Updates

Protecting N.C. from fracking

Since Gov. Bev Perdue blocked pro-drilling legislation in 2011, leaders in the North Carolina House have threatened five separate times to override her veto. We helped convince Gov. Perdue to veto the measure and generated hundreds of phone calls and emails into lawmakers to derail the bill.

Report | Environment North Carolina

Environment North Carolina 2011 Legislative Scorecard

The scorecard tracks ten contested votes from 2011 in the House and ten in the Senate on a range of bills that have largely become law, including those that push back a key deadline in the Jordan Lake clean-up plan, remove protections for a unspoiled Western North Carolina trout stream, and drastically limit the conservation of important greens spaces across the state, such as those that surround the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Find out how your legislators voted by downloading the full scorecard.  

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News Release | Environment North Carolina

Nearly half of all legislators score a “zero” on the environment

Raleigh, NC— A record 55 representatives and 24 senators failed to cast a single contested vote in favor of the environment in 2011, a reflection of the repeated attacks waged by the General Assembly on the state’s air, water, and open spaces last year.  

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News Release | Environment North Carolina

House leaders threaten, but take no action on drilling bill

Raleigh—For the fifth time in a row since Governor Perdue vetoed the controversial energy bill that lays the groundwork for onshore and offshore drilling, House leaders threatened an override--this time in the wee hours of an unrrelated special session--but failed to deliver.

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News Release | Environment North Carolina Research & Policy Center

Obama Announces Landmark Mercury Standards

Raleigh, NC – Today, President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the first-ever nationwide standard for mercury and air toxics pollution from power plants. A record 907,000 Americans submitted comments on the standard, which is expected to cut toxic mercury pollution from power plants by 91 percent.

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Report | Environment North Carolina Research & Policy Center

America's Biggest Mercury Polluters

Power plants continue to release large amounts of toxic pollutants, including mercury, into our air. In 2010, two-thirds of all airborne mercury pollution in the United States came from the smokestacks of coal-fired power plants. In other words, power plants generate more airborne mercury pollution than all other industrial sources combined.

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