EOT 328 - Santisha Walker

Eye on the Triangle

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Eoin Trainor 0:00
The views and opinions expressed in Eye on the Triangle do not represent WKNC or student media.

Eoin Trainor 0:45
Good evening Raleigh and welcome to this week's Eye on the Triangle an NC State student produced new show on WKNC 88.1 FM HD one Raleigh, I am Eoin Trainor. On tonight's episode, Elizabeth Esser interviews Santisha Walker, a registered nurse, entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Durham they talk about her fitness apparel and wellness brand, the I am experience. But first you have some stories from the North Carolina News Service enjoy.

Nadia Ramlagan 1:12
A state environmental committee is considering a proposal to set a process in motion to reduce carbon emissions from power plants. It involves North Carolina joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or “RGGI,” a collaborative effort to shrink emissions by a group of East Coast states. RGGI requires companies to purchase an allowance for each ton of carbon-dioxide pollution they produce. The petition now heads to a second commission for a vote. Joel Porter with Clean Air Carolina says environmental groups are pleased the state is taking the impact of carbon pollution seriously.

Joel Porter 1:44
So that was a big step forward for us on a long journey through the regulatory process, but we are encouraged that they approve of our petition and regulating greenhouse gases in North Carolina.

Nadia Ramlagan 1:57
He says states already part of RGGI have seen carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants drop 47-percent over the last decade. With that dip in fossil-fuel generation came cleaner air, fewer hospital visits, and fewer lost work or school days from asthma and other respiratory illnesses. But an energy bill being debated by state lawmakers could complicate the effort to join RGGI. Porter says House Bill 951 would enshrine natural gas and fossil-fuel use in the state for the next decade, and limit the amount of renewable energy that can be used.

Joel Porter 2:30
All and all, we’re glad that we’re supporting a petition to get the state in RGGI, because this bill closes the state’s energy market to clean energy.

Nadia Ramlagan 2:41
Derb Carter with the Southern Environmental Law Center says joining RGGI would put North Carolina on a path to reduce carbon emissions from 2005 levels by 70-percent before 2030, and become carbon neutral by 2050.

Derb Carter 2:55
Which generally aligns with what the scientists are telling us we really need to do to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Nadia Ramlagan 3:04
Carter notes North Carolinians already feel the effects of climate change from extreme weather. He says unless the course is shifted, the state's residents and economy will see more consequences. For North Carolina News Service, I'm Nadia Ramlagan.

Nadia Ramlagan 3:23
New survey data offer a clear picture of how North Carolina kids and families are faring, both before and after the pandemic. The Tarheel State ranks 34th in the nation for overall child well-being in the 2021 Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Vikki Crouse with N-C Child says before the pandemic, one in five kids lived in households with incomes below the poverty line. And then, massive job losses meant thousands of parents suddenly had no or reduced income and few options for child care.

Vikki Crouse 3:53
So we know that the pandemic took a toll on everyone, but especially parents and caregivers.

Nadia Ramlagan 3:59
According to the report, the percentage of adults in households with kids experiencing symptoms of depression rose from 19-percent last year, to 22-percent in March of this year.
The data also reveal in 2020, 22-percent of households with children experienced housing insecurity, reporting "little or no confidence" in their ability to pay their next rent or mortgage payment. In March 2021, that figure has dipped to 17-percent. However, Crouse says affordable housing continues to be a pressing issue.

Vikki Crouse 4:29
And now he's really constrained because certainly families and kids don't fare well if they don't have a stable place to live.

Nadia Ramlagan 4:36
But she notes the expanded Child Tax Credit will likely lift more than 140-thousand North Carolina children out of poverty.
Leslie Boissiere with the Casey Foundation explains both state and federal Child Tax Credit programs are critical to eliminating structural inequities in the tax code.

Leslie Boissiere 4:53
We are excited and grateful that lawmakers passed the expansion, and we're calling on them to make that expansion permanent. We'd like to ensure that we don't have the largest-ever one-year reduction in the number of children who live in poverty, followed immediately by the largest-ever one-year increase.

Nadia Ramlagan 5:10
She adds more than half of Black children have historically been ineligible for the full Child Tax Credit because their household incomes are too low, compared with 25-percent of white children. For North Carolina News Service, I'm Nadia Ramlagan.

Lily Bohlke 5:30
Groups advocating for clean energy say Governor Roy Cooper's recent commitment to expanding North Carolina's offshore wind capacity will bring economic benefits to the state. North Carolina has among the highest offshore wind-energy potential in the nation, with its long coastline and shallow outer-continental shelf. Jaime Simmons, with the Southeastern Wind Coalition, says in addition to being a carbon-free source of power, expanding offshore wind could create tens of thousands of new jobs.

Jamie Simmons 6:00
Some of these major location decisions are being driven in large part by the states or regions with anticipated projects. So these development goals set by Gov. Cooper make a much stronger case for these manufacturers to locate and invest in North Carolina.

Lily Bohlke 6:16
North Carolina is facing a 10-year moratorium on all offshore energy leasing starting in July of 2022. Simmons says pending legislation would exempt offshore wind from the ban. In the meantime, she says there's work to do to get existing wind-energy areas ready for leasing – Wilmington East and West in the southern part of the state – and prepare for development of new projects to start immediately when the moratorium ends.
Simmons says offshore wind will be an essential part of the move toward a carbon-free grid – and that it marries well with solar energy. When solar starts to produce less in the day, around early evening, offshore wind usually is blowing the strongest. She adds that the high generation capacity of individual offshore wind projects is key.

Jamie Simmons 7:04
You're really talking about rethinking what baseload power means. Offshore wind is really the only renewable energy that could replace the capacity from a coal facility or natural-gas facility.

Lily Bohlke 7:19
Cooper's proclamation outlines targets for offshore wind energy of 28-hundred megawatts by 2030 and 8-thousand megawatts by 2040. His administration notes 8-thousand megawatts could power more than 2-million homes. The order also aligns with the state's clean-energy plan signed in 2018, which aims to reduce power-sector greenhouse gases 70-percent by 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. For North Carolina News Service, I'm Lily Bohlke, reporting.

Elizabeth Esser 7:54
I'm Elizabeth Esser with WKNC 88.1 Eye on the Triangle. Joining us today...