environmental politics
October 14, 2013 -
Environmental advocates call North Carolina's 2013 legislative session one of "heartbreak," with an unprecedented number of lawmakers earning zeros on an annual scorecard. The governor also got graded for the first time, earning an F on his budget and a D- overall.
January 11, 2013 -
With new data out showing that 2012 was the warmest year on record for the contiguous United States, and with costs mounting due to droughts and other climate-related disasters, will political leaders finally take action to address the problem?
June 20, 2012 -
Responding to fracking opponents' concerns over how cash-strapped North Carolina can afford to regulate the industry, the legislature's Republican leadership is reportedly in talks with the American Petroleum Institute about paying for its own regulators. But given API's role leading up the BP disaster in the Gulf, does that really serve the public interest?
June 12, 2012 -
Despite a record of environmental pragmatism as Charlotte mayor, the North Carolina Republican gubernatorial hopeful has embraced a paranoid conspiracy theory that sees sustainable development as an evil United Nations plot to take over the world. Where did this idea come from, and what does it mean for McCrory's political future?
June 8, 2012 -
Mountaintop removal activist Maria Gunnoe of West Virginia was questioned about child porn by U.S. Capitol Police after submitting a photo of a child bathing in mine-polluted water to a House committee chaired by a lawmaker who counts coal companies among his biggest contributors.
May 31, 2012 -
Big industrial polluters have been investing millions in lobbying and campaign contributions while seeking to weaken North Carolina standards governing health-damaging pollution.
April 30, 2012 -
Embroiled in controversy for its role in passing "Stand Your Ground", the American Legislative Exchange Council also worked to block federal regulation of toxic power plant waste that's contaminating groundwater supplies across the country -- and it turns out that the group has close ties to major coal ash polluters.
