Commentary

  • Guest Column: Cooper’s Missed Opportunity

    David McGowan, director of the N.C. Petroleum Council, says Gov. Roy Cooper’s decision to oppose seismic research and offshore drilling was a missed opportunity to play a constructive role in the debate.

  • Sam’s Field Notes: Coquina Clams

    Our naturalist, Sam Bland, recently enjoyed a late-afternoon walk on the beach in search of his favorite critters, the coquina clams, 1-inch, colorful, wedge-shaped mollusks found at water’s edge.

  • NC Missing at New York’s Billion Oyster Party

    Guest columnist Tom Looney recently attended a celebration of oysters in New York, noting North Carolina’s absence despite being ideally positioned to compete in the growing shellfish aquaculture market.

  • Commentary: Collective Amnesia on Bag Ban

    While some folks may not recall, business owners with much at stake in the Outer Banks’ environmental health remember why the plastic bag ban was enacted, as columnist Jared Lloyd reminds us.

  • Guest Column: A River Brings Folks Together

    A recent event held to celebrate and inform on efforts to protect and restore the Cape Fear River, the ninth annual StriperFest brought together people of different backgrounds and political affiliations.

  • Sam’s Field Notes: The Polar Bear Connection

    The effects of global warming are especially visible in the land of polar bears, as columnist Sam Bland recently witnessed, but how will the forces now affecting the arctic eventually change life on the North Carolina coast?

  • Sam’s Field Notes: The Monarch Migration

    Monarch, the “king of butterflies,” have embarked on their marathon fall migration to Mexico, arriving just in time for the Day of the Dead, where they are regarded as the souls of the departed returning to earth.

  • Guest Column: Cypress Trees as Sentinels

    Marcelo Ardón of N.C. State says cypress trees can serve as sentinels of North Carolina’s coastal sounds, and the public can help in discovering what these trees can tell us about the effects of sea-level rise and other changes.