[Durham INC] Crony Capitalism takes over NC General Assembly

Mon Jun 13 21:56:41 EDT 2011

The direct link if you want to oppose the ugly environmental bill is:  https://secure2.convio.net/sierra/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=6499

Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2011 11:47:49 -0400
From: will.morgan at sierraclub.org
Subject: Legislative Update
To: NC-CONS-FORUM at LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG

Friends,
It was quite a week at the legislature.  Hundreds of bills moved through both houses this week as both chambers stayed in session late in to the night each night this week.  The leadership has predicted they will adjourn by next Friday, which means next week will be even busier, with even more late nights.  Here's a preview of what we expect to come up next week, as well as a recap of this week.

Budget Still on Governor's Desk: Everyone is still waiting to see whether the Governor will veto the budget.  She has until Tuesday to decide.  Please read this article from today's News & Observer that details the detrimental effects the budget will have on our state's environment and natural resources.  It's not too late to contact the Governor and ask her to veto the budget!  Please use this link from our friends at the North Carolina Conservation Network to contact the Governor today!

Regulatory Reform Bill Revealed and Rushed Through the Senate:  Many of you will remember the Joint Regulatory Reform Committee that was formed to "create a strong environment for private sector job creation by lifting the undue burden imposed by outdated, unnecessary, and vague rules".  The committee held six hearing across the state, which many of you attended.  The result of these hearings and the written comments the committee received was that an overwhelming majority of North Carolinians (by a 4-1 margin) actually favor maintaining or even strengthening environmental protections.  However, the bill released for the first time on Monday did not reflect those wishes.  Instead, it reflected the wishes of big businesses.  In a committee meeting on Tuesday morning, an industry lobbyist stood up before the committee and announced that the contents of the bill was a product of a six month collaboration of her and other industry lobbyists. S781 would prevent any new environmental protections stricter than the federal minimum, and creates a process for eliminating any existing rules stronger than the federal minimum.  You can read the text of the bill here.  After the bill was introduced on Monday night, it moved quickly through Senate committees during the week, and on Thursday the Senate voted unanimously to approve the bill.  Next week the bill will likely move just as quickly through the House before they adjourn at the end of the week.  PLEASE contact your member of the House using this link and let them know that North Carolina should be able to have state specific environmental protections to protect our unique natural treasures.  You can read more about this bill here.

Detrimental Environmental Bill Expected on Monday:  Each legislative session the legislature has a bill called "Amend Environmental Laws" that is supposed to be used for minor technical changes to environmental laws.  This years bill H119 passed the House a couple of weeks ago with exactly those types of technical corrections.  However, we are hearing that when the bill is heard in the Senate Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resources Committee on Monday at 2:00 it will be loaded down with some of the biggest, most devastating legislation we've seen all session.  We'll send out an update on Monday afternoon after we learn what is in the legislation, so please be ready to take action on this bill.

Dirty Energy Bill on the House Floor:  Last week the House Public Utilities Committee voted to approve S709, the so-called "Energy Jobs Act".  As a reminder, this bill would mandate that the Governor form a regional compact designed to accelerate offshore drilling, would move the state closer to "fracking", and would dismantle the state's Energy Policy Council.  The bill will be on the House floor early next week.

Special Update on Offshore Wind:

There’s 
some good news and bad news about Offshore Wind in this legislative session. 

First 
the good news: 
 We’ve made some important progress on offshore wind.  

We were successful in 
getting a bold bill introduced, garnering national attention.  A national news 
outlet focused on wind legislation hailed our bill as "the most ambitious  legislative offshore wind proposals in the U.S. to date."  Forbes called filing such an ambitious offshore wind bill “impressive results  by any measure”. 

The 
Bad News: 
Original Version of the Bill will Not Pass in 2011

Last week the legislature’s “crossover” date came and went without our bill passing the 
Senate.  Due to intense pressure by utility lobbyists and Senate leadership that 
remains focused on old, dirty sources of energy, our bill was not taken up this 
session.  Despite all of the rhetoric this session about job creation, the 
Senate chose to leave an enormous job creating bill sitting on the 
table.

Looking 
Ahead

We 
are just getting started!  Thanks to our members we made significant progress by 
getting the bill introduced and making significant strides in building a base of 
support.

Transitioning 
North Carolina to a state powered by offshore wind and other renewable resources 
is a significant shift in business-as-usual, and it’s going to take some time to 
convince decision makers that offshore wind is an important part of our state's energy future. This year we accomplished an important first step by 
starting the conversation about offshore wind.   

Back 
to some good news: the legislature has agreed to commission a study of offshore 
wind. This is good news for two reasons: First, it gives us more time to build 
support for offshore wind, and second, the results of the study will be eligible 
for new legislation in 2012. That 
means the time is now for us to demonstrate widespread grassroots support for 
offshore wind, so that when the legislature returns in 2012 their marching 
orders will be clear: North Carolina must take advantage of the incredible 
opportunity of offshore wind.
Thank you all for your continued support.

Will

-- 
Will Morgan
Director of Government Relations
North Carolina Sierra Club 

112 South Blount Street

Raleigh, NC 27601
Office: 919-833-8467
Cell: 336-707-9019 
will.morgan at sierraclub.org

http://www.nc.sierraclub.org

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