The North Carolina chapter of the Sierra Club this morning unveiled a website called The Daily Frack that promises "the fracking truth."

The club is one of the groups leading opposition to fracking in this state. Fracking, which is short for hydraulic fracturing, is a controversial method of drilling that uses chemicals and water to fracture underground rock formations and release natural gas. It is not legal in North Carolina, but the GOP-led legislature is exploring the possibility of changing that.

The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is studying the potential impact of fracking and plans to release a draft report in March. Supporters say fracking will tap into vast amounts of a clean-burning domestic energy resource to offset burning dirty coal and importing oil.

Opposed are concerned about what fracking could do to the environment, including water contamination.

The site includes research, news stories and maps showing where natural gas deposits are located in North Carolina. It also allows visitors to the site to ask questions.

A new study says recycling efforts in North Carolina are steadily expanding, adding jobs to the economy and even growing despite the sluggish economy.

The study released Tuesday by the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources measures the impact of recycling in North Carolina.

The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources squandered nearly $700,000 this year buying environmental restoration from a company that had already been paid for the same work by another state agency nine years earlier, said a state legislative review released today.
The state legislature's Program Evaluation Division also found that the state's losses could continue. The environmental agency has certified that the company can sell more acreage for environmental restoration that also had previously been bought by the state Department of Transportation.
"Decisions related to this controversy resulted in actual and potential future losses to the environmental integrity of the Neuse River basin," said the report.