It’s time to honor those green legislators standing in the breach against anti-environmental forces in Raleigh. This week in CIB:

• Conservationists: Green Tie Winners Announced
• Campaign Watch: CPAC Endorses Martin
• Legislative Watch: Remedial Math Needed
• Education & Resources: Hog Waste–A ‘Clean Energy’ Resource?!

Conservationists: Green Tie Winners Announced

NCLCV has announced the 2013 winners of its annual Green Tie Awards. These awards honor state legislators and other leaders who have demonstrated outstanding leadership on behalf of our environment at the state level, especially in the General Assembly.

This year, the honorees have carried an especially difficult but critical mission: protecting human health and our natural resources from the onslaught of anti-environmental legislation pouring into consideration in Raleigh. The ‘green’ heroes being honored this year are the following:

• Defender of the Environment: Rep. Deborah Ross. Ross is honored for her “consistent willingness to defend against bad environmental legislation and the pollution lobby, and her commitment to a strong stand in defending our communities against environmental degradation.”
• Senator of the Year: Sen. Dan Blue. Blue is honored for his “consistent ability to prioritize our environment even when making hard decisions, his long-time and effective willingness to engage with the environmental community, and his leadership on key issues at the intersection of environment and social justice.”
• Representative of the Year: Rep. Susan Fisher. Fisher is honored for her “sponsorship of sound environmental legislation, her proactive stance on environmental issues, and her overall notable environmental record.”
• Catalyst Award: Sue Sturgis, The Institute for Southern Studies. Environmental writer Sturgis is honored for her “long history and strong commitment to public education on environmental issues. Through her media coverage, she has taken exceptional action to create change and bring public attention to actions threatening North Carolina’s environment and quality of life.”

NCLCV’s Director of Governmental Relations, Dan Crawford, also sounded a note of concern, pointing out that NCLCV chose this year not to award any “Rising Stars” recognitions. Crawford said, “These [Rising Star] awards recognize new voices at the General Assembly that North Carolina citizens can count on to ensure that the environment is a priority. Environmental efforts were hit hard last session, and the anti-environmental theme is continuing this session. Our state needs stronger pro-environment leadership from freshmen and sophomore decision-makers to fight or slow the onslaught of bad legislation.”

Conservationists are encouraged to attend the Green Tie Awards Dinner on May 29 in Raleigh to honor the legislative leaders who are carrying forward this fight today. For more information, and to register, go here.

Campaign Watch: CPAC Endorses Martin

NCLCV announced last week that its Conservation Political Action Committee was endorsing former four-term legislator Grier Martin to take the House District 34 seat being vacated by Rep. Deborah Ross. Ross, who is being recognized on May 29 as the NCLCV Green Tie Award winner for 2013 as Defender of the Environment, announced earlier that she is leaving the legislature to take a new leadership job with the Triangle Transit Authority.

In announcing the endorsement, NCLCV’s Dan Crawford said, “Although we are sad about Rep. Ross’ departure, it is exciting to know that we have the potential to fill her shoes with someone with the dedication and commitment of Grier Martin. He understands that protecting our state’s natural heritage goes hand in hand with rebuilding our fragile economy.”

NCLCV’s Conservation PAC has endorsed Martin in all of his previous campaigns for legislature. He has a lifetime score of 96% on NCLCV’s Conservation Scorecard.

Martin chose to step down last year rather than seek re-election by campaigning against Ross in a primary. He had been “double-bunked” with Ross in a single district by the redistricting plan adopted in 2011, as part of the plan’s design to reduce the number of Democratic lawmakers in the General Assembly. The redistricting practice known as “double-bunking” is a standard approach used to target legislators who have taken policy or political positions particularly offensive to a majority party involved in creation of a “gerrymandered” (politically partisan) redistricting scheme.

Legislative Watch: Remedial Math Needed

Supporters of clean energy claimed week before last that they’d have beaten the bill repealing North Carolina’s clean energy standard in the Senate Finance Committee if the committee chair hadn’t adjourned the meeting while refusing to count the votes.

According to an independent investigation by WRAL News, it turns out that they were right. At least 18 of the 35 committee members present and voting that day told reporters that they voted in opposition to the bill in committee. Read the full story here.

Legislative Watch: ‘Son of Stripper’ Slithers Through House

A new bill designed to replace the failed Senate commission-stripping legislation flew through the House last week. HB 1011 would make many of the bad moves contained in the late, unlamented SB 10, which fumbled to an end last month amidst a refusal by the House to vote for a conference committee report on the bill.

The new HB 1011 hammers the Environmental Management Commission, Wildlife Resources Commission, Coastal Resources Commission, and Coastal Resources Advisory Council particularly hard. It strips 90 current members from these boards, including many of the most experienced environmental management officials in the state, some with hard-to-find substantive scientific expertise.

Contrary to the excuses circulated by the bill’s supporters, this extreme commission-stripping approach is unprecedented in modern North Carolina history. Normally, even during a party-control transition in the governor’s office, existing regulatory commission seats are allowed to expire at the end of their scheduled terms. This retains key institutional experience while allowing the new governor to fill vacancies as they become open. The new immediate wholesale changeover ordered by HB 1011 is in service to an extreme anti-regulatory philosophy now gripping state government.

Five Republican House members joined all but one Democrat present in voting against HB 1011 on the floor of the House. That relatively high level of dissent in the face of the prevailing caucus-conformity pressure is a mark of the unwisdom of this legislation’s approach. The bill now moves on to Senate consideration.

NCLCV joins a unified coalition of conservation and citizen advocacy groups in urging the rejection of HB 1011.

Education & Resources: Hog Waste–A ‘Clean Energy’ Resource?!

Conservations have long–and for good reason–worried about the impacts on water and groundwater quality from waste lagoons associated with factory-style livestock operations. But what if there’s a way to reduce the waste going into those lagoons while generating renewable-source energy in the process?

That’s the premise behind the inclusion of a set-aside for livestock waste in the 2007 legislation creating North Carolina’s REPS (Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard). Now, a new study from Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions suggests that the idea can be cost-effective. The study looks at the approach of capturing methane gas from hog farms and piping it into existing natural gas pipelines. For details, go here.

Interestingly, groups representing the agricultural industry in general and the livestock industry in particular have emerged as important allies in the fight to maintain North Carolina’s REPS against anti-environmental assault. The real potential to generate jobs and income to their industry from new development of the waste-to-energy approach is the key to that stand.

That’s our report for this week.