Cato: Reduce carbon footprint

Beaufort (S.C.) Gazette editor Jim Cato wrote a Sunday column based in part of the Center for a Better South's new environmental policy book, Getting Greener. Here's an excerpt:

From a cell phone on a runway in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, Brack said that the book is an important guide for Southerners because their "lawmakers have been timid about taking action to protect the environment. If they don't take action, those special places we have in the South will disappear."

"Over the next generations, millions of Americans will continue to move into the Sunbelt. The South will face new challenges of development and infrastructure pitted against traditional uses of land and Southerners' heritage with fields, mountains, rivers, streams, marshes and forests," Brack says in the book's introduction.

• More from the Gazette

• More news about the Getting Greener book

Alabama Christian Coalition backs Center's new book

From the Associated Press, 8/23/07:

"On Thursday, Christian Coalition Chairman Randy Brinson played host to Andy Brack, president of the Center for a Better South, on his multistate tour to promote a book about environmental issues in the South. Brinson said the Christian Coalition of Alabama is trying to encourage discussion on a wider variety of issues affecting the quality of life and empowerment of Alabamians. “We’re here to support discussion and find a middle ground,” he said.

• More stories about the Getting Greener book: GettingGreener.info
  

Southern lawmakers cool on climate change

The Southern Political Report mentions the Center for a Better South's new book on environmental policy in a Monday column on how Southern lawmakers seem to be chilly on climage change. According to Tom Baxter:

"This has been a sizzling August in the South, with triple-digit temperatures afflicting states across the region for days on end. But at this year’s annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures in Boston earlier this month, Southern states formed the core of the opposition to the states getting more involved in the issue of climate change."

Also in the column:

"Because of its high growth rate and environmental sensitivity, the rest of the country will be looking to the region to see how it deals with these issues in the years ahead, said Andy Brack, president of the Center for a Better South, which this week is releasing a book with an assortment of suggestions for both policy makers and consumers, called “Getting Green: Progressive Environmental Policy Ideas for the American South.” The book’s first two recommendations call on each state to designate a climate change commission and develop a plan for cutting emissions."

Environmental policy book to be released in Chapel Hill

From The Daily Tarheel, 8/20:

The Center for a Better South will hold the first of 11 press conferences across the South at 10 a.m. today to unveil a new book of environmental ideas for Southern policymakers.

The conference will be held at Smith Middle School, a school built in an environmentally sensitive manner. The school is located at 9201 Seawell School Road. One of the chapters of the book calls on state lawmakers across the South to build more green buildings.

The book, "Getting Greener: Progressive Environmental Ideas for the American South," also includes a chapter on strategies that consumers can take to reduce their environmental impact.

Also:

• Visit our new Web site that supports the book: GettingGreener.info.
  
  
• List of press conferences around the South this week.
  

New book to be unveiled by Center

AUG. 16, 2007 -- The Center for a Better South next week will unveil a new book that outlines progressive environmental policy ideas for Southern states and local governments.

The book, Getting Greener: Progressive Environmental Ideas for the American South, offers 15 policy recommendations for state and local leaders and provides a dozen ideas for consumers on how they can be greener in everyday living without government action. The book is written by Arkansas law student L. Edward Moore of Little Rock.

Center President Andy Brack will unveil the book in an 11-city book tour to each Southern state over five days starting August 20. Press events will be held in Chapel Hill, N.C.; Norfolk, Va.; Louisville, Ky.; Nashville, Tenn.; Conway, Ark.; Baton Rouge, La.; Jackson, Miss.; Mobile, Ala.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Savannah, Ga.; and Charleston, S.C.

Stay tuned for more information and a new spiffy Web site devoted to the tenets in the book.

N.C. Increases Need-Based Scholarship Funding

The Charlotte Observer reports on the NC State Legislature's move to increase need based scholarship funding at state universities by $27 million.

For an increasing number of residents, state aid makes the difference between getting a college degree and not getting one. North Carolina can't afford to let the door to college slam shut on any capable student. Lawmakers in the 2007 General Assembly deserve credit for doing their part to prevent it.

The additional money will help close the gap that currently exists for many qualified low-income students.

Ninety percent of the fastest-growing future job opportunities will require some form of college. The point? Unless costs are controlled and financial aid expands, a path to opportunity and a brighter future will not open for many Tar Heel residents. That makes spending more on state aid a good public investment. Here's what those additional dollars will buy:

• Any current in-state student eligible for state need-based aid will receive it. Last year, the state grant program fell $12 million short.

• Scholarship funds will be on hand to cover growth in the number of students who qualify.

• Needy students will be held harmless from tuition and fee increases approved in February.

North Carolina has always tried to stay at the forefront of public higher education in the South and Nation. Because of public investments like the recent $27 million increase, North Carolina can continue to offer high quality education to all residents. Higher education is vital to the South's participation in the increasingly global economy.

It harms everyone when citizens of modest means are closed out of a college education at universities built and operated by tax dollars. The 2007 General Assembly made a wise investment when it approved substantial increases in state financial aid for those students.