Environment

North Carolina is still waiting on millions in reimbursements from the Department of Homeland Security for hurricane recovery. The Center for Disaster Philanthropy awarded $6.8 million in grants to organizations in western North Carolina supporting small-business development and housing recovery.

Duke Energy filed its 2025 Carbon Plan Wednesday morning. Seismic shifts in federal energy policy over the last year have left a mark on the utility’s approach to clean energy.

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, which petitioned the service to protect the snake, the southern hognose lives in the coastal plains of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, but they already have disappeared completely from Alabama and Mississippi.

The EPA announced in March that it was reevaluating its air quality standard for fine-particulate matter, also called soot. This sparked concern for Mecklenburg County Commissioner Elaine Powell during Tuesday’s county environmental stewardship meeting.

The Trump administration has massively cut spending on environmental initiatives in North Carolina, costing the state millions in grants for flood resiliency, clean energy and climate research.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Erin, Emerald Isle town staff collected a pickup truck load or so of tires last week, but Town Manager Frank Rush said it wasn’t a significant number and the work didn’t take very long.

The North Carolina Department of Agriculture is encouraging farmers to inspect their fields for an invasive weed recently discovered in eastern North Carolina.

Officials say crews will cover 150 miles of river in 25 counties over the next year and a half.

Division biologists will measure the fish, determine the sex when possible, and remove the otoliths (ear bones) for age determination. The information collected will be provided to the National Marine Fisheries Service for use in future Red Snapper stock assessments.

The Senate proposal is very similar to how the chamber proposed to fund relief in its budget. It has millions for western N.C. roads and bridges, including private infrastructure.