Voting green this election

Raleigh Eco News does not endorse political candidates, but here are links to environmental advocacy groups' endorsements of local, state and national candidates:

* Sierra Club Capital Group endorsements for Wake County Commissioner:

http://www.nc.sierraclub.org/capital/announcements/p031.html

* N.C. Sierra Club endorsements for N.C. General Assembly and Council of State:

http://nc.sierraclub.org/politics/2008%20Endorsements.htm

* Conservation Council of North Carolina's Conservation PAC endorsements for N.C. General Assembly and Council of State:

http://www.ccnccpac.org/endorsements/2008endorsements.htm

* League of Conservation Voters' endorsements for President, Senate and House of Representatives:

http://www.lcv.org/campaigns/endorsements/

* National Sierra Club's endorsement for U.S. Senate and House of Representatives:

http://www.sierraclub.org/politics/endorsements/

* National Sierra Club's endorsement for President:

http://www.sierraclub.org/endorsements/2008/obama/

For more details on voting, including a sample ballot, visit the N.C. State Board of Elections' website.

Energy & environment expert Arjun Makhijani to speak in Raleigh this week

Arjun Makhijani, one of the nation's foremost authorities on energy and the environment, is scheduled to speak in Raleigh this Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place at the Community United Church of Christ at the corner of Wade Avenue and Dixie Trail.

There's a possibility the talk could turn into a debate on energy issues with Progress Energy CEO Bill Johnson. The N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, which is one of the groups sponsoring Makhijani's appearance, reports that Johnson is still considering an invitation to participate. Progress recently notified federal regulators that the cost to build two more nuclear reactors at its Shearon Harris plant near Raleigh could be more than twice what it estimated in the license application it submitted just eight months ago -- and that's not including finance charges. Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy, has declined to appear with Makhijani.

President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Takoma Park, Md., Makhijani hold a Ph.D. from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, where he specialized in nuclear fusion. He advocates a plan (pdf) to build a zero-carbon economy in the next 30 to 50 years -- without the use of nuclear power.

"A technological revolution has been brewing in the last few years, so it won't cost an arm and a leg to eliminate both CO2 emissions and nuclear power," Makhijani said. "We can solve the problems of oil imports, nuclear proliferation as it is linked to nuclear power, and carbon dioxide emissions simultaneously if we are bold enough."

The other groups helping to organize Makhijani's appearance are Clean Water for North Carolina, Southern Energy Network-North Carolina, N.C. Fair Share, N.C. Conservation Network, Eartheal, Triangle Green Party, Greenpeace NC, Grassroots Energy Alliance and Environment North Carolina.

State fair goes green

The N.C. State Fair opens today in Raleigh, and this year it's embracing a green ethos. Organizers are offering a Green NC exhibit to help attendees adopt more environmentally sustainable living practices, and there will be greater attention paid to recycling, use of more energy-efficient light bulbs, and collection of used cooking oil from all those delicious fried foods for conversion to biodiesel. You can read more about the fair's environmental efforts in today's News & Observer here.