Environmental Rights

By: Yates Creech

The most depressing and daunting discovery I have made thus far, is that there is no apparent department for the environment on the City of Chapel Hill’s website. I have thoroughly explored the site and the closest I could get to the environment was a link to Greenways and parks in Chapel Hill. There is also, an entire page devoted to development with no mention of its impact on the environment.

The Chapel Hill Town Council has created a new advisory board that is centered on developing a sustainability plan for the Town, and carrying out education and outreach activities. The Town is currently engaged in a number of community-wide projects related to sustainability, including implementation of its Community Carbon Reduction (CRed) pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 60 percent by the year 2050. The Town has adopted milestones for per capita reduction of carbon emissions from municipal operations. The Town is also a partner in the Orange County Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Study, which plans to inventory county-wide greenhouse gas emissions.