nc general assembly

February 7, 2013 - John Droz of the American Tradition Institute, a conservative group know for attacking climate scientists, visited North Carolina this week to warn lawmakers that science is under attack -- but his presentation left the actual scientists in the room shaking their heads.

February 6, 2013 - Conservative mega-donor Art Pope has helped finance a movement to discredit mainstream climate science. Now North Carolina's budget director, he will help make important fiscal decisions for a state facing serious threats from climate change.

January 30, 2013 - The legislative session that starts today promises to bring big changes to North Carolina as the leaders of the once-progressive state seek to slash unemployment insurance, create a more regressive tax code, impose voter ID requirements, increase private control of public schools, and enshrine right-to-work in the state constitution.

January 25, 2013 - At the same time North Carolina is dramatically expanding the number of charter schools operating in the state, new research from Duke University finds that charter schools are much more likely than traditional public schools to be racially unbalanced -- and that can have negative educational consequences for students.

January 22, 2013 - Until recently, North Carolina was recognized as a leader in expanding women's access to abortion care. What happened?

January 15, 2013 - Corporate polluters are taking aim this year at states with renewable energy laws, starting with an attack on North Carolina's law by a corporate front group supported by Duke Energy, ExxonMobil, and Koch Industries.

January 3, 2013 - One of the biggest decisions facing North Carolina's new legislature and governor is whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act to cover more than 500,000 low-income people. Much of the opposition to expansion is more about ideology than anything else, a visceral reaction to a law that has been mischaracterized since it was proposed.