mike hager

January 21, 2016 - The grassroots fight against Atlantic oil and gas exploration began in Kure Beach, North Carolina in 2014, after the mayor at the time signed an industry-penned letter supporting it. He recently lost to a drilling foe — and the town just became the 100th East Coast community to pass a resolution against offshore oil and gas development.

November 20, 2015 - Dirty-energy interests including Duke Energy and Koch Industries' owners are spending aggressively to kill policies that aim to speed the transition to a more environmentally sustainable energy future in states including North Carolina and Florida.

September 11, 2015 - An effort is underway to kill a North Carolina law — the only one like it in the region — that requires utilities to generate an increasing amount of electricity from clean sources like solar and wind. Following the money behind what some are calling the "solar haters" campaign leads straight to dirty energy interests.

March 6, 2015 - Since he was first elected to the North Carolina legislature in 2010, Rep. Mike Hager (R-Rutherford) has become a leading advocate for oil and gas drilling in the state. He's also become a leading beneficiary of campaign contributions from the industry, which could begin fracking operations in the state this year.

June 6, 2014 - North Carolina has passed a law fast-tracking fracking. Now state leaders are seeking taxpayer dollars to help the industry -- despite the billions it earns in annual profits and its detrimental effects on environmental health.

May 23, 2014 - After public outcry over a bill to lift North Carolina's fracking moratorium that made unauthorized disclosure of fracking chemical trade secrets a felony offense, the state Senate changed the penalty to a misdemeanor before passing the bill and sending it to the House, where it appears it might face opposition for other reasons.

April 3, 2014 - North Carolina regulators have found highly toxic thallium seeping from coal ash pits at two Duke Energy plants. Rep. Mike Hager -- the state lawmaker who co-chairs the committee that will handle coal ash cleanup legislation and former engineering manager for one of the thallium-leaking plants -- doesn't think the discovery is cause for alarm. Is his perspective shaped by his Duke connections?