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State Climate Change Interagency Council Heads To Winston-Salem

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper speaks with reporters after testifying before the House Natural Resources Committee hearing on climate change on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

A group tasked with fighting climate change is meeting in Winston-Salem this week. It's part of the state's plan to reduce greenhouse gases by 40 percent before 2025.

Gov. Roy Cooper signed an executive order last fall, directing state agencies to create specific plans for meeting those goals. For example, the N.C. Department of Transportation is looking at ways to increase the number of registered, zero-emission vehicles.

The order also established what's called the North Carolina Climate Change Interagency Council. It allows key stakeholders to interact and work together during the process. Their meeting in Winston-Salem will provide an opportunity for the public to comment on the various proposals.

“It's a chance for the agencies to provide updates on the items that they have due on October 1st,” says Sharon Martin, Director of Public Affairs for the Department of Environmental Quality. “For example, for DEQ, that's an update on the Clean Energy Plan, so it will look at how we integrate more clean energy resources and how we need to modernize our electric grid.”

The meeting will take place at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 16.

Environmental groups say they also plan to hold a rally outside the event to push for more clean energy policies in the state.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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