Both of NC’s U.S. Senators failed miserably on the first big environmental test of 2015. This week in CIB.

Washington Watch: LCV Scores Keystone Votes

The national League of Conservation Voters (LCV) last week took the unusual step of releasing a special edition of its National Environmental Scorecard, focusing on a series of votes surrounding the U.S. Senate’s passage of legislation on the Keystone XL pipeline. In the special scorecard, LCV grades Senators on their performance on 18 key amendment votes, as well as on final passage of the bill.

The bill would disregard normal environmental review procedures and direct the Obama Administration to approve the proposed Keystone XL pipeline for the transport of oil from Canadian tar sands to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. This highly controversial pipeline legislation passed the Senate January 29 on a vote of 62-36. President Obama has pledged to veto the bill.

North Carolina’s two Senators, Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, both earned failing grades of a woeful 5%, voting for the environment just once on 18 proposed amendments, and supporting final passage of the bill. Conservationists strongly oppose the Keystone XL pipeline because of its projected impacts of increasing greenhouse gas emissions from one of the dirtiest known sources of oil on the planet (tar sands), the destruction of Canadian boreal forest, and the risk of damaging spills from pipeline leaks across the American heartland. The amendment votes scored on this report included matters such as these:

• Acknowledgement of human causation as a significant factor in climate change.
• Oil drilling on public lands.
• Support for clean energy tax credits.
• Removal of protections for endangered species.
• Reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Proposed amendments included both pro- and anti-environmental proposals, and votes were scored accordingly.

This is only the second time in the organization’s history that LCV has released a special edition scorecard covering votes on a single issue. LCV President Gene Karpinski said, “This one just couldn’t wait until the end of the year. We want to make sure people know right now that [U.S. Senate] Republican leaders chose as their very first priority for 2015 a bill designed simply to benefit their polluter allies.” He continued that “many votes on this bill presented senators with a clear choice: stand with polluters and double down on dirty energy at the expense of our environment, our health, and our climate, or promote a clean energy future.”

The entire Special Edition Environmental Scorecard can be viewed here.

Administrative Watch: Wildlife Commission Proposes Ending Red Wolf Recovery

The NC Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC) has outraged wildlife conservation advocates by adopting a resolution asking federal officials to declare red wolves extinct in the wild and abandon the ongoing red wolf recovery program in northeastern North Carolina. The WRC also asked that the red wolves actually living now successfully in the wild in North Carolina be rounded up by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Red wolves, a smaller cousin of the better-known gray wolves, are native to North Carolina and much of the southeastern United States. An endangered species, they were eliminated by hunting and habitat loss from most of their range by 1980. The remaining few red wolves (in Louisiana) were captured and used in a captive breeding program. They were re-introduced to an ideal part of their natural range, the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern North Carolina, beginning in 1987. Today there are about 100 roaming that area in the wild, and about 200 more in captive breeding for the gradual re-establishment of the population.

While the program has wide support, it also has its critics, especially among some area residents who view the wolves as nuisances that they wish removed so that they can hunt the far more numerous coyotes with fewer restrictions. The two species can be mistaken for each other at night. Despite documented instances in which wolves were shot, the WRC attempted to open night hunting on coyotes in the red wolf recovery area. That effort was restrained by legal action from wildlife conservationists.

The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) brought litigation in 2012 challenging the WRC’s rules. In response to the WRC’s latest resolutions, SELC senior attorney Sierra Weaver said, “Red wolves have lived—and thrived—on the current mix of private and public lands for 25 years, becoming one of the most successful predator reintroductions in U.S. history. Asking that the federal government declare ‘extinct’ the 100 red wolves that live in eastern North Carolina is a blatant attempt to remove from the wild one of our country’s most beloved animals.”

While the WRC is seeking the elimination of the red wolf recovery program, it has been forced by court order to amend its rules on coyote hunting which threatened the wolves in their recovery area. The WRC is taking public comment on the amended rules through March 16. Conservationists interested in commenting can find more information here.

Education & Resources: Environmental Justice Film Tour

NCLCV Foundation will co-sponsor Bennett College’s showing of the documentary film “Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek” on February 11 in Greensboro. The film tells the story of the African-American community of Turkey Creek, Mississippi, in a battle over development threatening the gulf coast community’s land and history. Working Films calls the documentary an account of “environmental racism, land loss among African American communities, urbanization, and lack of political recognition” which parallels the stories of similar communities in North Carolina.

The Bennett College showing launches its Black History Month Film Series, and will be accompanied by Triad residents offering their reflections on the film and analogous local and statewide efforts. It will take place at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, February 11, at Bennett’s Global Learning Center Auditorium, 521 Gorrell St., Greensboro 27401. RSVP for the event on Facebook.

There will be two other showings of the film in North Carolina this week: February 10 in Asheville and February 12 in Chapel Hill. Details can be found here.

That’s our report for this week.