Hundreds turn out to hear Nelson supes grill Dominion on pipeline

“Virginia is for lovers, not pipelines.” “You shall not pass.” “Humpback wails over pipelines.” The gauntlet of signage on the sidewalk outside Nelson Middle School Tuesday evening ahead of the community’s first public meeting with representatives from Dominion Resources made the sentiments of hundreds of local residents clear: They don’t want to see the company […]

Spectra suspends pipeline proposal

Spectra Energy has suspended efforts to build a $4 billion, 427-mile natural gas pipeline through Virginia, a spokesman confirmed this week. The Houston-based company was one of three so far this year to float proposals for gas pipelines cutting through the Commonwealth. Its pipeline would transport fracked gas from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, skirting Albemarle […]

Green happenings: Environmental news and events

Earth Week is upon us, and local resiliency group Transition Charlottesville Albemarle is encouraging you to fire your dryer. At 5pm on Friday, April 25, the group will hold a pop-up clothesline party near the Central Place fountain on the Downtown Mall to share information about renewable energy alternatives for clothes drying. The event will include games, […]

Ask Betty: What to do about those pesky junk flyers and catalogs

Teri Kent runs Charlottesville’s Better World Betty, a non-profit organization and online resource for locals looking to shrink their impact on the environment. Every month, Betty—Kent’s ’50s-housewife-meets-earth-goddess alter ego—answers the most burning eco-questions from our readers about energy use, water, waste and recycling, transportation, and green buying.  The majority of my junk mail is credit […]

Storm tracker: A weatherman’s view of Charlottesville’s encounter with a Nor’easter

It’s Wednesday morning, February 12, and all over Charlottesville—in fact, up and down much of the East Coast—residents are making storm preparations, snapping up groceries and rock salt by the ton. While the storm—dubbed “Pax” by the Weather Channel and “Snochi” by the Olympic-minded Twitterverse—is a Nor’easter created by converging air masses in a low […]

Winter garden blues: Waiting out cold weather in the veggie patch

Winters in Virginia sure can be fickle. Last winter it was so warm that the ground barely froze, and I had clients harvesting tomatoes well into December. And then March hit, with sleety, slushy snow and cold temps, and my spring gardens couldn’t be planted until April—compare that with planting spinach on February 22 several […]