Interstate air pollution disputes and more coastal follies, plus more news, this week in CIB:

Judicial Watch: What’s Blowing In That Wind?

One case on regulation of interstate air pollution is now before the U.S. Supreme Court. Meanwhile, another claim of interstate impacts has just been filed with the EPA by a set of Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states against a set of Southern and Midwestern states. Apparently, it’s environmental questions that are blowing in the wind.

The new development is the claim filed last week by eight states with the EPA, asserting that North Carolina and eight other upwind states are significantly contributing their air pollution. They ask the EPA to direct those upwind states to do more to control their emissions of pollutants that help create ground-level ozone pollution and smog.

North Carolina had previously been involved as a successful claimant against several of the other states now with it on the potential regulatory hot seat. In fact, the McCrory Administration just six months ago rejected an invitation from the downwind states to join their Ozone Transport Commission, a multi-state organization created under the Clean Air Act to press for air pollution reduction. Thus has North Carolina gone from being one of the agents of positive change to being one of the roadblocks to further progress.

Kelly Martin, a Sierra Club spokesperson on coal and air pollution issues, pointed out that the Charlotte region continues to exceed the public health standards that the downwind states are seeking to help enforce. She said that a successful effort by the downwind states would produce cleaner air and health benefits to many North Carolinians as well. (Winston-Salem Journal, 12/10/13.)

Last week also saw oral arguments in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on EPA’s existing rule intended to control interstate air pollution transport, which affects many of the same states and issues. That rule was issued in 2011, challenged by industry and some of the upwind states, and struck down by a divided Circuit Court of Appeals late last year. News reports suggest that a number of the Supreme Court Justices appeared in tune with the arguments advanced by the EPA and states defending the rule. A ruling by the Court is expected by late June. More info here.

Details of the EPA’s interstate air pollution transport rules can be found here.

Coast Watch: Coastal Staff Cut, Bridge Fallout Continues

The N.C. Division of Coastal Management last week announced major staff cuts, adding further stress to an already understaffed agency. As of December 31, it will lose another 10% of its staff, including the agency’s assistant director in charge of permitting and enforcement and its planning director. The layoffs mark another in the continuing series of retreats from effective environmental protection work under the budget approved by current state legislative and executive leadership.

Meanwhile, the reverberations continued from the McCrory Administration’s ill-advised ad hominem attack on coastal environmental advocates over the Bonner Bridge controversy.

Rather than admit and apologize for his own intemperate remarks, Transportation Secretary Tony Tata doubled up on his attack against environmental advocates. In a 12/12/13 op-ed in the Raleigh News & Observer, Tata asserts that “a small group of activists” is “denying Hatteras Island residents a reliable bridge connection” and costing taxpayers millions in legal fees and “lost construction opportunity costs”.

Those are strong words to be based on a case as factually shaky as the shifting Oregon Inlet sands. In fact, as theFayetteville Observer notes in an editorial: “A plan to essentially replicate the existing Bonner Bridge does nothing to protect Hatteras Island and its economy from those [access cutoff] emergencies.” The paper calls instead for a negotiated solution that deals with the reality of the growing vulnerability of Highway 12 on northern Hatteras Island to overwashes and storm cuts.

Further, as the Raleigh News & Observer noted in response to the original McCrory/Tata/et al attacks, “This demagoguery is bad on its own, but it’s even worse for being inaccurate. There’s nothing elitist or extreme about the long bridge option. It was supported by federal officials and the state DOT under Gov. Mike Easley in a 2003 agreement. The long bridge would be in place now had local officials not blocked it. On the other hand, the short bridge option is still awaiting permits and would not be open now even if the SELC had not appealed the judge’s approval of the project.”

Environomics: Solar Rising Faster

Here’s some good news on the clean energy front: The United States is poised to finish 2013 ahead of Germany in solar energy production for the first time in 15 years. A new report by the Solar Energy Industries Association indicates that the U.S. is on pace for its installed solar power to grow by 35 percent compared to last year. States leading the solar charge this year include California, Arizona, Massachusetts, Nevada–and North Carolina.

It looks like our General Assembly’s best decision of the year–not to mess with existing state law encouraging solar energy development–is rapidly being proven to be an ongoing smart move.

The Other Side: ALEC’s Tentacles Reach Deep Into NC

While ALEC’s (American Legislative Exchange Council) dive off the deep end into increasingly extremist policies and politics may be losing the organization support nationally, the group’s slimy tentacles have penetrated deep into North Carolina’s current legislative leadership. That’s bad news for strong environmental and public health protection laws in our state, as we have seen this year. An informative article in the Charlotte Observer last week, citing statistics published in the British paper The Guardian, described how deep ALEC reaches in our state.

Education & Resources: Clean Water Action Video

A short educational video on the status of clean water rules in North Carolina is now available online. It is recommended for use on social media as a tool for explaining how this state is falling behind on actions needed to protect clean water. It can be used as part of varied water pollution action campaigns. Check it out here.

That’s our report for this week.