State Senate leaders continue to undercut good environmental policy, plus more news, this week in CIB.

Legislative Watch: Clean Power Plan Attacked; Polluter Protection Act Goes to Conference

NC Senate leaders continued their apparently reflexive rejection of common sense on environmental policy last week, as a Senate committee flipped positive bipartisan House legislation on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan into a stubborn declaration of opposition.

Earlier this year, a bipartisan majority of the House passed HB 571, then titled “Implementation of Carbon Dioxide Regulations”, which called for the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to develop a state plan in response to the anticipated EPA rules for reduction of carbon emissions. The House bill directs DENR to consult with other state agencies, power companies, researchers, and public environmental and clean energy groups in development of the state plan. The expected final EPA rule gives states a time limit in which they are to develop their own plan for meeting the required reductions in carbon emissions. Otherwise, the EPA will impose a federal plan on the state.

So it’s common sense for the state to take our unique circumstances and needs into account and craft our own strategies, right? The House thought so. But wait – the state Senate leadership marches to a different drummer, echoing from the Koch Brothers and its interstate scorched-earth political network. Therefore, State Senator Trudy Wade (R-Guilford) introduced a substitute bill, which would prohibit North Carolina state agencies from taking any actions to even begin developing a state plan until “judicial review of the plan [meaning the EPA’s Clean Power Plan rule] is resolved.”

As we have seen, essentially every major air quality rule ever adopted by the EPA is litigated up to the U.S. Supreme Court and back, and the Clean Power Plan (which deals with the hot buttons of carbon pollution and climate change) will certainly be no exception. These court cases take years to resolve, and the challenged rules commonly take effect in the interim. Many states will move forward with their own plans during this period, recognizing the effort to control greenhouse gas emissions as critically needed for the public good. Other, non-cooperative states, potentially including North Carolina, will suffer the consequences of reduced control over their environmental programs resulting from a stand-in-the-doorway mentality. They’ll also lose the economic benefits that comes from aggressive development of energy efficiency and clean renewable energy resources that form the obvious basis of good state plans.

Unfortunately, the Senate’s Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee listened to the voices of regression and adopted the Wade substitute for HB 571, now re-titled “Judicial Review of EPA Clean Power Plan.” Only afterwards did Wade indicate that she would talk with DENR about the possibility of allowing it to move forward with some weak version of a state proposal.

We will see how this matter continues to develop.

Also last week, the Senate’s version of HB 765, now widely known as the Polluter Protection Act, received a negative reception in the House Environment Committee and will go to a conference committee of House and Senate appointees to negotiate the differences between the chambers’ versions. We are far from certain of a positive result from that process. However, conservationists and responsible legislators will use this opportunity to press hard for removal of the many severely anti-environmental provisions contained in the Senate version.

Campaign Watch: Voter ID Rules Adopted

Voting rights advocates are closely watching the ongoing litigation challenging the election law changes adopted by the NC General Assembly in 2013, including the new voter photo ID requirement, and hope for a court ruling against them. In the meantime, however, there was also a concerted effort to influence the NC State Board of Elections (SBOE) as it crafted the rules implementing the photo ID law. Earlier this month, the SBOE adopted those final rules.

According to Bob Hall, director of the citizen advocacy group Democracy North Carolina, the work to influence those rules paid off. Those rules as adopted “provide several protections for voters and were made stronger” by the public comment process, said Hall. Hall and his organization are no supporters of the photo ID requirement, but they did organize public comment efforts intended to help mitigate its adverse impacts on voter participation. Rule changes adopted in response to those comments included these:

• The rules were clarified to ensure that variations in the form of a name between the ID and the voter roll would not be used to disqualify a voter. (For example, the use of a nickname, a married name, or the presence or absence of a middle name is not to disqualify the voter.)
• The rules make clear that election judges are not to reject an ID because of explainable differences in the appearance between the photo and the voter.
• Differences between the address shown on the ID and the voter’s current address cannot be used to disqualify the voter. (The photo ID is only for the purpose of establishing identify, not confirming current address. An old or expired ID may be used.)

The rules as adopted by the SBOE, with the changes made in response to public comments, can be seen here.

Around the Globe: World Mayors Call for Climate Action

Mayors from 60 of the world’s largest and most important cities met last week in Rome at the invitation of the Vatican to join in calling for effective action to address climate change. The two-day conference was part of Pope Francis’ campaign to spotlight action on climate change as a “moral imperative for humanity” in advance of this fall’s United Nations climate negotiations. Francis told the mayors that they were acting as “the conscience of humanity.” Participating American leaders included New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and California Governor Jerry Brown. (Associated Press, 7/22/15.)

For those willing to see the facts, evidence continues to stack up that climate change is a real and already present threat. Four independent global data sets have confirmed that 2014 was the new warmest year on record, according to information compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Highlights of the report, “State of the Climate in 2014”, can be read here.

Around the State: A Resounding ‘No’ to Drilling

The City of Wilmington last week became the latest coastal community to declare its opposition to drilling for oil and gas off the vulnerable and priceless North Carolina coast. Media reported that the city council’s chambers were so filled with opponents of drilling that about a hundred others had to wait outside after the room’s capacity was reached. “Thunderous applause” followed the Wilmington council’s unanimous vote to oppose both drilling and seismic testing to search for possible oil and gas deposits offshore. More than a dozen NC municipalities (including nearby shore communities Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, and Topsail Beach) have passed similar resolutions.

Education & Resources: Offshore Drilling Events

Public information and involvement events on the hot topic of offshore drilling are continuing.

In August, there will be at least three showings of the movie The Great Invisible, a documentary on the effects of the 2010 Gulf Coast oil disaster originating with the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform. These will be on August 5 (Raleigh), 8 (Chapel Hill), and 26 (Durham), each evening from 7-9 pm. This link leads to full details and reservation opportunities for these free public showings.

Also, as we reported last week, the N.C. Coastal Federation (NCCF) is putting on a forum on offshore drilling issues this week (Friday, July 31) in New Bern. It is intended to “delve into the economic truths, environmental implications, and actual effects on coastal communities” of offshore drilling.

NCCF’s Coastal Review Online has published a series of reports on the offshore drilling issue. These detailed articles are available for reading here.

That’s our report for this week.