South of the Border: Attack of the Bots
South of the Border: Attack of the Bots Those internet bots sure seem to get around these days. Our southern neighbors had a little trouble with a pro-nuclear scam just recently. It seems that a long-time industry support group, the so-called Consumer Energy Alliance, was involved (or were they?) in a campaign of fake emails […]
Washington Watch: A Natural Match
Washington Watch: A Natural Match It looks as though the most anti-environment president in modern history may appoint the most anti-environment former bureaucrat in North Carolina history to a key spot in his administration. Notoriously anti-science former NC Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Secretary Donald van der Vaart is said to be under consideration to […]
Legislative Watch: GenX Findings Spread While Legislators Talk
Legislative Watch: GenX Findings Spread While Legislators Talk Now the notorious toxic chemical GenX is turning up in rain samples—but the NC General Assembly still can’t get its act together to do anything productive about the problem. Test results made public last week, some by UNC Wilmington researchers and more by the NC Department of […]
Coast Watch: ‘Rally to Raleigh’ Next Monday
Coast Watch: ‘Rally to Raleigh’ Next Monday Coastal residents are encouraged to remember the chance to “Rally to Raleigh” next Monday, February 26, for an important public hearing on the U.S. Interior Department’s proposal to open waters off the North Carolina coast to drilling for oil and gas. NCLCV is one of more than a […]
Washington Watch: EPA Could Greenlight Coal Ash Pollution
Washington Watch: EPA Could Greenlight Coal Ash Pollution Coal ash pollution? No problem, the Trump EPA wants to say. The Trump Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is trying to administratively rewrite the Clean Water Act to narrow the pollution it restricts. Their proposed changes could give a greenlight to seeping contamination from coal ash pits. […]
Campaign Watch: What’s Up with Elections Boards?
Campaign Watch: What’s Up with Elections Boards? The NC Supreme Court has thrown out as unconstitutional a set of legislative changes to the boards which conduct elections in North Carolina, while the legislature just passed more changes. Why do we still not have a working state elections board for the 2018 elections, and what’s happening […]
Legislative Watch: No Action on Clean Water
Legislative Watch: No Action on Clean Water State legislators last week adjourned until May, without providing the funding needed for state agencies to deal with toxic GenX and other “emerging” water pollutants. The state House had passed legislation which conservationists regarded as providing a ‘down payment’ on the equipment and training needed for NC Dept. […]
Washington Watch: Nuclear Bailout Slipped Into Budget Bill
Washington Watch: Nuclear Bailout Slipped Into Budget Bill A proposed nuclear plant in Georgia on which construction had been halted due to massive cost overruns stands to benefit from a provision in the federal budget bill passed late last week. Public taxpayers and ratepayers will cover the soaring costs. As usual with hastily negotiated, massive […]
Administrative Watch: DEQ Seeks Comments on Coal Ash Rules
Administrative Watch: DEQ Seeks Comments on Coal Ash Rules Public hearings start today (Monday, February 12) on proposed rules for coal ash. The first of three public hearings on the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) proposed rules on treatment and disposal of coal ash will be held tonight (Monday, February 12) in Roxboro. Two […]
Legislative Watch: Senate Keeps Politicizing Clean Water
Legislative Watch: Senate Keeps Politicizing Clean Water Demands by the NC Senate’s leadership continue to polarize and politicize environmental cleanup efforts, including toxic contamination in drinking water supplies. Bad environmental behavior by the Senate set up two unnecessary and messy fights in the House this week. First, the Senate took decent legislation which the House […]
