A major state bill filing deadline produced both good ideas and foolishness rushing in. This week in CIB:

• Legislative Watch: Filing Rush
• Judicial Watch: NC Supreme Court Rejects Duke Rate Hike
• Washington Watch: Cabinet Hearings
• Education & Resources: Renewables Lower Costs; Beach Wind
• Conservationists: Climateers Converge on Raleigh

Legislative Watch: Filing Rush

The N.C. House bill filing deadline was last week, following closely a Senate deadline the week before, and they saw the usual rush of introductions just under the wire. Some were welcome notions, environmentally speaking, while others were not.

Among the foolishness recently rushing in:

• HB 632, the “Property Owners Protection Act”, would put a thumb on the scales of justice in opposition to any broad interpretation of a state or local law or rule which restricts “the free use of land.” Successful court challenges by a property owner would result in the local government or state agency coughing up the challenger’s attorneys’ fees (thereby encouraging challenges). This is legislation designed to force timidity in efforts to protect the public and neighbors from destructive or poorly located land uses.
• SB 612, yet another “Regulatory Reform Act of 2013”, would stomp on local (city and county) ordinances that seek to protect community health and environment beyond the bare-bones state and federal minimums. It would also shred the long-established Tar-Pamlico riparian buffer protections, and add an easy way for any polluter whose ox is being gored by an existing regulation to bring it up for yet another inquisition in front of the Rules Review Commission.

Meanwhile, some of the good ideas with bipartisan backing:

• HB 848, the “NC Toxic-Free Kids Act”, would bar the manufacture and sale of children’s products containing certain toxic materials. It also directs the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to create a list of chemicals of high concern to be reviewed and revised on a triennial basis.
• HB 780, “Study Antibiotics Fed to Livestock”, would direct state agencies to study the use of antibiotic drugs in livestock production in the state. There’s been increasing concern among the medical and scientific communities both about the effects on consumers of heavy use of antibiotics in the meat-production process, and on the rise of resistant strains of bacteria as a threat to public health, resulting from the broad overuse of antibiotics in our society.

Naturally, it’s too soon to tell which ones of the good, the bad, and the ugly appearing at this stage can be expected to have legislative “legs”–but we note these among the ones to watch.

Judicial Watch: NC Supreme Court Rejects Duke Rate Hike

The North Carolina Supreme Court last week overturned the rate hike approved last year by the N.C. Utilities Commission (NCUC) for Duke Energy. The Court ruled that the NCUC had not given adequate consideration to the negative impact of the rate increase on consumers, and sent the matter back to the NCUC for further review and a new decision.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper, who appealed NCUC’s decision to the courts, told the media, “This is great news for consumers who spoke loudly and clearly on how hard this rate increase would hit their wallets.”

Environmental and clean energy groups active in opposing the Duke rate hike requests blame Duke’s expensive nuclear and coal plant construction program for its push to raise rates. In addition to the rate hike case just sent back to the NCUC for further review, Duke already has another 9.7% rate hike request pending before the NCUC. Duke and its recently acquired subsidiary Progress Energy have not been shy about forecasting a rolling set of rate hike requests as they try to drum up financial support for their power plant construction plans, and raise their stockholders’ profits.

Media coverage of the Court’s decision can be found here.

A link to the Court’s full ruling can be found here.

Washington Watch: Cabinet Hearings

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Sally Jewell, President Obama’s nominee for Interior Secretary. As discussed previously in CIB, Jewell is the CEO of Recreational Equipment Inc., the outdoor activities retailer which has a strong history of financial support for conservation work. Jewell won by an easy margin of 87-11. She is expected to continue the push of her predecessor (Ken Salazar) for development of wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources; and, she will have the immediate task of dealing with proposed rules on the hot potato of fracking.

The nominations of MIT physicist Ernest Moniz for Energy Secretary and EPA senior air pollution official Gina McCarthy for EPA Administrator have been heard in committee but not yet received votes. Analysts suggest that Moniz’ path to confirmation appears smooth, but that McCarthy is drawing more fire for her work in crafting strong air emissions rules. (Climate Post, 4/11/13.)

Education & Resources: Renewables Lower Costs; Beach Wind

Renewables Lower Costs: Don’t let the oil and coal industry propaganda about renewable energy raising your electric bills go unchallenged. That’s the excuse they’re giving state legislators for their self-interested push to eliminate the growing contribution of solar, wind, and other renewable resources and energy efficiency. We can fight back in part by spreading the facts from sources like these:

• RTI International calculates that REPS (Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard) is already saving consumers money, and that those savings will continue to grow (unless legislators pull the plug on REPS).
• Tools like REPS are producing a boom in renewable energy production around the nation that is leaving more expensive sources like new nuclear construction in the shade.
• Claims that renewables increase costs to consumers or are more expensive than fossil fuels are based on funny numbers coming from advocacy groups like ALEC which are bankrolled by the oil and coal industries.

Beach Wind: Another webinar on the potential of offshore wind–this time focusing on the South Carolina coast off the Myrtle Beach area–is coming up from the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE). It will be held Thursday, April 18, at 10 a.m. For more details and to register, go here.

Conservationists: Climateers Converge on Raleigh

Environmentalists from a number of groups will meet in Raleigh next weekend (April 20-21) for an event dubbed the “Climate Convergence on Raleigh” in a public education effort on climate change. Announced activities in Raleigh include speakers and panels on Saturday and a rally at the state legislature (Halifax Mall) on Sunday. Organizers have also announced that a caravan of cyclists will leave Boone on April 18, stopping for rallies in Winston-Salem and Greensboro on their way to Raleigh for the activities there. Details and contact information can be found here.