseshoe Farm Park, 146 acres of former farmland located along a horseshoe-shaped bend of the Neuse River northeast of Raleigh.

On the one side are those who would like the park to retain closer ties to nature with hiking trails, canoe launches and fishing areas. On the other side are those who want to turn it into playing fields for soccer, tennis and the like.

The city purchased the land off Louisburg Road in 1994 and is funding its development with $1 million from the 2000 park bond. The property previously belonged to former Wake County Commissioner Merrie Hedrick and her husband, Dr. William Hedrick.

Raleigh Eco News asked Merrie Hedrick for her thoughts on the future of the land, where she and her husband were married and reared four children. Reached by phone at the family's new home outside Wake Forest, Hedrick had just returned from picking roses in her garden.

"The Horseshoe Farm is like family to me," Hedrick said. "It truly is a place that is my heart. I'd love to see it enjoyed by lots of people the way we enjoyed it."

Hedrick recalled life in the sort of place that's becoming increasingly rare in the fast-growing Triangle region: a place teeming with wildlife and trees and native plants, where stars still shine brightly at night and Indian artifacts are often unearthed. She told of welcoming preschool classes to the farm and the amazement that not only the children but also their parents experienced at spotting a snake near the chicken house or seeing apples grow on trees.

"I feel very strongly that every child should have the opportunity to be someplace where they can run and explore the woods and fish and see hawks and geese and rabbits and possum," Hedrick said. "So many people haven't experienced life in the country, and these are the kind of activities I'd like to see continued there."

Sadly, places like Horseshoe Farm are fast disappearing across North Carolina. During the last 20 years alone, the state lost 2.8 million acres of woodlands, farmland and open space, and it is expected to lose an additional 2.4 million acres by the year 2022, according to a recent report by the North Carolina Public Interest Research Group. In response, conservation organizations across North Carolina earlier this month launched Land for Tomorrow, an initiative challenging the state to save more of its heritage from bulldozers.

"The time in which land is going to be available for preservation in Wake County is quickly passing," Hedrick warns. "Soon there isn't going to be any land left to save."

Hedrick has spoken with the committee charged with devising a plan for the park. She has offered various suggestions to help quell neighbors' worries about crowds and parking, such as having the public park at the WRAL soccer complex on the west side of the Neuse across from the parkland and cross the river via a pedestrian bridge, which would have to be built.

"I don't disagree with the need for ball fields, but I just don't think this is the piece of land for that," Hedrick said. "The uniqueness of the area should be what prevails."

The Horseshoe Farm Park committee meets twice a month and welcomes public comment. The next meeting is this Wednesday, June 22 at 7 p.m. at Raleigh's Durant Nature Park at 8305 Camp Durant Rd. For details, call David Shouse at 890-3285. Comments on the park plan can also be e-mailed to parkplan@ci.raleigh,nc.us.

Ride a Bike to 'The End of Suburbia' & Get In Free

The Colony Theatre in Raleigh will show the documentary film "The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and Collapse of the American Dream" this Wednesday, June 22 at 7 p.m. Regular admission to the film is $3, but those who ride their bikes will get in free.

Some of the folks behind Raleigh's Critical Mass bike rides plan to pedal to the show and invite other interested cyclists to join them. They will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the parking lot behind Hayes Barton Baptist Church at the Five Points intersection where Glenwood Avenue meets Whitaker Mill Road. The ride to the theater is about five miles and is expected to take about 45 minutes at a leisurely pace. For more information on the ride, contact gilacliff at yahoo.com.

The Colony is located at 5438 Six Forks Road in North Raleigh, and the phone number is 919-847-5677. Raleigh's Critical Mass bike rides are held the last Friday of the month and depart from the N.C. State Bell Tower on Hillsborough Street.

Transgenerational Toxics

Environmental toxins we are exposed to today could create serious health problems for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, according to an alarming new study from Washington State University.

Environmental pollutants can alter the activity of an animal's genes in a way that is transmitted through at least four generations after exposure, researchers found. Reported in the June 3 issue of Science, the findings suggest toxins may play a role in heritable diseases previously attributed to genetic mutations.

"It's a new way to think about disease," said Michael K. Skinner, director of WSU's Center for Reproductive Biology. "We believe this phenomenon will be … a major factor in understanding how disease develops."

Skinner and his colleagues exposed pregnant rats to toxins while their offspring's sex was being determined. The compounds - vinclozolin, a fungicide commonly used in vineyards, and methoxychlor, an organochlorine pesticide that replaced DDT - are known endocrine disruptors, synthetic chemicals that interfere with the normal functioning of reproductive hormones.

The chemically exposed rats produced male offspring with low sperm counts and low fertility. When those males mated with females that had not been exposed to the chemicals, their male offspring had the same health problems. The effect persisted through all generations tested in more than 90 percent of the male offspring.

Antibiotic Overuse in Livestock Puts North Carolinians at Risk

North Carolina has scored a new number-one ranking - but this isn't necessarily one to brag about.

The state tied with Iowa for first place in the use of antibiotics as livestock feed additives, according to a report released today by Environmental Defense. North Carolina uses an estimated 3 million pounds of antibiotic feed additives annually - the same quantity of antibiotics estimated to be used each year in human medicine nationwide.

Consequently, North Carolina residents are at elevated risk of health problems related to antibiotic overuse, such an infection with antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

"Feeding antibiotics to animals is not only a major cause of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the human food supply, but also results in the presence of resistant bacteria in animals and in their waste," says ED senior scientist and report co-author Rebecca Goldburg. "Those bacteria can in turn colonize and infect farm workers, as well as contaminate water, air and soil."

Duplin and Sampson counties in Eastern North Carolina are the top two counties in the United States for estimated annual antibiotic feed use, at about 450,000 pounds and 400,000 pounds respectively.

ED researchers prepared their estimates using new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the numbers of animals per county. They then multiplied those figures by estimates previously developed by the Union of Concerned Scientists on the amount of feed-added antibiotics consumed per animal. Antibiotics are not added to feed to treat sick animals but to promote growth and prevent disease.

In response to public concern over antibiotic overuse, a growing number of North Carolina livestock farmers are offering meat raised by more natural methods, such as pasture-based farming. Among the North Carolina farmers offering antibiotic-free meats are Clover C Farm in Bunn, Triple B Farms in Oxford, Smith Farms in Ennice and Springhouse Meats in Fairview.

N.C. Cancels Plan to Increase Pollution in Falls Lake

Good news for Raleigh residents who like to drink clean water.

North Carolina environmental regulators have canceled a permit obtained through a backroom deal that would have allowed the state-managed town of Butner to increase its discharge of nitrogen into Falls Lake, the Capital City's main source of drinking water.

The N.C. Division of Water Quality's move came after the City of Raleigh and Neuse River Foundation, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, challenged the decision, which would have further polluted the already-impaired lake.

As a result, Butner will not be allowed to use nitrogen credits purchased from a downstream sewage plant without modifying its original permit - a process that requires public involvement.

"The state should now require that no pollution trading can occur without modifying the permit of the individual treatment plant," says Upper Neuse Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks. "That way, the public can have a say in whether the pollution trade should be allowed and whether the river will be harmed."

The General Assembly is currently considering legislation to require studies of large drinking water reservoirs and prohibit wastewater treatment plants upstream of Falls Lake from increasing their discharge amounts until the study is complete.

For more details on the Butner permit controversy, visit the SELC's Web page on defending water quality in the Neuse River.