ICash Crop State Weed 2.0:
Hemp has value in multiple uses
BY PAT BRADFORD
N the January 2019 issue of Wrightsville Beach Magazine, a story entitled
“State Weed, The Rise of Industrial Hemp Farming in North Carolina,”
explained the history and uses for hemp in an experimental five-year state
approved growing phase. At that time, it was considered by many to be the
next big cash crop in the United States. However, North Carolina hemp production
remained young.
On June 30, 2022, after passage by the North Carolina General Assembly, hemp
was permanently excluded from the North Carolina Controlled Substances Act as
Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law Senate Bill 455, which allows for the farming and
production of hemp in the state to continue legally.
stories matterthat
“Take a close look at our magazine and you will
see each issue contains Stories That Matter. The
quality of the journalism is unsurpassed; original
stories, beautifully illustrated and photographed,
created for that particular issue with journalistic
integrity. These stories matter today and will still do
so 10 and 20 years from now, which is one reason
libraries from here to Raleigh have long collected and
archived each issue.” — Pat Bradford, publisher
blending pencil, watercolor, oil paint and oil crayon, Irwin’s
palette is saturated in pigment.
“In my later years, I learned to take oil pastel and lay down an
area and go back and wash it out,” he says. The idiomatic feathering
draws the viewer within an inch of the surface.
we tell
48 24
•offshore drilling •seismic exploration •Wind energy •coal ash
Four hot-button political and environmental issues penned by some
of the region’s finest environmental educators.
OIL AND WATER
offshore drilling By Matt Collogan
oil and gas wells have been built in the
Since 1940, over 50,000 abandoned, some leaking
Today, 27,000 wells are Gulf of Mexico. threatening wildlife, fisheries, public
crude oil and unmonitored, where coastal conservation
health off-shore
and tourism. In North Carolina, the prospect of is tradition and where no offshore wells exist,growing possibility on a slippery
fuel development is a fossil slope – albeit not at the hands of coastal locals.
The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) decides
every five years where to allow lease permits for drilling off of the
US coast. The next lease term runs 2017 through 2022, and offers
portions of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) off of the North
Carolina coast. North Carolina cannot issue lease permits for off-shore
drilling in federal waters. But, North Carolina has authority
to adjust the distances closer to shore for the 2017 plan because it
would have to start the whole process over again. Oil and gas busi-nesses
logical deepwater ports for onshore oil production are Charleston,
SC, and Norfolk, Virginia — not the 600-acre state-owned site
near Southport. No matter where the onshore infrastructure is
located it will negatively impact valuable coastal real estate with
pollution, traffic, pipelines and dredging equipment, and diminish
local quality of life and coastal heritage.
for
proposed seismic testing and drilling applications to review the state’s coastal management program. In April,
consistency with Management approved two consistency
the NC Division of Coastal data specialist, and
submissions solu-tions,
from Spectrum Geo Inc., a seismic advanced seismic imaging Technologies, a provider of GX seismic surveying. Two
for a first step toward permitting other companies have submitted requests to NCDCM, but await a
ruling. All four are based in Houston, although Spectrum’s entire
board is Norwegian.
Environmentalists ask: How did the federal government,
Houston and Norway find themselves determining the fate of
North Carolina’s coast?
pro-tecting
encouraging drilling, BOEM is temporarily While initially state administration, which
North Carolina from its own North Carolina is at a crosroads: fosil fuel dependence or renew-able
five years the levelized cost of energy
(LCOE) for generating utility-scale
energy from leading solar technolo-gies
the LCOE for land-based wind has
plummeted 60 percent. Both solar
and wind are cheaper than coal and,
in a growing number of places, are
more economical than natural gas.
Opponents say spending billions
developing a nascent offshore extrac-tion
is focused on fossil fuels. BOEM’s plan includes a 50-mile buffer
zone along the coast where drilling is prohibited, while encouraging
the development of renewable energy and fisheries. As chair of the
OCS Governors Coalition, NC Governor Pat McCrory has been
pushing to reduce or eliminate that buffer in order to allow drill-ing
closer to land. He is correct in realizing 50 miles out, drilling
would practically be on the slope of the OCS and would exclude
possible reserves closer to shore. At 50 miles out, drilling is much
more expensive and more difficult than closer to shore.
The governor’s proposal would allow drilling 30 miles from
Cape Hatteras, where the Gulf Stream and Labrador currents
interact and could disperse any spilled oil over large areas, includ-ing
program that won’t have appre-ciable
iresponsible, especially when consid-ering
The Point, a significant ecological location and fishing spot
near Nags Head. BOEM has stated it would not redraw the leases
are looking for existing infrastructure and realize the only
energy fredom. The Lazard Energy Analysis reveals in the past
has plummeted 80 percent and
returns for another 25 years is
how the polluting externalities
of the drilling industry negatively
affect existing coastal economies
dependent on healthy environments.
Local county governments like
Duplin, Robeson and Pender are
investing in solar farms that anchor
jobs locally and provide cleaner,
cheaper energy. Improving effi-ciency,
building bike lanes (success-ful
PV solar bike lanes now exist in
the Netherlands), converting motor
fleets to electric and diversifying the
renewable energy portfolio are all
actions available now, and all cleaner
than offshore drilling.
Matt Collogan, a graduate
from UNCW’s environmen-tal
studies program, has
worked for a decade as an
environmental educator for
New Hanover County Parks
and Gardens Department.
Originally from Silver
Spring, Maryland, Matt has
lived in North Carolina since
2002. Now self-employed
as a farmer, he also sits on
the Tidal Creek Cooperative
Board of Directors.
37
WBM www.wrightsvilebeachmagazine.com
Mapping
the pros
and cons of
energy
production
off and on
the north
carolina
coastline.
Sensation I, 31 x 49 inches, oil on board.
heavy summer reading:
number two, fiberglas is a lot heavier than cold mold, cold mold
being a wood frame with glas on top of it.”
In “busting Through III,” a sportsfish planes above the inlet,
casting its shadow on the surface of the water beneath it, throwing
spray from the boat’s transom to the right edges of the canvas.
The aerial view was shot from a helicopter. This painting, like
many others, was rendered from color transparencies inside
Irwin’s 1990-built studio.
An offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast.
june 2015 36
WBM
by Brooks Preik photography by Allison Potter
rach on
Domonique Launey
Enchanted by the music of Mozart at the tender age of two, Domonique Launey seemed destined to become a concert
pianist. Her mother, an amateur classical pianist, and her father, a trumpet and cornet player, instilled in their children
a love for the music of master composers, and also an appreciation for the rich musical heritage of the Louisiana Cajun
country where they grew up. Launey completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Texas-Austin,
where she studied piano. There she took master clases with some of the foremost classical musicians and teachers of the day.
She completed her postgraduate work in Belgium as a Rotary International Scholar. She has performed throughout the US,
Europe and Jamaica as a soloist, chamber musician and accompanist, garnering many impressive awards in her career
including first place in the Wideman International Piano Competition and the Gold Medallion for her solo performance at
Académie de Musique in Belgium. She and her husband Dr. Jonathan Hines — also an accomplished musician as well as
a physician — moved to Wilmington in 1996. Since that time, Launey has been a central figure on the concert scene in her
adopted community, performing regularly for the Music at First series at First Presbyterian Church, in numerous chamber
music recitals and as a soloist with the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra.
Q&A
in Louisiana and Texas. What
You and your husband have family home?
made you choose Wilmington as your specialist and he was recruited
Jon is an internal medicine I love the mountains,
to this area. He loves the ocean. mountains were not that far away. Of
and I knew the ocean too. Who wouldn’t ?
course, I love the carer ben favorably afected by moving to this area?
Has com-munity
your musical tremendously. I was so welcomed by the musical Yes, Lightenheimer, the organist/music
here. I met Doug Who is your favorite composer from the past?
Mozart. When I was a child I could walk around and sing
all of the themes. It intrigued me that he could think of so
many. He had endless ideas.
If you could spend an evening with any musical celebrity living or
dead, who would you choose?
Leonard Bernstein — hands down. One of the most creative
people ever. And such exuberance.
What contemporary classical pianist is your favorite?
Emanuel Ax because he always stays true to the style and
director at First Presbyterian Church. He told me about
the concerts they were starting there and invited me. I was
so lucky to have that lovely venue and that beautiful piano,
a 7-foot Shigeru Kawai. Steven Erante heard me play and
invited me to play a Mozart Concerto with the Wilmington
Symphony. Then I met others. I was amazed at al of the
concentrated talent here.
You teach in addition to performing. How has your involvement with
the Cape Fear Music Teachers Association influenced you?
Membership is open to everyone, though mostly piano
teachers. I was used to being in a huge association, but this
one is a small, wonderful group of serious piano teachers
who are totally devoted to their work. That devotion, to me,
has always been inspirational.
score of the composer.
is
Though you are blessed with an incredible talent as a pianist,there gor-geous
another that you wish for?
a always dreamed I would wake up one morning with I voice.
If you could travel, all expenses paid, to any city in the world, where
would you go? Why?
First, Baton Rouge to see my amazing mother, then Vienna
would be great to re-experience the opera, the Vienna
Philharmonic, museums and striking architecture.
81
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ROBERT IRWIN
sAndrA chAmbErs christ oph Er shAnE
mich AEl opEnhEim/north cArolinA ArborEtum
Published, designed,
photographed, written
and edited by
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home
Thrown
The North Carolina
pottery industry
thrives in Seagrove
Seagrove is known
By Chris Russell Photography by Allison Potter
as the pottery capital of
north Carolina, and with
more than 70 working
potteries in the area, the
description fits.
Daily dinnerware, whimsical face mugs,
in between
artistic vases, and everything can pot-ters.
by be bought or commissioned Their works are seen as far away as
the Louvre in Paris and as close as the
arboretum and Cameron art Museum in
wilmington. seagrove pottery has even
been featured in popular movies.
The town is located in the heart of the
state, a few miles south of asheboro and
about 40 miles northwest of Pinehurst.
its abundant natural clay deposits have
attracted potters for over 250 years. some
craftsmen here trace their pottery roots
for nine generations.
A variety of forms and glazes by Ben Owen are
displayed in his showroom.
20 august 2022
WBM
Hemp is a fast-growing plant with
uses that range from animal feed to
pain-relief products to prostheses to
construction materials. Hemp is also
used to produce CBD oil.
The legislation specifies, “Hemp
products mean all products made from
hemp, including but not limited to,
cloth, cordage, fiber, food, fuel, paint,
paper, particleboard, plastics, seed, seed
meal and seed oil for consumption, and
verified propagules for cultivation if the
seeds originate from hemp varieties.”
In construction, hemp can be used
to make hempcrete, an alternative to concrete, and also turned into plywood, insu-lation,
drywall, sealants and glues. Hemp fiber is a viable alternative to synthetic
materials, and uses include prostheses constructed from textiles woven from hemp
yarns. An environmental benefit of hemp is its suitability for phytoremediation, the
process of planting a crop on farmland that has been contaminated from overcrop-ping
or flooding.
Sponsored by state Sen. Michael Lee, the hemp legislation passed the Senate 41-2
and the House 85-26.
“The hemp industry has become a vital part of our state’s economy over the
last few years, with over 1,500 producers and employing thousands of North
Carolinians … we look forward to North Carolina continuing to be a leader
in the hemp industry,” says Lee, who represents District 9 (New Hanover
County).
First grown in the United States during colonial times, hemp can be traced back
locals
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80
WBM february 2015
Domonique Launey at her
1912 Mason & Hamlin BB piano
in her Wilmington home in
January.
art treatise
maritime art By Marimar McNaughton
From the wilds of Roanoke Island to the back roads of Harkers Island, intrepid artists plunder the
coast for subject matter. Time and again boats in yards is a universal theme.
RobeRT IRwIn shelved a myriad of careers to adopt the
life of an artist.
The former cruising sailor and motor yacht crewman
found safe anchorage on a sublime slice of paradise
amid a treed landscape that screens a woodland studio
on property backing up to deepwater near beaufort, north Carolina.
“I painted work boats, sailboats, and toward the end, I got very
interested in the Carolina flare and the angle you got when stand-ing
under them in the yard,” Irwin says. “These big boats are just
spectacular.”
Randy Ramsey’s Jarrett bay charter boat flagship, Sensation, is
one of the boats Irwin painted over and over.
“Sensation — the shape of it, the tumblehome transom, the
flared bow — it was on the yard a lot off season,” he says. “You
don’t realize the undercarriage of these boats when they’re in the
water. Secondly you don’t realize how little room is in these boats.
because of the way the hull is shaped. They’re meant to go to the
bathroom, take a nap and fish . . with tiny little transoms for get-ting
big fish in the rear door. They’re fishing machines. The Carolina
flare became synonymous with ‘go fast.’ Function first, then
design,” Irwin says. “I’m not an expert, I’m simply a visual observer.”
Spooning up a taste of north Carolina game fishing history Irwin
references the big Rock, a rocky bottom near the Continental Shelf
uncovered in the 1940s. Little George bedsworth was the first
to fish the rock, says neal Conoley, famed decoy collector, boat
book author, erstwhile painter and president of the north Carolina
Aquarium Society.
“I think George was the one who named it the big Rock,” Conoley
adds. Fishing the big Rock used to be a two-day affair until the first
marlin of record, a mere 143-pounder, was caught in 1957.
“That sort of brought on the big designs,” Irwin says.
Fishing the big Rock requires pasage through Morehead City Inlet.
“If you’ve never been in and out of it, it’s a trip,” Irwin says. “There’s
a wave that comes of of Fort Macon, you have a 30- to 40-foot roler,
two or three of them, especialy when the tide is either going out
or coming in. I think that’s the beauty of the cold mold design,
fiberglas cannot take that kind of punishment, number one; and
“It was a progression if you will. The combination of all of it used
to interest me when I had dexterity,” he says.
Irwin was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease about 17 years
ago. He continued to paint for several more years. An assemblage
of his work will hang during a one-man retrospective at Carteret
Contemporary in July.
“I’m not bitter about anything. I had a great run. I enjoyed it
while I had it. I miss it,” Irwin says of drawing and painting. “At some
point you just can’t go back, you’re not going to be able to replicate
what could you do ten years ago.” Low Tide at Taylor’s Creek, 30 x 37 inches, watercolor.
59
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