Community Rising examines environmental news in the coastal Carolina region. We focus on the environment, development, climate change, pollution, and public health.
North Carolina is predicted to have an above average hurricane season this year, meaning an increase of evacuation orders is on the horizon. In this episode, Katie Webster, Assistant Director of Planning for NC Emergency Management, talks about the state’s new “Know Your Zone” program that hopes to streamline these evacuation orders. To find out…
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North Carolina’s low-income communities of color already face higher rates of chronic diseases like heart disease. And with the threat of increasing temperatures due to climate change, these disparities will only worsen. In this episode, Marian Johnson-Thompson, a virologist and environmental justice advocate, talks about how climate change will worsen health disparities, and why these…
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From hog lagoons to sewage sludge to wood pellet plants, low-income communities of color in Eastern North Carolina experience a wide array of environmental injustices. Naeema Muhammad, an organizer and activist, has been fighting against these injustices for over 20 years and has experienced the emotional toll that comes with such activism. In this episode,…
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Ana Zimmerman is a biology professor at the College of Charleston. She’s also a flood survivor. Over the course of a few years, her home was repeatedly flooded after major storms. The effect of repeated floods caused major damage to her home, and left her with struggles that weigh on her both personally and professionally…
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On July 22nd, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority was notified by the facility Chemours in Fayetteville, North Carolina of a potentially toxic sediment spill into the Cape Fear River. In this episode, Emily Donovan, co-founder of Clean Cape Fear, tells us what counties that relies on the river for drinking water need to know….
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Larry Baldwin is the Crystal Coast Waterkeeper and the Advocacy Director of the White Oak New River Keeper Alliance. He’s an advocate for improving the health and quality of water systems throughout coastal North Carolina. Baldwin has experienced a number of hurricane and says they can actually be a good thing for river systems. But…
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North Carolina’s Albemarle-Pamlico Estuary is the second-largest estuary in the United States and serves as a vital resource for several industries and communities. Bill Crowell, Director of the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership, says that as climate change continues to threaten this resource, taking steps to protect it is more important than ever. Produced by Kayla…
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Peter Groenendyk is the Director of Housing at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW) and has experienced countless hurricanes. Groenendyk discusses the process of evacuating students during hurricanes and finding housing for students with nowhere to go. He says his experience relocating students during hurricanes prepared him to deal with student housing issues…
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As a seventh generation commercial fisherman, David “Clammerhead” Cessna, of Smyrna, NC, speaks about how his family’s tradition led him to sustainable shellfish harvesting. At age 59, he is the co-founder of the Sandbar Oyster Company, producing job opportunities, environmental solutions and green gill oysters for Coastal NC and beyond.
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With the cancellation of plans to build the Atlantic Coast Pipeline on July 5, 2020; we examine the negative impacts it would have caused and ask activist Hope Taylor, director of Clean Water for North Carolina, why she fought so long to end its proposed construction. The 600-mile pipeline would have brought natural gas from…
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