Weekly Conservation Bulletin
06/25/2012
Conservationists cannot afford to divert our watch from the ugly legislative spectacle in Raleigh, plus more news, this week in CIB:
Legislative Watch: The Scene Is Ugly, but Don't Give Up
You know that things have gone wrong for our state when one of the leading environmental champions in North Carolina's history tells the N.C. House to go ahead and suspend its rules in order to give accelerated consideration to one bad bill, because "the longer this bad bill stays around the more flies it gathers." That was Rep. Joe Hackney (D-Orange) speaking about SB 810, the so-called "Regulatory Reform Act of 2012" on the House floor last week.
CIB will not attempt at this stage to describe in detail this latest jumble of assaults on the network of rules protecting public health and clean air, water, and land. It continues to be a destructive work in progress. We will note, however, that we have refrained from referring to the bill as a nest of snakes. After all, unlike the current "regulatory reform" push in the General Assembly, legless reptiles serve many useful functions in our state's ecology.
Similarly, SB 851, the so-called "Boards and Commissions Efficiency Act", has been condemned by NCLCV Government Affairs Director Dan Crawford for taking "an ax to the tree of knowledge" for the state's Environmental Management Commission (EMC). The bill deletes key EMC member positions filled by scientists and others with critical technical backgrounds in pollution control and conservation matters.
In one encouraging development, however, it seems that enough national ridicule can lead many legislators to re-think a particularly flagrant assault on science. SB 819, the bill which would have directed all state and local agencies to adopt sea-level rise projections based on laughably outdated information, has been sidetracked. In a piece of comparatively good news, it was converted into yet another delay in the finalization of rules for preparing our coast for sea level rise. At least a delay in official state recognition of the coming tide does not lock all public planners into assumptions already known to be wrong.
Finally on the legislative front, the fiercely-debated fast-track fracking bill, SB 820, has been passed by both chambers and sent to the governor. As of CIB's press deadline, Governor Perdue had not announced her decision on whether to sign or veto the bill. As previously discussed, SB 820 would make a premature commitment to allowing fracking in North Carolina, set in motion an unrealistic timetable for development of rules to govern fracking, and even compromise the rights of landowners to protect themselves from fracking underneath their own land.
Conservationists are still being encouraged to call Governor Perdue's office at 919-733-9805 or 800-662-7952 to ask that she veto SB 820, the fast-track fracking bill. If you call, please also email NCLCV's Dan Crawford, dan@nclcv.org, to let him know you've sent the governor this message.
Administrative Watch: Last Barrier to Power Surge
NCLCV has joined citizen advocacy group NC WARN (Waste Awareness and Reduction Network), the NC Justice Center, the NC Housing Coalition, and other public interest groups in a final request to the N.C. Utilities Commission (NCUC) to stop or delay the merger of Duke Energy and Progress Energy into the nation's largest electric utility.
Duke and Progress, North Carolina's two major electric power providers, have been pushing hard for regulatory approval of their merger for the past year. They recently received the go-ahead from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which had held up the merger over concerns that it would decrease competition in the wholesale power market. The state regulatory body NCUC seems poised to join FERC in giving a last blessing to creation of the electric power goliath.
The opposing citizen group coalition has a final chance in a hearing today (Monday, June 25) to persuade the state commission to keep the merger on hold. NC WARN will have the opportunity to question witnesses from Progress Energy and the NCUC's Public Staff on the measures agreed to by the utilities in order to win FERC approval for the merger.
In connection with that hearing, NC WARN has asked that the NCUC order the utilities to make public 14 confidential agreements between Duke and Progress regarding the merger. The citizen group argues that the terms of those documents could influence the merger or shift costs among classes of electric customers in ways that should receive public scrutiny prior to approval. (The utilities claim that the agreements contain "trade secrets" that are protected by law from public disclosure.) NC WARN and its allies also object to a deal by Duke to give large industrial and commercial customers a one-year break on most of a rate hike approved in January. (Residential and small business customers would not be protected.)
The proposed merger and its terms have sparked varied positions within the environmental and clean energy community. Some groups have signed off on the merger in return for the utilities' agreement to increase assistance to renewable energy and energy efficiency programs. Other groups adamantly oppose the merger altogether, fearing that its finalization would boost the new power goliath's ability to finance unnecessary new coal and nuclear power plants. (Some information for this CIB news item is taken from news coverage in the Raleigh News & Observer and Charlotte Observer.)
Washington Watch: EPA Carbon Comments Deadline
The national League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has issued a last call for comments in support of the EPA's historic greenhouse gas emission rules on power plants. LCV reports that EPA has received more than two million comments thus far, but that coal industry and other special interests continue to encourage partisan climate-deniers in Congress to fight the rule.
The deadline for public comment is today (Monday, June 25). Comments can be submitted through this LCV-provided link: https://secure3.convio.net/lcv/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=839
Conservationists: Green Tie Debuts NCLCV Video
The Green Tie Awards Dinner proved to be a rousing success last week, as NCLCV and allies honored ten extraordinary state legislators for their leadership in protecting public health and our state's exceptional natural resources.
At the dinner, NCLCV also debuted its new video explaining the group's mission and work: http://youtu.be/1ZbhT4u8PoQ. NCLCV encourages its members and friends to circulate this video through your email and social media contacts.
NCLCV also thanks again all the sponsors of the Green Tie awards, who are helping to make NCLCV's work possible. These include Carolina Solar Energy, which was by mistake left off the dinner's printed program. Thanks go to CSE and all the Green Tie sponsors. For a full list of award winners and Green Tie sponsors, see here: http://nclcv.org/what/honoring/green_tie_2012/
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