Yesterday’s Journal editorial on Duke Energy and renewable energy also expresses skepticism that new technology will have an impact on global warming:

Even with the best new technology for cleansing emissions, the new Cliffside plant will still spew an enormous amount of climate-changing gas into the atmosphere. Those new pollutants will come after North Carolina has spent the last 15 years increasing its climate-changing gas emissions at a rate surpassed by only three other states. North Carolina and the United States need to be cutting these emissions, not adding to them.

….while the Greensboro City Council will get the discuss the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement:

Several North Carolina mayors who have signed onto the initiative say they want to fill a void the federal government has left by failing to act on an issue of great importance to future generations…..

While not taking a position on the initiative, (City Manager Mitchell) Johnson said the city needs to be careful about creating unrealistic expectations or nonsensical choices.

For example, the effort to cut greenhouse emissions to pre-1990 levels could pose a dilemma for the recycling program that did not exist back then.

Curbside recycling boosts municipal fuel consumption with a separate fleet of trucks, but that program also has significant environmental benefits, he said.

Backers of the initiative say phasing out recycling programs on the altar of fuel savings is the last thing they want to trigger.

…..Finally, Cindy Williams of Greensboro hoped for a more environmentally-friendly way of honoring the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre:

When I heard that for the memorial at Virginia Tech, “The bell was rung 32 times, and 32 white balloons were released, then a thousand balloons in the school colors, maroon and orange, floated up from the field,” I was saddened. Not just for the lost lives but also for the litter being sent into the atmosphere. I’m sure it was an impressive sight to see 1,032 balloons floating away. Where will the balloons come down? In yards or the forests or fields or streams or in the ocean?

They pose a problem to birds, animals and marine life. Even if they are biodegradable balloons, it usually takes about six to 12 months or longer for them to break down. Until then it’s litter. Why litter to honor those we lost? Why not release birds or have a butterfly release or plant trees?

One day after Earth Day (four days before Arbor Day), I had hoped for something more earth-friendly.