Judicial Watch: Cooper and Stein Withdraw NC from Challenges to Voting Rights, Clean Power Plan

Governor Cooper, Attorney General Stein, and DEQ Secretary Regan are moving North Carolina to the right side of federal court fights over voting rights and climate change.

Last week, the three new NC leaders filed federal court motions to shift North Carolina’s official state stance on two cases of special interest to citizen advocates for environmental quality.

First, Gov. Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein have taken steps to withdraw North Carolina’s appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals’ order striking down most of the 2013 voter suppression law passed by the General Assembly and signed by then-Governor Pat McCrory.

The Court in that case ruled that the law targeted “African Americans with almost surgical precision” with measures to make it more difficult for many eligible citizens to vote. Then-Gov. McCrory asked for the U.S. Supreme Court to review and overturn the Appeals Court’s decision. Now, Gov. Cooper and Atty. Stein are telling the Supreme Court they want the Appeals Court decision to stand.

Citizen advocates understand that when more citizens vote, it’s far easier to hold our legislators accountable for bad environmental policies.

Normally, a plaintiff’s withdrawal of an appeal would end the case. In North Carolina, however, the legislature has given itself the authority to hire lawyers to defend its own invalidated laws in court. It’s widely expected that the current General Assembly leadership will act to spend more North Carolina tax money in their continuing effort to make it harder for many citizens to vote.

Second, Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Secretary Michael Regan and Atty Gen. Stein have asked the U.S. Court of Appeals to permit North Carolina to withdraw from a challenge to the Clean Power Plan.

Under the McCrory Administration, in 2015 DEQ’s then-Sec. Donald van der Vaart joined a number of other states in challenging the Obama Administration’s rule limiting carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. The Cooper Administration, led by a long-time advocate for cleaner air, wants no part of that effort to keep our air dirty and block rational efforts to bring climate change under control.

“Investing in clean energy creates jobs, enhances our energy independence and combats climate change,” Stein said. “The Department of Environmental Quality asked me to withdraw North Carolina’s participation in this lawsuit because it frustrates these important goals. I am glad to do so.”

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