The Atlanta City Council is slated on Monday to urge state lawmakers to pass a law that would increase the amount of money a state department receives from the sale of special license plates to fund the sterilization of dogs and cats. The bill also would fix an apparent typo on the state’s “Go Braves” tag.
Tag: Environment
Posted inColumns
Tips on how to garden sustainably
By Guest Columnist SUSAN VARLAMOFF, the former director of the University of Georgia’s Office of Environmental Sciences in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and lifetime Master Gardener
Landscapes occupy vast swaths of land across urban and suburban areas in the U.S. and how we cultivate our gardens directly affects the surrounding environment. Since Atlanta is bisected by the Chattahoochee River, which serves as a drinking water source, runoff from the land directly impacts the river’s water quality. Misuse or overuse of fertilizers and pesticides can result in water contamination as these chemicals run off the land during rain events.
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Atlanta preparing to buy land to improve access to Peachtree Creek trail network
Atlanta is making plans to buy a house and use its grounds to provide access to creek side trails the South Fork Conservancy has built alongside the South and North forks of Peachtree Creek. The city is willing to pay nearly $400,000 for the property.
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Atlanta moving ahead with restoration of greenroof atop Atlanta City Hall
Atlanta is poised to hire a Marietta-based green roofing company to renovate the 14-year-old greenroof that’s on the fifth floor of the Atlanta City Hall. The cost is not to exceed $135,000.
Posted inColumns
Water war: Georgia asked to consider importing water to Chattahoochee basin, which now exports millions of gallons a year
The latest directive from the special master overseeing the water-war litigation between Georgia and Florida reminds of the theory about the tragedy of the commons: The directive reminds of the amount of water Georgia already juggles to meet various demands.
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Georgia’s youth birdwatching, T-shirt contests accepting entries
Georgia’s youth birdwatching contest scheduled in April is a real challenge – birders will try to identify more than 170 species in 24 hours, the record set in 2015 and matched in 2016.
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Solar panels laid atop road surface in pilot program at West Point visitor center
Solar panels that can withstand the weight of vehicles were installed last week on the surface of the roadway at the Georgia Visitor Information Center in West Point. The energy will help power the information center.
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Feds not taking sides in water war, even as they step in on other environmental disputes
The federal government has made it official: It will not take a position in the federal lawsuit Florida filed against Georgia over Georgia’s consumption of water from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basin. What’s of note is that the federal government is changing the rules of how the water in the basin is managed.
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A holiday story: Small-town school wins prize for big idea inspired by pupils
In one of those feel-good stories just made for the holidays, a third-grade teacher from a small town in Middle Georgia has won a $1,000 grant funded by private contributions to build a bog at school with pupils who came up with the idea of a bog to solve a school-wide problem.
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Nation’s first offshore wind farm spurs call for Georgia to follow suit
The first offshore wind farm in the U.S. began operations Monday off Rhode Island, prompting the advocacy group Environment Georgia to call Tuesday for Georgia to move ahead with offshore wind farms.
Posted inColumns
Finding hope in people who believe in public spaces and planet Earth
After a brutal presidential campaign and election season, it has been a struggle to envision a brighter future for our nation and our world.
My emotions have vacillated from despair about the future of our planet to concern about the future of our cities to empathy for the millions of people seeking a better life – hoping to find comfort and acceptance in America.
With that backdrop, I attended two distinctly different events last week that helped give me hope for the future.
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Man’s impact on Earth, Chattahoochee River waterways detailed in new report
For climate enthusiasts, a new federal report has it all – from discussion of climate change to rising sea levels, from job creation to the fate of a fish described as a living dinosaur.
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Atlanta to pay up to nearly $1 million for safety manual for Atlanta Streetcar
The Atlanta City Council on Monday is expected to approve a contract for nearly $1 million to hire a consultant to advise on safety and security issues for the Atlanta Streetcar.
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South Pole news: GSU prof heading there, astronaut Buzz Aldrin safely evacuated
The South Pole is in the news today, as Buzz Aldrin, one of two men to walk on the moon in 1969, was evacuated from a research facility just as a Georgia State University professor is preparing to open a new facility to study the Sun’s “magic carpet” and, hopefully, solve a 75-year-old enigma.
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A Trump presidency and a bullet train between Atlanta, Chattanooga
President-elect Trump’s plan to spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment may coalesce just as the finishing touches are made to the proposal for a high-speed railroad to connect Atlanta and Chattanooga.
Posted inColumns
Annual list of Georgia’s ‘Dirty Dozen’ waters cites categorical threats, five victories
This year’s edition of the Dirty Dozen, a report of threatened waters, marks a shift from specific locations to broader categories including groundwater, well water and public health.
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Gov. Deal urges prayers for rain as he restricts water use in drought-ridden NW Georgia
Gov. Nathan Deal on Thursday urged Georgians to pray for rain as he restricted outdoor use of water across most of northwest Georgia, while active forest fires blaze across 27,027 acres in Georgia’s mountains.
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Feds approve Georgia’s wildlife conservation plan, which lists threats from global warming
Georgia’s updated 10-year wildlife plan, which says global warming threatens plants and animals, has been approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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Threatened chestnut trees join hemlocks as beneficiaries of mountain festival
The 12th annual Hemlock Festival that begins today in Murrayville has added the American chestnut tree as a species it’s trying to protect through proceeds of the outdoor gathering.
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Fulton County plans to nearly triple capacity of its sewage plant in Woodstock
As lawyers argue in a Washington courtroom over the distribution of water between Florida and Georgia, Fulton County is preparing to nearly triple the amount of treated sewage it dumps into a river that flows into Alabama and the Gulf of Mexico.
