roy cooper

June 29, 2023 - On the 10th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Shelby County v. Holder ruling, which weakened the Voting Rights Act, North Carolina's conservative majority is pushing a raft of new measures that voting experts say will add new barriers to voting and increase political meddling in elections.

February 8, 2023 - After making gains in the recent midterms, Republican lawmakers in states across the South are altering legislative rules to sidestep the usual process for passing bills. Pro-democracy advocates say the changes are an abuse of power that would harm marginalized communities and undermine the people's will. 

January 27, 2023 - The North Carolina Utilities Commission's newly adopted plan to limit Duke Energy's climate-disrupting pollution calls for new gas-burning plants — even though they leak methane, a greenhouse gas that in the short term is even more potent than carbon. Forty-five scientists recently called Duke's planned gas expansion "entirely indefensible from a climate and public health perspective," and advocates vowed to fight the proposed plants.

July 21, 2022 - North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) pushed for the new state budget to allocate millions of dollars to close hog farms, which are concentrated in environmental justice communities in the state's increasingly flood-prone east. But the Republican-controlled state legislature, where the industry is a powerful force, passed a budget without the funds — and Cooper signed it.  

January 27, 2022 - As the N.C. Supreme Court prepares to hear a lawsuit challenging gerrymandered election districts, a prominent Republican leader has brought up the possibility of the legislature impeaching judges. It hasn't happened in well over a century, when white supremacist Democrats impeached two justices, as well as a Klan-fighting governor.

January 25, 2022 - As Republican state lawmakers across the South pass laws restricting how public school teachers can talk about racism with their students, a new national poll of teachers finds that over a third say the surge in such classroom speech bans makes them more likely to leave the profession at the end of this school year.

March 11, 2021 - The FCC recently approved a benefit program to lower the cost of internet bills for Americans in need, and states in the South including Texas and North Carolina are also taking steps to address accessibility problems.