April 27, 2022
Climate question
The Current and Savannah State University’s student Tiger’s Roar TV on Tuesday hosted a candidate forum for the three candidates for the Democratic primary race for U.S. Congress from Coastal Georgia — Joyce Marie Griggs, Michelle Munroe and Wade Herring. Among the questions posed was, “As a newly elected congressperson, what will you do to fight global warming? What programs would you support to help deter climate change in Georgia?
The candidates agree climate change is a threat to the district. Munroe and Herring called for infrastructure improvements including high speed rail and better public transportation. Griggs said the Environmental Protection Agency needs to be strengthened. Watch a recording of the forum at The Current. You can find the climate change question around the 49 minute mark.
The winner of the May 24 primary will face incumbent Republican Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter in the November General Election.
Coastal report card
The Georgia Coast improved its score slightly on an annual Coastal Georgia Ecosystem Report Card, according to the Coastal Resources Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which commissions the report released last week. Twelve indicators in four categories — sea turtles, water quality, fish and birds — are used to define Coastal Georgia health.
The state’s coastal environment grade of 81 percent is considered “moderately good” and is a four point increase from last year. The report has been commissioned annually since 2014. “Positive increases in red drum abundance, wood storks, and bald eagles all contributed to higher scores over last year,” CRD biologist Jan Mackinnon said in a press release.
But Dave Kyler, the executive director of the Center for a Sustainable Coast, fears the report card isn’t grading on the most relevant subjects. “Intentionally or not, CRD is strengthening denialist repression of calls for overdue action on climate change, while also marginalizing the urgency of toxic contamination caused by coal ash and the region’s numerous hazardous waste sites, including the notorious Union Carbide property proposed for spaceport launches in Camden County,” Kyler wrote in an email to The Current.
Herding cats
Cat lovers who are also nature lovers can have a tough time reconciling the two, especially where outdoor cats are concerned. Even well-fed house cats can be natural born killers. A study done in Washington, DC took a look at the dining habits of outdoor cats in relation to their proximity to natural areas. Using camera traps, researchers Daniel Herrera and Travis Gallo of George Mason University found that cats 800 feet or more from forest edges were more likely to prey on rats than on native wildlife.
“Our findings suggest that focusing efforts on managing cat populations near forested areas may be a more effective conservation strategy than attempting to manage an entire city’s outdoor cat population,” they conclude.
Trawl to trash
The folks at the UGA Marine Extension Service have come up with a way to repurpose shrimp nets and raise awareness of marine trash. They’re paying local commercial shrimpers to create trash collection bags out of shrimp net material.
“It’s exciting to find a new purpose for these trawl nets and who better to make the bags than the shrimpers who have spent countless hours mending their nets ahead of shrimping season?” said Dodie Sanders, marine educator at Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, and lead on the Trawl to Trash project.
Spaceport manager job hunts
In case you missed it, we reported last week that the Camden County Administrator and Spaceport Camden Project Leader, Steve Howard, is a finalist for the Collier County administrator position. That’s the Florida county that includes Naples. But he didn’t include a mention of Spaceport Camden in his cover letter or resume, an open records request revealed.
Howard, who has worked on Spaceport Camden for more than seven years and overseen the expenditure of more than $11 million on it, was in Chatham County earlier this month extolling the benefits of the planned small rocket launch facility. Asked to explain the omission, he ignored the question.
If you have feedback, questions, concerns, or just like what you see, let us know at thecurrentga@gmail.com.
The Tide: Camden leader job hunts in Florida without spaceport on his resume
Howard did not mention Spaceport Camden on the five-page resume or accompanying cover letter he submitted to Collier County. Howard has been the county administrator in Camden since 2007. He was named as spaceport project leader in 2014.
Recycled shrimp nets help remove marine debris
University of Georgia Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant are cleaning up the Georgia coast and supporting shrimpers whose income was limited during the pandemic. Through Trawl to Trash, funded by the National Sea Grant College Program, commercial shrimpers are recruited to sew bags made of recycled shrimp nets that can be used to collect […]
Targeted strategy may keep wildlife safer from cats
Should domestic cats be allowed to roam freely outdoors? It’s a contentious issue. Those who say yes assert that they’re defending outdoor cats and the people who care for them. Critics respond that free-roaming cats kill so many birds, reptiles, mammals and important insects like butterflies and dragonflies that they threaten biodiversity on […]
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