Each year we highlight some of the biggest allies and adversaries to environmental work in North Carolina. Here are your 2023 Allies and Adversaries.

Allies

Pro-Democracy and Environmental Justices

Supreme Court justices Elena Kagan, Ketanki Brown Jackson, Sonia Sotomayor and Brett Kavaugh voted in favor of the EPA in Sackett v. EPA and in favor of Harper in Moore v. Harper. Sackett v. EPA, a case in which Sackett won, limited the power of the EPA to protect wetlands. Moore v. Harper, which favored Harper, declared the independent state legislator theory unconstitutional nationally. We are grateful these judges stood with the environment and with democracy in these cases.

Pricey Harrison

This one should not be surprising. Representative Harrison has been unwavering in her fight for the environment at the General Assembly since her inauguration in 2004. She has been the primary sponsor on pro-environment bills, like HB 279 “Break Free from Plastics and Forever Chemicals”, HB 416 “Environmental Justice Considerations” and HB 720 “State Clean Energy Goal for 2050.” Even during a period of Republican dominance in the legislature, when it was easy to accept defeat, Pricey continued to work with her constituents and fight against anti-environmental legislation. 

Legislators with 100% lifetime score

We would also like to congratulate the legislators who have maintained a perfect score this session. These environmental champions have demonstrated a firm commitment to protecting our air, water, and renewable energy future. Thank you to Representatives Eric Ager, Vernetta Alston, John Autry, Cynthia Ball, Mary Belk, Gloristine Brown, Kanika Brown, Terry Brown, Allen Buansi, Laura Budd, Deb Butler, Becky Carney, Maria Cervania, Sarah Crawford, Terence Everitt, Pricey Harrison, Carolyn Logan, Tim Longest, Marvin Lucas, Marcia Morey, Lindsey Prather, Caleb Rudow, Charles Smith and Julie von Haefen and Senators Jay Chuadhuri, Michael Garrett, Lisa Grafstein, Natasha Marcus, Julie Mayfield, Graig Meyer, Mujtaba Mohammed, Natalie Murdock and DeAndrea Salvador.

Adversaries

Tricia Cotham

Tricia Cotham campaigned as a pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ+ Democrat. Her platform was centered on women’s rights, voting rights, and raising the minimum wage. Just six months after being sworn into office as the representative to North Carolina’s 12th House District, a Democrat stronghold that backed Joe Biden by 23 points and elected her with over 60% of the vote, Cotham publicly announced her switch to the Republican party. Her defect gave Republicans a supermajority in both branches of the state legislature, neutralizing Democratic Governor Roy Cooper’s veto power for his final two years in office. 

This theatrical turn of events leaves voters to question why a representative would ditch their agenda, their constituents, and their entire reputation. At her press conference, Cotham said she was “bullied” by Democrats and “alienated” from the party. She said Democrats did not clap for her when she was honored for being the youngest woman elected to the house, a statement that confounded Democrats in attendance. Of course this line of reasoning is entirely irrational; abandoning an alleged “negligent” party (Democrats) and aligning oneself with another whose leadership and legislative record demonstrates intolerance, a lack of empathy, and severe limits for women’s and voters’ rights, along with extreme anti-climate policies (Republicans).

Disloyal Friends

The Farm Act of 2023 contains numerous problematic provisions, including one that would limit the definition of wetlands in North Carolina to the federal definition recently altered by Sackett v. EPA. This definition change would unprotect an egregious 2.5 million acres of isolated wetlands; these produce many benefits to the communities in which they are located, including improved water quality, erosion control and flood abatement. NCLCV seeks to hold legislators accountable–especially those who ran on a pro-environment platform–for passing the most anti-environmental legislation in decades. 

Unchecking And Unbalancing

With a supermajority in Congress and control of the state courts, Republican legislators are disrupting our fragile system of checks and balances. Through anti-democratic legislation, like S.B. 747 Elections Law Changes and S.B. 749 No Partisan Advantage in Elections, the Republicans are expanding their political dominance by extracting the rightful powers of voters and the executive branch. Senators Ralph Hise, Paul Newton and Warren Daniel, the primary sponsors of both appalling bills, are using “voter integrity” as their Trojan horse in an effort to gain power and weaken our democracy. These bills will further hurt underserved communities by limiting vote-by-mail, unnecessarily complicating same day voting across North Carolina, and could have devastating effects on Early Voting–the #1 way North Carolinians vote–and other vital election functions.

This piece appeared in our 2023 Scorecard.