Tom Apodaca
June 10, 2016 -
North Carolina lawmakers recently proposed drastically cutting tuition at several historically black public universities but altered the bill after protests by HBCU students and alumni. One of the lawmakers behind the measure was also a key player behind a law that limited voting rights and dramatically affected HBCU students, and they haven't forgotten.
June 9, 2016 -
Two climate watchdogs will now have a chance to continue their appeal of North Carolina regulators' decision allowing Duke Energy to build a $1.1 billion fracked gas power plant thanks to an order handed down this week by the state appeals court rejecting a $10 million bond requirement from the nonprofit groups.
May 26, 2016 -
In recent weeks, the company got the N.C. Utilities Commission to require an unprecedented $10 million bond from grassroots groups seeking to block construction of a fracked gas plant and lobbied N.C. lawmakers to get a coal ash bill that watchdogs have blasted as a "bailout" and a "sweetheart deal."
April 22, 2014 -
A national campaign finance watchdog group analyzed Duke Energy's political contributions to the nation's governors -- and found that North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) received three times more than five other sitting governors combined.
March 6, 2014 -
With a new poll finding North Carolina voters overwhelmingly want state officials to force Duke Energy to clean up its coal ash pits, a protest outside the governor's mansion that involved the Moral Monday movement leader turned up the heat on the McCrory administration, which is under federal investigation following the Feb. 2 spill into the Dan River.
December 13, 2013 -
Corporate interest advocacy groups including the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council made repealing North Carolina's renewable energy law a top priority last year. Their effort failed, but now ALEC is trying a different approach by taking aim at the solar boom.
March 1, 2013 -
A proposal to speed up the state's timetable for fracking has passed the North Carolina Senate and now moves to the state House, where the speaker has expressed concerns about the legislation.
