Homebuilders Lobby Pushes Energy Waste; Farm Bill Allows More Methane Emissions from Hog Farms

Under the pro-polluter leadership of the NC General Assembly, proposals to freeze or roll back pollution controls are rolling into the current legislative session. Two of the more noteworthy negative proposals deal with freezing new home energy efficiency at its current level, and with enabling more methane air pollution from hog farms.

Legislators whose campaigns have been heavily bankrolled by the building and development lobby are leading the charge to block improvements in standards controlling required home energy efficiency. Some of the bill sponsors are also contractors or developers by profession, who stand to personally benefit financially from the legislation, according to research by environmental reporter John Deem for the Winston-Salem Journal. 

Unsurprisingly, the primary sponsors of this legislation also include “Turncoat Tricia” Cotham, whose recent switch in party affiliation produced a supermajority in House membership for its pro-polluter majority leadership.

The other bill, the NC Farm Act of 2023, contains a laundry list of changes to statutes that affect agribusiness. One of these changes stands out as particularly problematic. According to environmental reporter Lisa Sorg of NC Newsline, a deceptively short change in current state law “could allow hog farmers to capture methane from their waste lagoons, but choose not to use the gas for energy. Instead, the farmer could merely send the potent greenhouse gas through a flare and into the air. Current law allows for methane to be collected from the farms ‘for use’ as an energy source. The amended language says the methane ‘may be used’ for energy, but would no longer require it.” 

The current authorization for capture and use of methane from hog waste lagoons is already highly controversial, since critics point out that it helps perpetuate the use of outdated and highly polluting waste lagoon and sprayfield systems. The proposed change could eliminate much of the environmental value supposedly gained from these so-called hog ‘biogas’ systems in the first place.

It looks like time to buckle up for a rough environmental ride in the 2023 North Carolina legislative session. NCLCV will be taking names and records for follow-up action in the 2024 state campaigns.