CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Cities such as Asheville, Charlotte and Durham have adopted clean-energy strategies to fight climate change. Across North Carolina, however, some groups see a gap in community advocacy that they want to change.

A series of online workshops this month aims to equip residents with the knowledge they need to act on climate solutions and advocate for their region.

Eboné Lockett, founder and executive director of Harvesting Humanity, said the people affected most by climate change often aren't heard in the policy debates about problems such as more intense and frequent rainstorms, extreme heat and changes in weather patterns that impact crops.

"And if they don't understand it, and if they don't understand their role and responsibility in helping to shape and cultivate our physical and built environment," she said, "then they miss the whole idea of community, and community-centered and people-centered work."

She said the workshops will include details on North Carolina's climate and clean-energy initiatives. The next Climate Ambassadors Training will be held online next Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 12-13. Register at cleanaircarolina.org.

Former Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, director of EcoAmerica's Path to Positive Communities, said more North Carolinians are feeling the effects of climate change but might not know how to approach their local and state officials. She said she believes that when citizens have the tools to jumpstart grassroots efforts, their actions add up.

"Because everybody can play a role in climate solutions, and when that happens, we all win - because utility costs go down, costs for cities to operate go down," she said. "Our air gets healthier; our health improves."

June Blotnick, executive director of Clean Air Carolina, said the strategies for improving air quality are closely tied to climate-change solutions. She said the workshops can help people find local ways to protect the health of their families and future generations.

"We're excited to take the program statewide," she said, "and to invite people - whether they be civic leaders, whether they be stay-at-home moms or dads, business owners, anyone - to learn how climate change is impacting North Carolina."

In Charlotte, she said, a group that dubs itself the "Charlotte Mecklenburg Climate Leaders" urged the city to expand its renewable energy and cleaner public transportation efforts to meet a city goal of going "carbon-free" by 2030. As a result of the group's work, the Charlotte Area Transit System announced plans last fall to transition to electric buses.

Last year, filmmaker Michael Nash achieved the extraordinary when his documentary "Climate Refugees" was sent to the moon as part of a Lunar Museum project. Now, he's on a new mission: getting the faces of climate refugees featured on postage stamps to keep the conversation about climate migration alive.

"Climate Refugees," which premiered at Sundance and was later featured on Netflix, has been a powerful tool for raising awareness about the human impact of climate change. Nash and his team traveled to 48 countries, uncovering stories of forced migration driven by droughts, food shortages and environmental collapse.

"What we found was this intersection where overpopulation, overconsumption, lack of resources, and a changing climate were slamming into each other," Nash explained. "The outcome was forced migration: people running out of water and food in places they'd lived for hundreds, if not thousands, of years."

While the film's journey to the moon in 2024 was a historic milestone, Nash is now focused on a more down-to-earth goal: creating postage stamps featuring the faces of climate refugees, although gaining approval from the U.S. Postal Service's stamp committee will require demonstrating the issue's national relevance and historical significance.

Despite the progress in raising awareness, Nash emphasized the world has not done enough to address climate migration.

"There is not an international law accepted by all countries that gives asylum or protection to people forced to relocate due to climate change," Nash pointed out.

According to the United Nations, more than 20 million people
are displaced annually by climate-related events, making the need for action more pressing than ever.

Nash was a featured speaker at last week's Climate Correction Conference in Orlando. His next project, a film exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and climate change, is currently in production and set for release in 2026.


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What if your trash could be the key to a more sustainable wardrobe?

The group Keep Orlando Beautiful is proving it is possible with its annual "Trash 2 Trends" initiative, where discarded materials -- literal garbage -- are transformed into stunning, runway-worthy outfits.

It is not just about a flashy event, it is about inspiring everyone to rethink how they consume and dispose of clothing. The fashion industry is one of the largest polluters globally, responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions and nearly 20% of wastewater production. Fast fashion, which relies on synthetic materials such as polyester and nylon, contributes to microplastic pollution.

Madison Szathmary, coordinator for Keep Orlando Beautiful, said many people do not realize their clothes are made out of plastic.

"Every time you're washing something that's made out of spandex, nylon, polyester -- little plastic fiber from the clothing is getting into your washing machine and ending up in the water reclamation stream," Szathmary explained. "We want people to be able to buy used when they can."

You can also recycle what you already have at home, which is known as upcycling. Trash 2 Trends shows creativity can combat climate change by turning waste into wearable art. The creativity is on full display during Keep Orlando Beautiful's annual fundraiser but the real goal is to encourage everyone to embrace sustainable fashion in their daily lives.

You don't have to be a runway artist to make a difference. Szathmary encouraged everyone to embrace "slow fashion," a more intentional approach to clothing, prioritizing quality over quantity.

"Having an intentional closet," Szathmary added. "We call that slow fashion instead of fast fashion. And you can really, once you have a style and once you know what you like, there are opportunities to find that stuff not only at thrift stores but with your friends. You can swap clothing with your friends."

Szathmary noted the effect of small changes can be huge. By reusing and repairing clothing, we can reduce the demand for new textiles, which often rely on fossil fuels and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. The fashionable trends were on full display at last week's Climate Correction Conference in Orlando.


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Local leaders in California are slamming the Trump administration's moves to gut dozens of environmental policies on climate change and pollution in low-income communities.

Last week Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin said the agency will loosen restrictions on oil and gas and reconsider the "endangerment finding" underpinning regulations on greenhouse gases.

Felipe Perez, city council member and former mayor of Firebaugh, said farmworkers in the Central Valley rely on the feds to limit air pollution from nearby oil rigs.

"The people that work in the field, we have to go to work even though the pollution is too high," Perez pointed out. "We have to go because we have to feed our families."

The EPA also eliminated the department that fights for environmental justice and killed the Biden-era Justice40 plan, which directed 40% of infrastructure money to low-income communities of color.

Daniel Ramos, mayor pro tem of Adelanto in San Bernardino County, said the Trump administration has frozen millions of dollars earmarked by Congress for improvements to the city's wastewater treatment facility.

"Stripping away funding and programs that have already been signed into law, counted on and, in our case awarded, will definitely have a detrimental impact on those Justice 40 communities," Ramos stressed.

Igor Tregub, a city council member in Berkeley who was born in Ukraine, said the move to lift rules promoting electric vehicles increases reliance on oil and gas, which he called a threat to national and international security.

"This is a boost to the kinds of fossil-fuel industries that fund authoritarian forces like Putin's, that have a desire to take over peaceful democracies like Ukraine's," Tregub noted.

Zeldin defended the moves, insisting they will "usher in a golden age of American success" and calling former President Joe Biden's environmental policy a "green new scam."