Blogs

As part of our move to sustainable energy practices, the University is partnering with Orange County on a project to turn the landfill gas from the Orange County Landfill on Eubanks Road into energy. On Monday, October 13, from 7 - 8:30 p.m. Orange County will host an information meeting on the project at the Seymour Center at 2551 Homestead Road in Chapel Hill.

Landfills like the one on Eubanks Road produce landfill gas, created as the waste stored there decomposes. The landfill gas then escapes into the atmosphere and is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. This project would collect the gas and transport it to University property where it would be converted to electricity. This electricity would be used for power at the Giles Horney complex on Martin Luther King Boulevard and later for buildings at Carolina North.

This is an exciting project for the community. It is a great example of recycling a by-product of the landfill. Turning the landfill gas into electricity would move the University forward in its effort to become carbon neutral.

Wall Street Journal has an interactive map of the United States that shows where people are "underwater" on their mortgages. Underwater is a new term for me.  I always heard upside down, but the meaning is the same - the house is now valued at less than is owed. The percentages shown on the map are only houses purchased in the last five years.

I was disappointed but not surprised to see Orange County, NC on the map.

Only 10% of homeowners are underwater this week.  That's nowhere near as bad as Orange County, California where 40-80% of homeowners are underwater. But that number could change if housing prices decrease, the percentage does not include people who may be underwater and bought six or seven years ago and the last five years saw an awful lot of houses constructed and purchased as well existing and changing hands in Orange County.  It begs the question just how many families is that?

Map here for your viewing pleasure:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122341352084512611.html#project%3DUnderwater0809

I'm doing a happy dance here in Egypt because I just received my Orange County absentee ballot, with plenty of time to send it back to Hillsborough before Election Day. I'll be mailing it off in the next day or so.

If you're ready with your endorsements, I'd love to hear them. I'm especially interested in opinions on non-partisan races and anything else where a straight-party Democratic vote might not be the way to go.