Cancer took Wangari Maathai last weekend, but not her legacy. As the first black woman to receive a Nobel Prize, the strong-willed Kenyan forever changed the face of her country and much of Africa. Her simple yet radical tree-planting Greenbelt Movement popularized the need for land and water conservation and women’s equality on the continent. By her death, an estimated 45 million trees were planted across Africa.

Wangari Maathai

Also last weekend, the News and Observer reported that Governor Perdue is now leaning to support offshore oil and gas drilling. When she ran for Governor in 2008 Perdue opposed offshore drilling; after the election she said she would agree to study it and now she is leaning to support it. With the study nearly complete, it’s time to craft an offshore energy policy for our state.

Faced with crafting that policy, what would Wangari Maathai do?

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