Weekly Conservation Bulletin
02/20/2012
Candidate filing is underway for the 2012 primaries, plus more news, this week in CIB:
Campaign Watch: Candidate Filing Underway
Candidate filing is underway for the North Carolina primaries. With a little more than half the filing period still to go, we note these highlights:
The field of major candidates for governor is closer to being set. On the Republican side, former Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory is without notable challengers for the GOP nomination. Having never served in legislative office, McCrory has no detailed scorecard of environmental votes upon which to judge his stances. From his tenure as mayor, we do know that he favored public transit, including passenger rail--a plus. From his professional work for Duke Energy, we also know that he can be expected to defer to power industry positions on energy--a minus.
On the Democratic side, there are three credible contenders: Lieutenant Governor Walter Dalton; former U.S. Congressman Bob Etheridge; and N.C. House Rep. Bill Faison (D-Orange). All three have legislative histories for examination. Dalton was a multi-term N.C. State Senator before his election as Lieutenant Governor, and his most recent scores by NCLCV (under its previous name CCNC) were 65% for the 2007-2008 session, and 77% for the 2005-2006 session. Faison's latest scores from NCLCV were 60% in 2011, and 74% 2009-2010. Before his loss in 2010, Etheridge received a career average score from the national League of Conservation Voters (LCV) of 79% for his several terms in Congress.
The latest development of significance in the race for governor came last Thursday, when retiring U.S. Congressman Brad Miller (D-NC13) announced that he would not run for governor. Miller had received strong encouragement to run from many progressive Democratic sources. Miller has a 95% career average score from LCV for his several terms in Congress. Two other well-known Democrats are reportedly still considering the race: former State Treasurer Richard Moore, and former N.C. House Speaker Dan Blue.
In the race for Lieutenant Governor, both Republican and Democratic fields have multiple choices. Among the Democrats, two credible candidates have announced. There is N.C. State Senator Eric Mansfield (D-Cumberland), a first-term legislator and physician from Fayetteville. Mansfield has a 50% NCLCV for his only year in office, 2011. (It should be noted that nearly all the N.C. Senate scores were terrible last year, as some very bad environmental legislation was approved by unanimous votes.)
The other announced Democratic contender is Linda Coleman, currently director of the Office of State Personnel. Coleman previously served in the N.C. House from Wake County, receiving NCLCV scores of 82% in 2007-2008, and 83% in 2005-2006.
On the Republican side, N.C. House Rep. Dale Folwell (R-Forsyth), currently the House Speaker Pro Tem, is running. Folwell has an NCLCV score of 17% for 2011, down from 42% for 2009-2010. The other GOP candidates have no legislative record: Tony Gurley, a lawyer and Wake County Commissioner; and Dan Forest, a Raleigh architect.
We also note that incumbent State Treasurer Janet Cowell, the CCNC Senator of the Year in 2007 when she represented a Wake County district in the N.C. General Assembly, has filed for re-election as state treasurer.
In noting the legislative scorecard records of the various candidates, CIB cautions that those scores should not be taken in a vacuum. Candidates also bring other factors to bear on their prospects for office, including leadership (or lack thereof) on especially important environmental issues, their platforms on prospective issues under the jurisdiction of the higher office they're seeking now, and their depth of understanding of these issues and how they can be affected by the office they're seeking.
Legislative Watch: Another 'Special' Session
The N.C. General Assembly returned last Thursday and Saturday for another in the seemingly endless series of "special sessions", but adjourned with no votes taken. This latest session was pre-scheduled by previous adjournment resolution with the stated purpose of availability to adjust new district maps, if needed. As there have been no court orders entered regarding the maps, there was nothing to adjust.
However, since a post-midnight "special session" was called on short notice during January at a time when a number of opponents could not attend, and used to override a veto on teacher association dues, many minority party legislators have stopped taking legislative leaders' assurances regarding what may or may be considered in a session. About two-thirds of legislators--as well as a number of protestors--showed up as a precaution for the start of last week's "ghost session".
Climate Change Update: Working on Soot; Anatomy of a Scam
There are two stories we'd like to note briefly this week in the area of climate change policy and politics.
Working on Soot: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced last week that the United States would work with several other nations on a voluntary program to address soot (black carbon), methane, and several other pollutants which contribute to global climate change. Soot also contributes to serious health problems and premature deaths, especially in poorer nations. While comprehensive international treaty progress remains stalled or agonizingly slow, these voluntary efforts will focus on raising funding for developing nations to reduce short-acting pollutants, as well as for other mitigation projects. For further notes on this effort, see http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/science/earth/us-pushes-to-cut-emissions-that-speed-climate-change.html?_r=2&hpw.
Anatomy of a Scam: We're well aware of the efforts by biased "think tanks" and interest groups to sow doubt and confusion on the issue of climate change science. Those efforts continue despite the strong consensus among legitimate climate scientists on the reality and threat of climate change and its human causations. Even so, our attention was caught by a breaking story last week involving one especially obnoxious outfit called the Heartland Institute. Leaked documents from an anonymous source with access to the group's internal materials offer an unusually candid look at the politically motivated thinking behind its anti-science campaigns. Some analysts of the leaked materials suggest that they raise questions about whether the group has undertaken partisan political activities with funds barred from such purposes, in violation of federal tax law governing nonprofit groups. For further discussion, see http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/science/earth/in-heartland-institute-leak-a-plan-to-discredit-climate-teaching.html?hpw. Heartland makes widespread national distribution to public officials and others of biased policy advocacy materials designed to look like objective scientific research and educational works. For notes on North Carolina funding connections to Heartland, see http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2012/02/16/heartland-institute-exposed/.
Education & Resources: Wind Energy Conference
Studies have concluded that North Carolina has the largest potential offshore wind renewable energy resource on the East Coast. The N.C. Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA) and other wind energy supporters are sponsoring the 2012 Southeastern Coastal Wind Conference to give interested parties an opportunity to discuss the costs, benefits, and policy options for wind energy development in our region. The conference will be held March 8 and 9 in Charlotte. More information is available at www.secoastalwind.org. Interested in the topic but can't make that event? Related info links can be found at www.energync.org.
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