Browsing by Subject "Environmental Defense Fund"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Barriers for Municipalities to Federal Funding for Flood Mitigation
    (2020-05) Reilly, Kelly
    In North Carolina, flooding is a significant and costly problem for many counties. Efforts to mitigate flooding damage or incidence take a number of forms, including property buyouts and traditional and natural infrastructure projects, many of which can be costly for counties. There are a number of federal programs designed to fund the range of mitigative measures, dependent on the type of project or assessment of risk for the municipality. Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) wants to know the answer to a key policy question related to flood mitigation: what are the barriers, if any, limiting the utilization by local governments in North Carolina of federally available funds for mitigative projects aimed at preventing flood damage? If so, how should EDF prioritize their partnerships, planning, and resources in providing solutions to lessen these barriers?
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    Power in Numbers: Case Study of the Culebra Community Residential Solar Project
    (2024-04-26) Mandel, Jenny
    Residential solar systems, often paired with batteries for onsite energy storage, are increasingly popular as a source of clean, reliable power, but access to such systems lags among lower-income households. In 2019, Environmental Defense Fund began working with residents of the Puerto Rican island of Culebra in a partnership to demonstrate how renewable energy systems could be deployed to provide clean, affordable, resilient, reliable energy in an under-resourced community. The project prioritized the participation of high-need households including those with electrically powered medical equipment, elderly residents and children. This case study, based on project documents and interviews with participants and a wide range of stakeholders, identifies barriers to deploying solar with storage in an isolated and under-resourced community and strategies to overcome them. The case study can inform other programs aiming to expand solar energy access, particularly in remote and under-resourced communities.
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    Working Waterfronts Preservation in North Carolina, and the Potential for Involvement by Environmental Defense Fund
    (2008-04-25T19:59:55Z) Roberts, Sean
    The face of North Carolina’s coast is changing. Rampant development is leading a shift from traditional working waterfront communities, which support commercial fishing and related businesses, to condominiums and housing developments. The loss of working waterfronts, including the subsequent economic, cultural, and historical changes, coupled with the loss of public access to public trust waters, led the North Carolina General Assembly to take action. In 2006, the General Assembly created the Waterfront Access Study Committee (WASC) and charged the Committee with examining the changing nature of North Carolina’s coast and recommending ways for the state to halt these changes. This masters project reviews the progress and current status of the waterfront access program in North Carolina, and it explores opportunities for Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to get involved in the waterfront access issue. The report relies on information from literature reviews, interviews, and attendance at three public meetings. The report begins with a review of the work of the WASC and its recommendations. It then reviews the General Assembly’s response to the WASC’s report. The General Assembly’s actions included the extension of present use value taxation to working waterfront properties, the creation of the Advisory Committee for the Coordination of Waterfront Access (646 Committee) to oversee future waterfront access work, and the establishment of the Waterfront Access and Marine Industry Fund (WAMI), which will distribute $20 million for working waterfront and public access projects throughout the state. Present use value taxation offers little opportunity for involvement by EDF. The 646 Committee provides opportunities for EDF to monitor the state’s waterfront access program and suggest improvements or new actions. The WAMI allows EDF to monitor and comment on projects receiving funding and to identify additional sites for funding. EDF also could get involved in waterfront access by building relationships with developers, establishing working relationships with fishermen, advocating for the creation of a new waterfront access fund with conservation goals, and supporting fishermen in their own efforts to preserve working waterfronts. These suggestions can help guide EDF’s decision whether to expend resources to get involved in waterfront access issues in North Carolina.