goodnessadmin, Author at North Carolina League of Conservation Voters

Blocking Out the Scenery

It’s part of an old song about “signs” — and it’s an old story at the North Carolina General Assembly. Billboard companies are using their money-fueled connections to rig state law in their favor. The billboard lobby is pushing another bad bill to tear down trees, as well as local rules that protect those trees […]

LCV Endorses Cal Cunningham

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Action Fund has endorsed former North Carolina state senator Cal Cunningham for the U.S. Senate. Cunningham is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis in 2020. “As an Army veteran and environmental entrepreneur, Cal Cunningham knows firsthand the national security and economic threats posed by […]

Hotlist 8/1/19: Vote no on House Bill 645

House Bill 645, also known as the “billboards bill,” has now passed both the House and the Senate, and is up for a concurrence vote in the House next week. Section 4 of the bill allows billboards with a Department of Transportation permit to be converted to digital structures at a height of 50 feet […]

Corruption Rampant at Trump EPA

In the most ethics-free administration to afflict our country in the last century, President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to set the bar lower for corrupt conflicts of interest. The EPA’s Inspector General office, which polices EPA official activities, has zeroed in on the latest ethics-challenged official to resign from his leadership role in […]

Wind Blows Past Coal in Texas

For the first time, electricity produced by wind has exceeded power produced by coal in a huge American state, Texas….

Rate Hike Bill Still Stalled

What once looked like a slam-dunk attempt to ease Duke Energy’s ability to hike your electricity rate has hit a road block in the state House. The politics of the also-stalled vote to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget veto are straightforward. Republicans need the votes of seven Democrats, and thus far they don’t have those […]

Gerrymandering on Trial

We’re one step closer to determining whether North Carolina voters will have the chance to decide our future in competitive elections based on fair legislative maps. Environmental advocates believe if voters get to choose their representatives — instead of politicians picking their voters — they will choose leaders who will stand up for clean air, […]

Hotlist 7/25/19: Climate Change Interagency Council

Last Tuesday, July 16th, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality…

Return of the Fox Guarding the Henhouse

Former North Carolina environment chief Donald van der Vaart took as his mission the weakening of state pollution control rules. Naturally, the state Senate now wants him on the environmental board whose job it is to write those rules. Van der Vaart, the polarizing former Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) under then […]