Washington Watch: Trump Set to Flush Clean Water Protections
Washington Watch: Trump Set to Flush Clean Water Protections This week, the Trump Administration is expected to propose slashing the amount of wetlands nationwide which would be protected from destruction under the Clean Water Act. Sources indicated last week that the Trump Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will support a new, unprecedentedly narrow definition of “waters […]
Campaign Watch: Congressional Election Still in Question
Campaign Watch: Congressional Election Still in Question Unfolding evidence of genuine election fraud involving absentee ballots has shifted North Carolina’s Ninth Congressional District back into the undecided column. By a strong bipartisan margin, the state elections board has declined to certify that election’s results, and opened an investigation into the apparently systematic illegal absentee ballot […]
Legislative Watch: Suppressing Votes and Defunding Conservation
Legislative Watch: Suppressing Votes and Defunding Conservation To the surprise of no one, the lame-duck legislature continues to deliver results poisonous to natural resource conservation and voter participation. Legislation mandating photo identification to vote passed both chambers, and has been sent to the governor, who has until December 16 to veto the bill, sign it, […]
Administrative Watch: DEQ Proposes Stronger Hog Farm Rules
Administrative Watch: DEQ Proposes Stronger Hog Farm Rules The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is now taking public comments on its proposed tightening of the rules governing big hog farms. Naturally, the industry is going whole hog in fighting any tighter environmental pollution controls that affect them. While the rules could and should […]
Coast Watch: Trump Administration Set to OK Seismic Blasting
Coast Watch: Trump Administration Set to OK Seismic Blasting The Trump Administration has signaled that it will give the go-ahead to seismic blasting in the search for oil and gas deposits under the Atlantic, despite strong opposition from marine wildlife advocates, coastal businesses, and local governments. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has issued “incidental […]
Legislative Watch: Lame Duck Attacks
Legislative Watch: Lame Duck Attacks The lame-duck legislature is back in session, and it seems that no bad idea is off the table yet. A bill mandating photo identification to vote has passed the Senate, and if passed by the House, would go into effect for the 2019 elections. The current majority party leaders just […]
Judicial Watch: Chemours Agrees to Clean Up GenX
Judicial Watch: Chemours Agrees to Clean Up GenX A proposed court order would require GenX manufacturer Chemours to clean up its pollution, provide clean water for communities whose supplies have been contaminated, and pay a heavy $13 million fine. The proposed consent order has been filed in state court by the parties to a lawsuit […]
Climate Change Update: Trump Administration Tries to Hide the Damaging Truth
Climate Change Update: Trump Administration Tries to Hide the Damaging Truth In a flagrant attempt to limit attention to its grim findings, the Trump Administration chose the Thanksgiving holiday to release the latest official report confirming that human-induced climate change is behind the increasing damage from extreme weather events. The 4th National Climate Assessment was […]
Legislative Watch: Protect the Right to Vote
Legislative Watch: Protect the Right to Vote Lame-duck North Carolina legislators are back in Raleigh, and our right to hold them accountable for their environmental policies is on the line. The ruling clique of this General Assembly recognized last summer that their supermajority status was at risk in the elections earlier this month — and […]
Judicial Watch: Another Chance for Red Wolves
Judicial Watch: Another Chance for Red Wolves The wild red wolf won a major victory in federal court this month. U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle of the Eastern District of North Carolina ruled for wildlife conservationists and against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) on a series of agency orders which would have […]
