Blocking Out the Scenery
It’s part of an old song about “signs” — and it’s an old story at the North Carolina General Assembly. Billboard companies are using their money-fueled connections to rig state law in their favor. The billboard lobby is pushing another bad bill to tear down trees, as well as local rules that protect those trees […]
Hotlist 8/1/19: Vote no on House Bill 645
House Bill 645, also known as the “billboards bill,” has now passed both the House and the Senate, and is up for a concurrence vote in the House next week. Section 4 of the bill allows billboards with a Department of Transportation permit to be converted to digital structures at a height of 50 feet […]
Rate Hike Bill Still Stalled
What once looked like a slam-dunk attempt to ease Duke Energy’s ability to hike your electricity rate has hit a road block in the state House. The politics of the also-stalled vote to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget veto are straightforward. Republicans need the votes of seven Democrats, and thus far they don’t have those […]
Gerrymandering on Trial
We’re one step closer to determining whether North Carolina voters will have the chance to decide our future in competitive elections based on fair legislative maps. Environmental advocates believe if voters get to choose their representatives — instead of politicians picking their voters — they will choose leaders who will stand up for clean air, […]
Return of the Fox Guarding the Henhouse
Former North Carolina environment chief Donald van der Vaart took as his mission the weakening of state pollution control rules. Naturally, the state Senate now wants him on the environmental board whose job it is to write those rules. Van der Vaart, the polarizing former Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) under then […]
Budget Veto Override, Rate Hike Bill Still Stalled
The top Republican leadership in the North Carolina General Assembly…
Hotlist 7/9/19: VOTE NO ON SB 559
Fresh off Independence Day celebrations, we’re still dealing with a lack of consumer agency in the Duke Energy rate hike bill (Senate Bill 559). Over the long weekend, The News & Observer published an op-ed from a North Carolina business owner highlighting how this legislation allows Duke to increase utility rates and earn excess profits. […]
Hotlist 7/2/19: Duke’s dirty dealing
The topic of much conversation around the General Assembly has been Senate Bill 559, also known as the Duke Energy rate hike bill. Though the legislation has subtly changed since it passed the Senate last month, many opponents still assert that its sole purpose is to boost Duke profits at North Carolina ratepayers’ expense. Of […]
Cooper Vetoes Bad Budget
On Friday, Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the legislature’s budget bill, which fails to meet North Carolinians’ needs for the protection of clean water, clean air, and public health. He called it “an astonishing failure of common sense and common decency.” His listing of the budget’s problems hit especially hard on its failures to close the […]
Hotlist 6/27/19: Kentucky-Fried Fact Denial — Poultry Problems in North Carolina
The 2019 Farm Act (Senate Bill 315) is making its way through the General Assembly this week. The bill passed the Senate last Monday night (June 17th), and is now in the House. The House Agriculture Committee reviewed the bill this Wednesday afternoon, but a vote was delayed over disagreements among committee members. While there […]
