What is the governor’s stance on coal ash pollution? That plus other news, this week in CIB:

Executive Watch: Public in the Dark on State’s Stance on Ash

What is the state’s stance on dealing with those coal ash ponds? Is the governor in charge of his own executive departments? And where is that mysterious task force promised by Secretary Skvarla?

We wish we could tell you.

First, the governor says his preferred solution is to close the coal ash ponds and relocate the ash to lined landfills away from water bodies. But no, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary John Skvarla (who theoretically works for Gov. McCrory) says that’s not necessarily the best move, and McCrory backpeddles rapidly. More here.

Unfortunately, this confusing dance may only be distraction for a secretive process making the state/DENR’s real decision on the key question of what to do with the (still unspilled) coal ash dumps. DENR on February 11 (about a week after the Dan River spill) announced the creation of a coal ash task force. Secretary Skvarla said it would “include experts in the areas of water resources, dam safety and solid waste management” and be separate from the state’s decision-making process on enforcement actions regarding the spill.

Subsequently, there have been repeated public requests for “a list of the task force members, how they were chosen, [and] a schedule of meetings”. There’s been no response–despite the fact that this mysterious group apparently had its first meeting on February 14. More here.

Conservationists are tired of these dance moves and are calling on the governor to take a firm stance in support of cleaning up the unlined, leaking coal ash dumps, and moving the ash to safer, lined landfills away from sensitive water resources. A “Come Clean, McCrory” rally and news conference is planned for this Wednesday, March 5, at 5 p.m. outside the Governor’s mansion in Raleigh. A related petition campaign with additional details can be found here.

As the Charlotte Observer put it last week, “The right answer on coal ash spill [is] not hard, gov.” More here.

Administrative Watch: Inspecting the Pits

Meanwhile over at the embattled environmental agency, they’re worried enough about new surprises that some of the remaining field staff are being allowed to do part of their jobs.

Word was released late Friday that DENR is formally citing Duke for violations of wastewater and stormwater rules in connection with the Dan River pipe collapse and massive coal ash spill.  Whether those citations will result in meaningful fines and enforcement orders is not yet known.

In addition, sources report to CIB that DENR staff were in the field over the weekend making emergency dam inspections of coal ash pits around the state, looking for corrugated pipes like the one which failed at the Dan River ash dump.  It is not yet clear what, if anything, DENR will be permitted to do if it finds any.

At least someone recognizes the importance of understanding the scope of the problem.  It’s time for public transparency of whatever DENR inspectors find, and for immediate action to address the problems.  This is no time to stick our heads in the ash.

Around the State: Feds Approve Next Step for Orange-Durham Transit Project

Triangle Transit’s proposed 17-mile light rail line connecting Orange and Durham counties took its next big step last week when the Federal Transit Administration announced its approval of the project. With an approved route and approved local funding sources, and now federal agency approval, the project is well on its way to becoming a reality. The next phases will be project development and engineering, taking up to five years, with construction to begin when those are completed. Project cost is estimated at $1.34 billion. More here.

Conservationists: NCLCV Seeks Voter Mobilization Director

NCLCV is setting up a new non-partisan voter mobilization program, through which it aims to “educate, engage, and mobilize underrepresented voters and environmental activists on key issues throughout the legislative and election cycles” as well as “implement non-partisan voter registration and vote by mail programs.”

To get this effort going, the organization is now seeking to hire a full-time Mobilization & Field Director to lead the project.For full details, and information on how to apply, see here.

Education & Resources: Top Ten Questions on Climate Change

It’s not exactly Climate Change for Dummies , but it may help provide quick, clear answers to the usual questions from climate change dummies. First, a team of scientists writing on behalf of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and its British analogue, the Royal Society, have written and recently released Climate Change: Evidence and Causes . Perhaps even more to the point for those every-day lunch counter and kitchen table discussions, the grand popularizers at USA Today have compiled a top-ten questions summary from that document. Find it here.

Or, if you prefer, you can go to the original source and download the full booklet here.

Either way, you can be a good Scout and Be Prepared.

That’s our report for this week.