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Jury selection resumes Tuesday in Napier animal cruelty case
Is social conscience worth the effort for WNC businesses? – Asheville Citizen
ASHEVILLE – It’s one thing for a corporation to say it provides a living wage, uses solar energy and does business in a way that benefits the community, but a growing number of Asheville entrepreneurs want to make it official.
“Corporations should be a guiding light for all of us. They shouldn’t be able to bend the rules. They should be able to play by the rules and make them better,” said Adrian Zelski, the primary owner of local music venues New Mountain Asheville and Asheville Music Hall. “I feel like in 15 years, 20 years, people are going to ask why a business isn’t a B Corp.”
Using business to solve social and environmental problems becomes more than marketing when it becomes a Certified B Corporation, supporters say. It’s a promise.
The B stands for benefit, and the certification comes from a nonprofit called B Lab.
To date, 1,200 Certified B Corporations operate in 38 countries across 121 industries. Those include Ben Jerry’s, Patagonia and, as of January 2013, New Belgium, which is building a brewery in Asheville.
The designation costs businesses money and time, which can involve making structural changes and paying fees of several hundred dollars for small companies.
In return, supporters say the businesses can be better positioned to win investments from like-minded investors and support from customers who share their views, as well as protect community-minded practices of the company if times get tough.
The designation also can be just a matter of pride.
Zelski started organizing events in the fall to bring local entrepreneurs together to talk about B Corps and how they could fit into Asheville’s business community. The first meeting at New Mountain Asheville attracted more than 30 people.
Now a group of local entrepreneurs meet for lunch every Friday to discuss the pros and cons of being a B Corp and where they are in the certification process and to hear from those who already have the Certified B Corporation logo next to the name of their business.
From the amount of ecological waste produced by the business to the disparity between the paycheck of the CEO and the employee with the smallest salary, these types of considerations must be made, measured and verified.
“It’s about the entire company and corporation, not just the product. It’s about expanding that view and expanding what success is,” said Katie Kerr, the communications director at B Lab. “You can do well by doing good, and this is a viable business model. It’s the right way to do business.”
The push
New Earth MUZiQ, the music company that recently purchased Asheville Music Hall, already has the B Corp designation. Zelski said he plans to make New Mountain Asheville and Asheville Music Hall Certified B Corporations by the end of the year.
“It sets up the entire infrastructure of your company to assess your impact on your people, your planet and your profit, which basically engages all of your stakeholders — from your investors to your clients, from your people to your community at large,” he said. “It’s a way to be accountable, transparent and put purpose into your business rather than just opening a business.”
At the latest work lunch Friday, 15 business people gathered at Green Sage Cafe in the Westgate Shopping Center. Two tables were pushed together to make room for everyone.
Michael Welchel, who co-founded Big Path Capital as a boutique consulting firm to help sustainable companies and impact investors, told the group, “We’re not just trying to grow the B Corp community, we’re trying to create a movement around values-based business.”
Big Path Capital, once called the Watershed Capital Group, became a Certified B Corporation in December 2007. Not only was it one of the first ventures in Asheville to receive the authentication from B Lab, it was one of the 50 founding Certified B Corporations.
“Business is the most powerful force in the world. For some corporations, the size of their business is bigger than some countries’ gross national product,” Welchel said. “In the world we live in, business has a huge influence, so why not use it in a way that can be creative for a larger set of stakeholders and not just the shareholder.”
Cortina Caldwell, an Asheville entrepreneur who has been working with Zelski and Welchel to catalyze the local conversation about B Corps, said the group hopes to have at least 30 businesses certified by the end of next year.
An upcoming “B the Change” event will be held from 6:30-10 p.m. Feb. 10 at New Mountain Asheville to inspire others in the Asheville community to join the local B Corp movement.
“With clients that I’ve worked with, everything that I’ve done has been about how to make sure you’re being integral, being intentional and being authentic,” said Caldwell, who founded Visit Venture to help local economies grow through tourism by fostering community partnerships. “What’s most important at the end of the day in order to make any type of profit margin or any type of bottom line make sense is whether you are doing this for the betterment of the community and for the betterment of yourself.”
The process and the pitfalls
To become a Certified Benefit Corporation, a business must complete the B Impact Assessment. The free interactive online questionnaire helps a company quantify its social and environmental performance on a 200-point scale. A business needs a minimum score of 80 to be eligible for certification.
“That assessment is the base of everything we do,” said Kerr, the communications director at B Lab. “Eighty sounds like a small number, but it’s a high bar.”
The assessment is then submitted to B Lab for review. A staff member at the nonprofit goes through the largely self-reported assessment with the business and then helps with the next step of receiving certification.
When Brent Manning, of Riverbend Malt House, took the assessment for the first time in 2014, the business scored in the mid-50s.
Now, it is just two points away from certification.
“The process forces you to take a deep dive into pretty much every aspect of the business that you are running,” Manning said. “It forces you to drop back and put a lot of things that you talk about down on paper and then start doing it.”
When barley is germinating at Riverbend Malt House, small rootlets begin to grow and must be removed during the cleaning process, Manning explained.
In the past, the rootlets were sent to a local composting operation. Now, these high-protein rootlets are being sold to local people who can use them for cattle feed.
However, the assessment process has not been an easy one for the malt house.
“There were some frustrating things just from a standpoint of the fact that, as a startup, we’re just not big enough to afford it yet. For instance, they have several questions designed to gauge impact of providing insurance to employees and we can’t afford that yet. We do not qualify for those points,” Manning said. “That made certification tougher to achieve so we had to look for other avenues.”
The startup is now in the process of creating an incentive package for employees to ride their bikes to work and will be finalizing an employee handbook, among other things.
“Even if the handbook is only a couple pages long, they’ll appreciate knowing where they stand when it comes to bereavement, sick days, maternity leave and stuff like that,” Manning said.
Kerr said Manning’s story is a familiar one for the nonprofit that reviews the B Impact Assessment.
“I think the No. 1 concern is the No. 1 concern for all businesses, which is time and resources. They will often think, ‘Why do I need to take the hour or two hours for those people to fill this out? Why do I need to do that if I’m already doing these things anyway?’ The answer to that is accountability, monitoring and managing your impact,” Kerr said.
Though approximately 20,000 businesses are using the assessment, only 1,200 — or 6 percent — have completed the certification process. Kerr said there are many reasons this happens.
To start, a company’s annual sales dictate the certification fee to become a B Corp. A business venture that makes less than $1 million can expect to pay a $500 annual fee. The other extreme — a business that makes more than $1 billion — could be looking at paying $50,000 or more, depending on the structure of the company.
“Some people may not be ready to take the legal step because it requires board approval,” Kerr said. “Some people actually take the assessment because they are required to do so. For example, certain investor circles require a business to take the assessment in order to apply because investors are interested to see how a corporation scores.”
The certification is good for two years, and 10 percent of the B Corp community is randomly audited on-site every year. Some states, like South Carolina, have specific legislation that recognizes a benefit corporation. North Carolina does not.
The payoff and the potential
For Peter Krull, the president and co-founder of Krull Company, the certification was a perfect alignment between the ethos of his business and his passion for the environment.
“We help people invest in a way that excludes companies that are the offenders, the polluters, the ones that you wouldn’t want to be associated with,” said Krull, who also serves as the chair of the nonprofit environmental and conservation group Mountain True, which was formerly Western North Carolina Alliance.
Krull said his business, which assists people who are looking to make investments in sustainable ventures, selects companies for clients by looking at a number of factors, which range from environmental choices to partner benefits. However, he also saw the need for his corporation to look inward.
Shortly after Krull Company became an LLC, Krull said it was imperative that his corporation attain the B Corp certification.
“There was really no question whether we would do that or not,” Krull said, noting the corporation was certified in October.
Since 2011, New Belgium has been a Certified B Corporation. Even though the brewing company has not opened its Asheville location yet, its status as a B Corp has guided its choices — including the decision to open the East Coast facility in Asheville.
After the company assessed its carbon footprint and looked at whether it would be better to ship beer to the East Coast from Fort Collins or build a brewery in Asheville, the decision was made.
“Our choice to build on the East Coast was impacted by this environmental assessment,” said Susanne Hackett, spokeswoman for the Asheville site.
However, the company chose Asheville for more than environmental purposes.
“One of the reasons we selected Asheville as our new home was because of the conscious and purpose-driven culture in this gorgeous town,” said Katie Wallace, the assistant director of sustainability for New Belgium Brewing. “Both New Belgium and the B Corp community at large have a commitment to using business as a force for good in the world and it’s my sense that we are in great company in Asheville.”
Brad Pearsall, who co-founded Bröö Shampoo with his wife, Sarah Pearsall, said the designation is the next step for their beer-centric hair product company.
“I just learned how to spell B Corp,” Brad Pearsall joked at the Friday lunch. “But we know we want to do this as the next step for our company.”
As Caldwell works to organize the February event to bring more awareness to the B Corp movement, she said the group is just facilitating a conversation that has been a core part of the Asheville business community for years.
“When you think of what it means to be a B Corp, it’s about being a values-oriented business or organization,” Caldwell said. “As an independent business owner, as an artist, as somebody that lives here and cares about the environment — all of those things and more are present in our community. I don’t think that we’re having the conversation as much as it is that we have created a space for it to exist and be relevant.”
How does a business become a certified B Corporation?
Certification is handled by a 200-point quiz. Companies must score an 80 or higher on some of the following factors:
• Governance: Is there a company mission statement? Does the company maintain anti-corruption reporting? Does the company produce independently-verified financials? Can customers file feedback or complaints?
• Workers: How does your compensation compare with the market? Is it above or below average? What percent of workers are paid a living wage? At what point do employees qualify for benefits?
• Community: By what amount has your worker base grown? What percentage are from underrepresented populations? Does your company have a formal citizenship program?
• Environment: How much water has your company used in the past 12 months? Does your company have a telecommuting plan? Are there chemical reduction plans in place? What percent of carbon emissions have been offset?
Tagged with: Asheville
NC’s Tillis, Burr push case for offshore drilling
WASHINGTON North Carolinas two Republican U.S. senators stoked the already controversial Keystone XL pipeline debate when they pushed to add a measure that would also open up the Atlantic coast to offshore drilling.
U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr introduced an amendment Thursday to the Senate Keystone pipeline proposal that would allow drilling up the coast from Florida to Delaware in search of oil and gas resources. In return, the states would receive a share of oil and gas revenue from the energy companies.
The amendment is likely to be nothing more than a political statement. President Barack Obama has promised to veto the Keystone pipeline bill. And Obama already has approved seismic exploration for oil and gas in the Atlantic, which many environmentalists see as a precursor to eventual drilling. Obama is expected to make an announcement on the issue soon.
Those factors havent stopped critics from seizing on the North Carolina Republicans proposal. Environmental advocacy groups see it as an attack on the countrys national and state treasures, including North Carolinas fragile barrier islands.
Claire Douglass, a campaign director for the advocacy group Oceana, considers the revenue-sharing money that states would receive as akin to hush money. The companies pay it, she said, so government leaders wont say anything about whats being done off the coast.
Its basically bribe money to garner support, Douglass said. Usually when youre paying off states its probably not good. You dont put these kind of bribes in place if its in the best interest of the local economies.
Companies are already drilling offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, where the first phase of revenue sharing is in place with four states, including Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
Legacy of the BP spill
The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon that killed 11 people and spilled more than 200 million gallons of oil into the gulf is still fresh in the minds of many coastal communities.
Chris Jackson, manager of the Aussie Island Surf Shop in Wilmington remembers watching on television as oil washed up on the beaches along the Gulf Coast tourist towns. He wondered what would happen to the local tourism and lifestyle if something similar happened in North Carolina.
It was terrible, said Jackson, who has managed the shop for the past 15 years. We live here. We love to enjoy the beach ourselves. And its going to mess it up for our sons and daughters. It would be bad, for sure.
North Carolina attracts millions of visitors each year who spend money in hotels, restaurants and shops. In 2013, the states coastal region hosted about 11.6 million visitors, according to the N.C. Department of Commerce. They spent roughly $4 billion that year.
Its not just about the money, said Dave Rogers, state director for Environment North Carolina, an environmental advocacy group. He said an array of marine life from sea turtles to migratory birds to whales would be impacted. Putting all that at risk … seems like a backwards idea, Rogers said. For us, its the 21st century. We got ways to get energy sources that dont pollute our environment and never run out.
Response capacity improves
The BP disaster focused attention on the risk of offshore drilling..
Offshore drilling is safer than it was four years ago, according to the leaders of a bipartisan White House commission created to investigate the disaster.
Last year, on the fourth anniversary, Democrat Bob Graham, a former U.S. senator and Florida governor, and Republican William Reilly, a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator, criticized Congress for failing to take action to reduce the risk of another accident. But they also reported that the industry has substantially improved its capacity to respond to ruptured wells. They said the Gulf Coast economy had also improved, noting the seafood industry had rebounded to pre-spill levels and that tourism revenues along the Gulf coast were setting records.
Tillis is taking on the controversial subject as one of his first legislative pushes as a new senator. In his first floor speech, on Thursday, Tillis said he wanted to fulfill a campaign promise to find opportunities for economic growth. The proposal, he said, would create jobs for North Carolina residents and put the country on a better track to energy independence.
When utility bills and gas prices increase, hard-working Americans face hardship and struggle to make ends meet, Tillis said from the Senate floor. We need to make that easier and lift the burden on those hard-working taxpayers.
He cited an energy industry study that found offshore drilling in the Atlantic could generate $4 billion in state revenue and support more than 55,000 jobs in North Carolina.
Gov. Pat McCrory, in a statement, praised the Tillis and Burr proposal as a step in the right direction to help get North Carolina into the energy business. McCrory, a Republican and longtime Duke Energy executive, has helped lead a group of mostly Republican leaders who support launching oil and gas exploration off the East Coast. But its not only Republicans. Last year, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, joined the push.
If the country wants to remain a world leader in oil and gas production, it has to be committed to looking for resources in new areas, said Brian Straessle, spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute.
And the Atlantic coast is an area where theres a lot of interest both from industry and folks in the states along the coast and policy makers, he said.
Tagged with: Charlotte
SEX AT THE BOX Set for Shadowbox Live Tonight
If it’s so cold outside, why are the windows fogging up at Shadowbox Live? It’s because the troupe of metaperformers are busily rehearsing for their new show, Sex at the Box, opening tonight, January 8th, and things are getting steamy!
“This is our sexiest show of the year,” says Executive Producer Stev Guyer, “and one of our most popular, for obvious reasons!”
Sex at the Box pokes fun at love, sex, relationships, and the difference between men and women with two hours of brand new sketch comedy and sultry rock ‘n’ roll music from Shadowbox Live house band BillWho?.
“Nothing is sacred in this show,” laughs Guyer, “from trying to pick up a chick at the bar to confronting your son about internet pornography. This show is guaranteed to make you laugh at our most uncomfortable of topics: sex.”
Sketches from Sex at the Box include:
The Pyramid Game — premiered in Sex Lies and Shadowbox 2007. Those lovable Southsiders, Puck and Misty Duck, go up against Betsy and Dick Anderson in The Pyramid Game!
Funk Daddy Love — Is being too sexy a crime? Funk Daddy Love is on trial for exactly that!
Holy Hell — Father Dan has heard it all when it comes to confessions, at least that’s what he thought until Henry describes is mind “blowing” evening.
In a Bar — Anyone can sound cool when their lives are being narrated by a movie announcer. Well, almost anyone.
Life Duet — Check out the highlights in a relationship in this time lapse of a couple’s life together
Nakid — Nothing’s more awkward then parents finding pornography on their family computer, but who is the culprit?
No Reservations — Sometimes working in the restaurant industry means learning way, WAY more than you’d like to know about people.
Pro Pick Up — Picking up the opposite sex in a bar should be a sport, and this is the coverage of tonight’s game!
Sneak a Peek: Dirty Movies — John and Shelly are back to preview this season’s dirtiest flicks!
The Friend Zone — Once you go in, there’s no coming back from The Friend Zone.
Things That Matter — We all know that sex sells, but are advertising firms going too far?
Songs from Sex at the Box include:
Green Eyed Lady by Sugar Loaf
Sex and Candy by Marcy’s Playground
Glorybox by Portishead
Somebody to Love by Queen
Just Like Heaven by The Cure
Some Kind of Wonderful by Joss Stone
The Way You Make Me Feel by Michael Jackson
Ball Chain by Janis Joplin
Call Tyrone by Erykah Badu
Shadowbox Live presents Sex at the Box, opening on Thursday, January 8 at 7:30 PM, and running Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 10:30 PM through March 21, 2015. Tickets are $20 – $40. For more information and reservations, call the Shadowbox Live Box Office at 614-416-7625 or go online at www.shadowboxlive.org.
Sex at the Box is presented by The Lion’s Den! Shadowbox Live is the largest resident theater company in America, producing over 550 shows per year. A non-profit 501c3 performance troupe, Shadowbox Live employs 45+ full time ensemble members immersed in the Shadowbox Live philosophy of “everyone does everything,” including arts administration. These Shadowbox Live metaperformers self-produce a wide range of shows, as well as run the company on a day-to-day basis.
For over 20 years this creative team has produced world-class performances, spanning the artistic spectrum with sketch comedy, rock ‘n ‘roll, original rock operas, traditional musicals, drama, dance theater and new media; always putting emphasis on the unparalleled live experience.
Shadowbox Live is a healthy, vibrant, self-sustaining arts organization that generates the majority of its funding from its patron base, and leads the way as an artistic tour de force in Midwest.
Tagged with: Blowing Rock NC
Tourism leaders warn industry suffering from bad roads
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — The chorus calling for lawmakers and Gov. Nikki Haley to fix South Carolina’s roads got louder on Tuesday as tourism officials warned deteriorating roads are threatening the state’s $18 billion tourism industry.
The Coastal Chambers Alliance urged the General Assembly and Haley to come up with the money and a plan to fix South Carolina’s roads.
The alliance is comprised of nine chambers of commerce along the coast, the center of South Carolina’s tourism industry. Tourism provides almost 115,000 jobs and generates $1.6 billion in tax revenue, according to the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
“From our perspective, if state government were a parent and the infrastructure system were a child, government agencies would have rushed in to put this child into foster care and labeled the parent negligent,” Brad Dean, president and CEO of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, told The Associated Press.
The alliance said a majority of South Carolina’s 20 million visitors each year visit the coast which is also the state’s fastest-growing area for permanent residents.
On summer weekends, U.S. 501 is snarled for miles as visitors creep along trying to enter or leave Myrtle Beach. Dean said lengthy waits in traffic jams mean less time people can enjoy their vacation.
“The bigger issue is when your first impression and last impression of South Carolina is potholes and traffic jams, invariably some visitors will end up going elsewhere,” he said.
The Department of Transportation says it will need an extra $1.5 billion a year to get all state roads in good condition by 2040.
A nonprofit group, The Road Information Program, says almost half of the state’s major roads were in poor shape last year and such roads cost the average South Carolina motorist at least $1,100 extra a year. The figure represents the cost of maintenance for vehicles from pothole and road damage, extra fuel and the cost of fatal crashes.
“The current system is placing our coast and our state at a competitive disadvantage for both economic development and tourism,” Bryan Derreberry, president and CEO of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, said in a written statement.
South Carolina’s almost 17-cent-a-gallon gas tax has been unchanged for 30 years, the alliance said, noting that neighboring North Carolina and Georgia raise more money for highways. North Carolina’s gas tax is 39 cents a gallon while Georgia gas and use taxes amount to almost 27 cents a gallon.
Haley opposes raising the gas tax. She is expected to outline her road improvement plan in the coming weeks.
And Dean said raising the gas tax alone will not be enough, and the state will have to find other money.
“We have let ourselves fall so far behind that raising the gas tax is not a panacea,” he said.
He noted that noted Horry County, where Myrtle Beach is located, has invested $2 billion in roads over two decades largely through a local option sales tax, much of it paid by visitors.
Tagged with: North Carolina
Asheville exec who was in NY among those fleeing snowstorm – Asheville Citizen
ASHEVILLE – Karen Tessier, an Asheville public relations executive who was in New York for a series of tourism-related conferences scheduled this week, was among people Monday scrambling to get out of the path of a blizzard forecasters say could reach “historic” proportions.
Tessier and three other people in her Asheville group boarded a New York-to-Washington Amtrak train at 6:15 a.m. Monday as snow was already falling, abandoning a Thursday return air flight they had already purchased.
“We knew we needed to get out of there before noon,” Tessier said. “We felt we would get trapped in a hotel room for several days. Our meetings were canceled, so it made no sense for us to stay.”
The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for a 250-mile swath of the Northeast, from New Jersey to Maine, with heavy, blowing snow and potential whiteout conditions expected. Up to 3 feet of snow could fall on some areas. The brunt of the storm was expected Monday evening and into Tuesday.
After taking the train to Washington, Tessier’s group planned to rent a car and travel to Charlotte to pick up a vehicle they had left at the airport there, then drive back to Asheville.
POLL: Would you be happy to see 2-3 feet of snow in Asheville?
“Once we get south of that Mason Dixon line, we’ll be fine,” Tessier said by cellphone as she traveled Monday. “I’ll just be glad to get home. I have to commend New Yorkers. They were not freaking out, but they were taking it very seriously.”
As of late Monday, more than 7,500 flights were canceled through Wednesday, according to USA Today.
No flights arriving or departing from Asheville Regional Airport were affected Monday, airport spokeswoman Tina Kinsey said.
“We haven’t seen anything canceled or delayed yet,” she said. “There’s always the possibility of a weather trickle-down effect.”
Flights sometimes are affected in Asheville because of weather problems in other parts of the country. Passengers should keep tabs on their flight through their air carrier, Kinsey said
“There could be a domino effect, but it’s hard to predict,” Kinsey said. “Passengers really need to focus on their full itinerary. That information is readily available on their individual airline’s website.”
About half of all flights out of New York’s LaGuardia Airport were called off Monday, and about 60 percent of flights heading into the airport were scratched. Boston’s Logan Airport said there would be no flights after 7 p.m. Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tagged with: Asheville
On Grand Strand Golf: CCU men strengthen bond with Dunes Club, move …
Local News
Renovation estimates for old MYR terminal tops $10m
Tagged with: Charlotte
The Other Side of Fracking
Specifically, the resolution expressed alarm that Governor Pat McCrory had signed the Energy Modernization Act, thereby lifting a moratorium on fracking. Permits, the resolution warned, could be issued in a matter of months. Consequently, council joined other local government bodies in calling upon the North Carolina General Assembly to reinstate the ban, at least for Asheville and Buncombe County. They further asked that the power to decide whether to frack or not, as well as how to frack, be vested in local, and not state government.
The resolution, of course, was one-sided. Like climate change, fracking is an issue based on cherry-picked facts connected by a vast sea of unknowable science. Short-term, single-variable scenarios may be predictable, but when all factors from the real world combine their feedback loops, outcomes become anybody’s guess. That’s why it is easy to fill in the blanks with scare tactics to leverage political gain. The left says fracking rapes the environment in ways that can’t be remediated. The right says affordable and abundant fuel can jumpstart the economy with what the left would call “economic justice.”
In the interest of equal time, a number of whereases from the resolution will be reprinted. They will then be followed by arguments from right-leaning political interests with the full understanding that nobody has the entire story.
The document states, “hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking’ is a method of extracting natural gas that involves injecting a mixture of water, sand, and a complex combination of toxic chemicals at an extremely high pressure to break up shale or other rock formations otherwise impermeable to the flow of natural gas.”
That is a fair statement except for the purple tones implicit in the phrase “toxic chemicals.” It doesn’t help that Halliburton is a pioneer in the fracking industry. Although even the leftest of the left would be surprised if they stopped to think about the modern comforts they enjoy because of this entrepreneurial giant, it is still demonized as the paramilitary arm of President Bush and his cronies.
Regardless, Halliburton complies with federal regulations in disclosing the chemicals used in fracking on its web site. These include scary, scary things like sodium chloride (table salt), bentonite (clay), lactose (milk sugar), and naphthalene (moth balls). For other, less familiar compounds, the company provides a sampling of household items that also contain the chemicals, like shampoo and cheese. Scarier compounds, like antimicrobials and corrosion inhibitors, also have household uses, but their toxicity is a matter of levels and routes of exposure. Halliburton provides MSDS’s listing the conditions under which these chemicals are harmful, but it does not divulge exact recipes, stating they vary for each combination of rock formations.
Another whereas claims, “Negative environmental and public health impacts related to hydraulic fracturing have been documented in other states, including contamination of drinking water wells, contamination of surface water, degradation of air-quality, an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, and increased incidents of earthquakes.”
Some of this sounds as fetched as wanting to ban auto supply stores because a delivery truck might get in an accident and dump sharp, metal objects all over the highway, posing a threat to motorists. However, like everything else big oil does, fracking is subject to EPA, and OSHA regulations. It is exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act for the simple reason that oil shale deposits are typically found thousands of feet below the aquifers tapped for drinking water.
One famous contamination that occurred in Pennsylvania is now attributed to pre-existing conditions independent of any fracking activity. The other is owned by the frackers as due to a miscalculation; for which they are now, in order to save their hide and stay in business, bending over backward with corrective policies to appease environmental and safety regulators. In fact, the General Assembly did, and intends to continue to rely, on experts from the industry to craft legislation with sensible protections for people and the environment.
As for greenhouse gases, to frack or not to frack is being presented as a false dilemma of either Armageddon or the Garden of Eden. There is also the choice of using coal, which requires the blowing up of beautiful mountains. Shale oil emits half as much carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour than coal. It also lacks heavy metal emissions characteristic of coal, and leaves behind no nasty ash. Another alternative would be to remain reliant on the Middle East to keep our houses warm and our grocery stores stocked.
Even frackers admit their drilling is responsible for microseismic activity, most of which is not even detectable at the earth’s surface. Some tremors have, however, been felt by humans. A 2013 article published in Science says the correlation has long been known to induce earthquakes that sometimes exceed magnitudes of 3.0 on the Richter scale.
A third whereas asserts, “Fracking can industrialize rural and urban areas with drilling rigs, bright lights, twenty-four hour operations, new roads, wastewater containment ponds, new pipelines, and other infrastructure that brings attendant air, water, and noise pollution detrimental to property values and future economic growth.”
This could be construed as eliminating guesswork for urban planners, except Halliburton claims the big-time commotion lasts only a matter of days. After that, the heavy machinery hauls out, and environmental remediation begins.
Another whereas claims fracking could upset the natural beauty responsible for “the region’s multi-billion dollar tourist economy.” Johan Norberg, an outspoken advocate for the poorest of the poor, argues that genuinely free markets can do this, and inexpensive and plenteous fuel is a big part of getting there. He notes that Western civilizations degraded the environment before they had enough wealth to employ technologies like smokestack scrubbers and catalytic converters. It therefore is unfair to tell those who can’t pay their fuel bills that no heat is better than dirty heat.
Advocates of fracking are on record for saying the economic benefits of fracking would be negligible. Do I hear $2/gallon?
Tagged with: Blowing Rock NC
Macau ranks No. 1 in economic performance among world cities – Casper Star
WASHINGTON — Macau, the Chinese territory known for casino gambling, outperformed the rest of the world’s major cities economically last year, according to a report out Thursday.
Cities in the developing world, especially China, dominated the top of the annual economic rankings of 300 cities worldwide by the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase. One exception: Bangkok, Thailand, came in last, its economy wrecked by political strife.
Macau has enjoyed a tourism boom, with gamblers coming to bet at more than 30 casinos, including the Venetian Macau, the world’s largest.
Cities in wealthy, developed countries tended to lag behind. Though most of the cities surveyed around the world have recovered from the Great Recession, 65 percent of European and 57 percent of North American cities have not, according to the study, which ranks cities by growth in employment and in economic output per person. Some highlights:
BIG DIFFERENCES
Joseph Parilla, a Brookings research analyst who co-wrote the report, said he was surprised by the “incredible differentiation within what are considered monolithic economic blocs.” Latin American cities, for instance, mostly sputtered. But Medellin, Colombia, and Lima, Peru, both broke into the top 50.
Cities in wealthy countries tended to perform poorly. But U.S. and British cities showed improvement. Three U.S. cities — Austin and Houston, Texas, and Raleigh, North Carolina — cracked the top 50. In the United Kingdom, London came in No. 26, Manchester No. 60.
The United States and Britain have begun to pick up economic momentum 5½ years after the recession ended.
“In developed economies like North America and Western Europe, cities like London and Houston are flying high, while others like Rotterdam and Montreal are struggling,” Parilla said.
INSIDE CHINA
Twenty-seven of the 50 top-performing cities were Chinese. Increasingly, strong growth occurred in the traditionally underdeveloped cities of China’s interior, rather than its booming coastal cities. Land-locked Changsha, for instance, enjoyed economic growth per person of 8.6 percent last year and wound up No. 15 in the overall rankings.
The coastal manufacturing powerhouse of Dongguan, next door to Hong Kong, registered per-capita economic growth of just 5.2 percent (unimpressive by Chinese standards) and finished No. 70. Companies have begun to move inland as the cost of labor and land rises on the Chinese coast. And the Chinese government has invested heavily on infrastructure in the interior.
COMMODITIES BOOM
The 18 cities worldwide that specialized in producing commodities such as oil registered the highest rates of growth in economic output per person (2.6 percent) and employment (1.9 percent).
“The recent rise in oil and gas production in North America partly explains the success of metropolitan areas like Calgary, Denver, Houston, and Tulsa, which are epicenters of the region’s shale revolution,” the report said.
Next year’s rankings may be different. Oil prices have plunged to less than $48 a barrel from $107 a barrel last June, jeopardizing the prospects of cities that had been riding the energy boom.
TURKISH DELIGHT
Four Turkish cities made the top 10: Izmir, Istanbul, Bursa and Ankara. Turkish cities boomed last year despite political unrest. “If you look at world headlines, Turkey is not in the news for its economic success, but it probably should be,” Brookings’ Parilla says. “It has pretty solid macroeconomic policies.”
Turkey benefits from its location at the boundary between Europe and Asia and from heavy investment in roads and other infrastructure projects, which creates jobs over the short term and is likely to make the economy more efficient over the long term.
Tagged with: North Carolina
Bridal expo offers one-stop shop for couples
Onslow County rates first in number of marriages among counties in North Carolina, which makes it big business. To capitalize on that unique demographic, the Jacksonville-Onslow Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Onslow County Tourism, the city of Jacksonville and Digity Media will hold the second Bridal Expo “Engaged Onslow” from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Feb. 21 at the American Legion building, 146 Broadhurst Road, Jacksonville.
“Because we are a military community, many couples are married at the Justice of Peace, but when the military member comes back (from deployment), the couples often hold a destination wedding here in Onslow County,” said Dawn Jensen of the Chamber of Commerce and coordinator for the Bridal Expo. “They are new to the community so we want the Expo to be a one-stop shop where couples and their families can see and meet at one venue the businesses that serve Onslow County.”
According to statistics provided to the Chamber of Commerce by the Onslow County Register of Deeds, Onslow had 2,772 marriage licenses issued in 2012; 2,762 in 2013; 2,599 in 2014, and 98 marriage licenses have already been issued for the month of January, Jensen said. The Chamber chose Jensen who is an experienced wedding and event planner to coordinate the Bridal Expo. Jensen, a military wife and mother, has been doing weddings in Jacksonville for 13 years and has worked as an event planner for Marine Corps Community Services and the Chamber of Commerce. She is also the military affairs manager for the Chamber.
Early results from last year’s Bridal Expo indicate that couples are responding. Julie Keoho, sales director for LBA Properties attended last year’s Expo where she handed out brochures and information about the three hotels that LBA operates, Townplace Suites by Marriott, Home2 Suites by Hilton, and Fairfield by Marriott. Over the course of this year, wedding guests produced about $50,000 in bookings, Keoho said. This year, LBA is partnering with other businesses to offer spa parties and makeup artists that come to the hotel for the wedding.
“I am really excited,” Keoho said. “It is a great opportunity to partner with other businesses.”
The idea for a Bridal Expo in Onslow was born in 2010 when former Chamber president Mona Padrick and Theresa Carter, director of Tourism, attended a workshop in Wilmington. At the workshop, the speaker included statistics of number of marriage licenses issued in each county to promote bridal expos. The bar on the chart representing Onslow far outstretched the other counties. Padrick and Carter had no idea and realized the county was missing a great opportunity to serve the population, Carter said. Work began then to make Onslow County not only the first in marriages, but also the first in weddings, particularly destination weddings held on Onslow’s pristine beaches, in barns in the lush countryside, at the Country Club or on the water at Marston Pavilion at Camp Lejeune. The first bridal expo was held in 2014. The 2015 event is shaping up to be bigger and better, Jensen said, with some new ideas such as the Ultimate Bridal Package giveaway.
The Ultimate Bridal Package should include a dress or money towards a dress for the bride, a tuxedo for the groom, limousine service, a DJ, flowers, a cake, photographer, and a wedding planner for the day. To win, brides must register by calling (910) 347-3141 or on the website engagedonslow.org; must be present at the Expo to win; and the wedding must be held in Onslow County.
Several vendors have already signed up to be part of the Ultimate Bridal Package such as Crystal Coast Tent and Event rentals, Coastal Petals, Charmed Events, and Margolis Men’s Store. Vendors can register to be part of the Ultimate Bridal Package and/or to attend the event by calling the Chamber or at the website engagedonslow.org.
Admission to the Expo is $7 for brides. The first 100 brides to register for the Expo will be given an “engagedonslow” tote to collect materials and information during the Expo.
“We want them (couples and their families) to know that we care about them, that we want them to come back and have their wedding here with us,” Carter said.
Tagged with: North Carolina