I was assigned to follow the Environmental Advisory Board (EAB) and how it interacts with Carrboro’s other sectors of government and of course the board’s perception, awareness and stance(s) on human rights. The EAB meets every first Thursday of the month in Carrboro’s Town Hall. The fist available meeting I could have attended ended up being cancelled so I spent that time researching the board’s previous activity through Carrboro’s official town website. It seems that in the past the board has been used as a go-to group when the larger umbrella of the Carrboro government wants to make a decision concerning environmental issues. However, according to most recent meeting minutes it seems the group has been more “proactive” in setting their own agenda especially concerning the newly founded Carrboro open space behind the Spotted Dog on Main Street. Another thing that seemed consistent throughout the minutes was the lack of consistent involvement from members. It is not a judgment just an observation--most minutes have most board members listed as absent. It will be interesting to see how this factor affects the overall group and its agenda as the semester proceeds.

The first meeting I got to attend was interesting. There were few attendees however the meeting was very structured and seemed rather formal (e.g., calling to order, adjourning, handouts, etc.). There was an interesting presentation on the Transition Model. This was a new concept for me. What I learned is that there is apparently an entire model built that communities in the UK are implementing to help themselves better adjust to climate change and other issues such as peak oil. As I am writing this now, I realized that the meeting was fairly specific. That is to say, there were some technical terms used such as peak oil and alternative energies that without my prior background knowledge of environmental science and climate change related issues I would not have been able to follow the discussion as clearly.

A topic that came up in the meeting that seems the most human rights oriented was the overall theme and perspective the group took on understanding how they might implement the Transition Model used in the UK in Carrboro. The general take away of the meeting was that the board’s focus was on empowering the community through the realm of adapting alternative energies and education on climate change. The focus of empowerment and less towards educating is what seemed human rights oriented. According to my interpretation of this, in a perfect world, the board would want everyone in the town’s vicinity to be educated on these topics. Realistically though, I wonder how this might happen. It seems as though the more “privileged” people in Carrboro are the ones able to access this education (e.g, people who go to events at the Carrboro Open Space). Lastly, it seems there is a lot of collaboration with the EBA and other environmental activist groups in surrounding towns such as NC Powerdown and BALLE. It will be interesting to observe how the advisory board chooses to interact with these groups around the emerging idea of using the Transition Model in Carrboro. This thursday is the next environmental group meeting that I will be attending.