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October Newsletter
Note from the Director
In 2007, IEI began an ambitious program of work on Energy. During the 2008 Emerging Issues Forum, “North Carolina’s Energy Futures: Realizing a State of Opportunity,” we promised that after six months we would update you the state’s advancements.
Our just-released Energy program report highlights the impressive progress North Carolina is making as it builds its new energy economy. Given the tough economic times confronting the nation and North Carolina these days, it is particularly important that we all continue to support the identified efforts to reposition North Carolina as a leader in the new energy economy.
Update On Programs
Building the Good Growth State?
To better develop its newest program of work on growth annd infrastructure, this fall IEI is conducting a series of Focus Groups across the state. Leaders from each community will engage in an open-ended discussion around three areas: the challenges their community is facing in terms of maintaining a sound built environment in the face of external changes; their vision for the future of their community and region; and their evaluation of the various assets available to their community as it wrestles with change.
Online Conversations - Emerging Issues Debate
In response to Diane Cherry's comments last month on harnessing wind power in North Carolina, Paul Quinlan of the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association provides insight into the economic benefits of generating more wind power in the state as well as some of the regulatory barriers that need to be addressed for this to become a reality.
Organizations in Action
As IEI embarks on our newest - and possibly most ambitious - program of work on growth and infrastructure, Changing Landscapes: Building the Good Growth State?, we recognize the need for thoughtful partners and informed stakeholders to implement a vision for North Carolina’s future at both the state and local level.
One such organization thinking about growth at the local level is ULI Triangle, a district council of the Urban Land Institute, which will host a two day Reality Check on February 24 and 29, 2009. Reality Check will bring together a diverse group of stakeholders from 15 counties for a regional visioning process that will lead to long-range planning and consensus building on growth-related issues.
Did You Know?
The Rhetoric and Realities of Offshore Drilling
We have heard a lot about offshore drilling for oil and gas recently, and it is not hard to see why. Prices at the pump in North Carolina are among the highest in the nation, and shortage of supply has even closed stations across the state. As a result, two thirds of North Carolinians support ending the moratorium on offshore drilling in the Atlantic, hoping for lower prices, reliable supplies, new jobs and increased state revenues.
However, the Energy Information Administration has some interesting facts about the prospects for oil and gas off our coast, and it is inconsistent with some of the rhetoric we have been hearing.