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Environmental advocates ready to fight Trump “in the courts, in Congress, in...
Under President-Elect Trump, pollution would not be just hot air (Photo: ribarnica/ Creative Commons/ Flickr) Since there has been so little of it, let’s start with some positive news. Yes, the...
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A tale of two Donalds: van der Vaart asks Trump to gut the EPA
NC DEQ Secretary Donald van der Vaart to Donald Trump: “We stand ready to help your administration.” (Photo: NC DEQ) In what could be a parting gift to the citizens of North Carolina, Donald van der...
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Duke Energy settles lawsuit over Sutton plant; submits post-hurricane Plan of...
Duke Energy Sutton plant near Wilmington (Photo: Duke Energy) Duke Energy has settled a lawsuit with three environmental groups by contributing $1 million to a fund that will be used to protect the...
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NC’s coal mines are defunct, but we should still care about the Stream...
It’s not Obama’s fault. Cheap natural gas and renewables have contributed to coal’s decline. The billboards along the West Virginia interstates advertise many types of coming attractions: the Lion’s...
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Under proposed billboard legislation, outdoor advertising companies have more...
(Photo from www.bitemefirearms.net) O n the way to the beach along US 70, the billboards, like the landscape, change in tone: Further inland, billboards bearing “Bite Me Firearms” dominate the highway,...
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Quick hit: Renewables bill a “fundamental shift” in the state’s energy policy”
(Photo: Creative Commons) This is a developing story and will be updated this week. This post has also been updated with comments from Duke Energy. I t’s a strange day indeed when the Americans for...
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Public hearings on Atlantic Coast Pipeline in Fayetteville, Rocky Mount focus...
Aside from the risks of blasting, the threat to endangered and rare species, the potential for a natural gas leak or explosion, the possible disruption of Native American burial grounds, and the...
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Republic Services pulls the plug on leachate aerosolization test program
This is a developing story. There will be updates as more information becomes available. Leachate aerosolization, also known as “garbage juice in a snowblower” was not effective during a test program...
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Late addition to HB 56 gives $435K to UNC Wilmington, Cape Fear Public...
Rep. Pat McElraft: “There will be more funding down the road. This is just a start.” (Photo: NCGA) House Bill 56, already laden with the plastic bag ban and modified-but-still-controversial riparian...
View ArticleFact sheet skewers NC legislature’s two-faced posturing on clean water
[Lisa Sorg will have more details on this developing story in this space shortly.] The General Assembly passed legislation today that purports to be about protecting North Carolinians from chemicals in...
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In veto, Gov. Cooper calls HB 56 “cynical legislation that does nothing to...
Gov. Roy Cooper toured Pender County’s water plant in late July. Pender County is among the areas affected by the GenX drinking water crisis in the Cape Fear River. (Photo: Gov. Cooper’s Medium page)...
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Concerned about harm to sea life, DEQ temporarily blocks energy companies...
The four international companies are in the final approval process for oil and gas development off the NC Coast. However, state environmental officials have reviewed the applications and asked for more...
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Low levels of perfluorinated compounds detected in Durham drinking water; new...
The Duke University women’s rowing team practices at Lake Michie in spring 2016. Lake Michie is a drinking water source for Durham; recent tests show low levels of perfluorinated compounds in the...
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Note to SBI: No need to spy on pipeline opponents — they’re hiding right here...
Map of proposed pipeline path — (Source: Atlantic Coast Pipeline) As Policy Watch environmental reporter Lisa Sorg reported yesterday (“State Bureau of Investigation unit prepared “threat assessment”...
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MVP Southgate officially files with feds to build natural gas pipeline; DEQ...
This inset show the portion of the MVP Southgate natural gas pipeline that would burrow beneath the Dan River. The turquoise arrow in the center of the screen shows the river. The two other turquoise...
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Appellate court orders construction to halt along all 600 miles of Atlantic...
All construction has stopped along the 600-mile route of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, including in North Carolina, after a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling last Friday. The basis for the court’s...
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Comments due today on proposed state rule to loosen regulations on digital...
Image: Scenic NC North Carolina environmental advocacy groups are calling on concerned groups and individuals to weigh in by today’s deadline in opposition to a proposal from the state Department of...
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EPA undermines mercury, air toxics rules and no one’s happy except coal...
Duke Energy’s coal-fired power plant in Asheville in 2014; the utility has since retired that facility and seven others in North Carolina, retrofitting them as natural gas units. (Photo: Greenpeace)...
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When finished, Kitty Hawk offshore wind project could power up to 700,000 homes
Video by: Claire Galt Graphics by: Kendal Orrantia Photos by: Elise Mahon Offshore wind — clean renewable energy produced by turbines taking advantage of wind speeds — has recently seen an uptake...
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Report says many utilities are slow-walking clean energy goals
Image: Natural Resources Defense Council Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress ranked among the nation’s worst DENVER – A report released this week by the Sierra Club faults dozens of...
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Experts see a dire warning for North Carolina in new climate crisis numbers
Photo credit: North Carolina Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience Plan(Photo credit: North Carolina Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience Plan) State officials release “resilience plan,” but...
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‘Shame! Shame! Shame!’ Opponents of LNG plant outraged after Person County...
Vonda Frantz is one of hundreds of opponents of Dominion Energy's proposed LNG plant who attended the Person County Commissioners meeting Monday. They voted 5-0 to approve the project, over strenuous...
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State, federal lawmakers ask FERC to require MVP Southgate to start over its...
Image: Adobe StockFifty Democratic state lawmakers have asked FERC — the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — to require owners of MVP Southgate to reapply for certification for a natural gas...
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Gov. Cooper calls for wetlands, forest restoration, rebuffs lawmakers’...
Pine flats in the Croatan National Forest: Generally, wetlands in these areas are not connected on the surface to other waterways. (Photo: Lisa Sorg)A new executive order asks state cabinet agencies to...
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Duke Energy unveils plans for new natural gas plant in Catawba County
The current Marshall Steam Station in Catawba County will eventually be replaced by a new natural gas plant nearby on Duke Energy property. (Photo: Duke Energy)Duke Energy has unveiled its plans for a...
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