Day: March 30, 2007

The air pollutants that would issue from Progress Energy’s proposed Woodfin power plant are miniscule in comparison with what Canton’s Blue Ridge Paper Products mill belches out on a daily basis. The mill’s Title V air permit is up for review next week.

The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol could feed one person for a year, and widespread production of the alternative fuel could exacerbate hunger in developing nations. Carbon trading concentrates pollution in poor communities, and as nuclear energy moves in to replace fossil fuels, radioactive contamination will intensify in low-income areas.

Sixteen-year-old North Buncombe High School sophomore — aka “pirate boy” — Bryan Killian caused a stir this week by donning an eye patch. Professing devotion to “Pastafarianism,” which holds that pirates are deities, Killian has insisted his swashbuckling regalia is a testament to his religious faith, and that he should be able to wear it in school.