Fracking backers get caught in tawdry tactics, complain about ads, and get called out in the Dirty Dozen, plus more news, this week in CIB.

Administrative Watch: Fracking Backers Caught in Tawdry Tactics

Pro-fracking forces showed their desperation in Cullowhee at the final public hearing on proposed fracking regulations in North Carolina.

As we reported last week, an estimated 600 people turned out on a Friday evening to deliver an overwhelmingly negative message on the prospect for fracking in western North Carolina. Less noticed at the time was a tawdry little sideshow which served only to underscore how little real public support exists for the rush to frack under inadequate protections in our state.

About 20 to 30 (reported estimates varied) of the forum attendees had been bused in from Winston-Salem by the NC Energy Forum, a group financially supported by the American Petroleum Institute. When interviewed by a local reporter from the Sylva Herald and separately by a local fracking opponent (on videotape), members of the group acknowledged that they knew little about fracking. At least one indicated that he had been brought from a Winston-Salem homeless shelter. (“Meet the gas industry front group exploiting the homeless to promote NC fracking”, Institute for Southern Studies.)

The chair of the NC Energy Forum, an investment firm leader who drove separately to the hearing, told the Winston-Salem Journal that he had been unaware of how the other men had been recruited to attend, and that when he found out what had happened he sent them all home.

NCLCV is continuing to encourage concerned citizens to submit well-informed comments calling for stronger regulation of any fracking that takes place in our state, including the rules on permitting of fracking wells and enforcement of applicable pollution controls. There’s only about a week left in the public comment period.

The record remains open through September 30 for written public comments on the proposed rules, which can be submitted via email. You can use NCLCV’s convenient link to submit comments here.

We don’t care where you live – but we’ll work to help you understand the issue before you submit your comment. The facts are on our side.

Campaign Watch: Sharing Facts About Fracking Stings

Citizen conservation groups have worked hard this year to educate North Carolina citizens about how their representatives are voting on fracking. These educational efforts have included television ads as well as mailings.

Apparently, some of the anti-environmental forces in our state have concluded that the truth hurts. The anti-regulatory group Civitas Institute (one of the organizations primarily funded by Art Pope’s family foundation) last week filed a complaint about some of the fracking-related ads with the N.C. State Board of Elections.

The Civitas complaint targets ads sponsored by the North Carolina Environmental Partnership, and funded by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC). The ads were specifically critical of six legislators for their support for fracking. In an eye-rolling case of irony, the Civitas group (a strident critic of business and campaign regulations) complains that the ads inadequately identified their funding sources.

SELC spokesperson Mary Maclean Asbill called the complaints baseless: “Our campaign is in full compliance with the law and is a non-political, policy and issue-focused effort to hold legislators accountable for pro-polluter votes that weaken environmental protections and public health safeguards.”

Observers of state campaign politics might note the curious timing of the Civitas complaint: just two days after the N.C. NAACP filed a formal complaint with the NC State Board of Elections about an unrelated ad aired by the campaign of pro-fracking Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger. Could it represent an effort to muddy the public waters (politically speaking, in this case)?

The ad targeted by the NAACP complaint includes the false statement that “now, thanks to Phil Berger, voters must show a photo ID to vote.” In fact, the voter ID requirement is under legal challenge now, and is not scheduled to take effect until 2016 even if upheld in court. Critics of the misleading ad believe that it represents a deliberate effort to intimidate voters without state-issued photo IDs from voting this fall.

While claiming that the complaint against them is without merit, the Berger campaign has since changed the ad to remove the false assertion.

Campaign Watch: LCV Names Tillis to ‘Dirty Dozen’

The national League of Conservation Voters (LCV) last week announced that it has named Thom Tillis to its “Dirty Dozen” list for the 2014 campaign. N.C. House Speaker Tillis is running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by U.S. Senator Kay Hagan.

“Thom Tillis has an extreme anti-environment agenda that only a Koch Brother could love. He denies the proven science of climate change, and is the go-to guy for a secretive Koch-funded group that lobbies against clean energy and environmental safeguards,” said Daniel J. Weiss, LCV Senior Vice President for Campaigns. “Speaker Tillis could have reduced the threat of drinking water contamination from future coal ash disasters, but instead he let Duke Energy only do the bare minimum clean up.”

LCV’s Dirty Dozen targets candidates “who consistently side against the environment and are running in races in which LCV has a serious chance to affect the outcome. Last cycle, LCV defeated 11 of the 12 Dirty Dozen candidates.”

Washington Watch: Clean Power Plan Comment Period Extended

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week announced that it has extended the public comment period on its proposed rule controlling carbon pollution from existing power plants (known as the “Clean Power Plan”) by 45 days to December 1. The EPA says that the extended public comment period does not affect its plan to finalize the proposed rule by 6/2/15.

EPA spokesperson Janet McCabe said that the extension was due to the great public interest in the rule, which has included requests for an extended comment period.

Conservationists: Involving Your Workplace

Want to support carrying on the fight for a clean and green North Carolina? Then please consider supporting NCLCV Foundation through a workplace giving campaign.

The NCLCV Foundation is a member of EarthShare North Carolina, a coalition of over 60 nonprofits that work to protect water, air, land, and wildlife in our state and beyond. ESNC provides a workplace shared giving program (similar to the well-known program conducted by United Way in many locations).

Many North Carolina employers already participate, and if your workplace does not do so yet, you can help encourage them to get involved. Here’s more information on EarthShare.

That’s our report for this week.