NCDEQ
A powerful reminder of why environmental regulations and investments are essential
Read Lisa Sorg’s story here.
New redistricting plans advance, mask mandates fall, and book banning back in the news: The week’s top stories on Policy Watch
1. In our schools: ‘Yes’ to books, science, diversity…and discomfort (Commentary) Public school book banning is back in the news. Yes, I know; it’s an amazing development in an era in which every imaginable form of explicit violence, sex, and hate speech resides just seconds away at our children’s fingertips. Research indicates that 95% of […]
The legislature’s environmental budget: What’s in it, how much, and why it matters to you
For the past 10 years, Republican-led majorities in the General Assembly have sacked the Department of Environmental Quality budget, apparent punishment for enforcing, even meagerly, state and federal environmental regulations. Yet, for the first time since 2017, the legislature's new proposed budget for DEQ exceeds $100 million.
Una antigua planta de misile en Burlington: “un riesgo urgente para la salud pública”
Esta es la segunda entrega de un artículo de dos partes sobre el peligro de contaminación que supone una antigua fábrica de misiles en Burlington para una comunidad predominantemente negra y latina. El artículo y los documentos originales se pueden leer en formato pdf. Read in English. Dentro del Edificio 1A de la antigua […]
Pork fattens the environmental budget while necessities get chopped
The NC Department of Environmental Quality can’t always get what it wants. It can’t even get what it needs. DEQ had requested 37 new positions in the state environmental budget to address the crisis of perfluorinated compounds in drinking water supplies. The House tepidly responded with seven positions; the Senate, always financially brutal toward DEQ, eliminated […]
This week’s top stories on NC Policy Watch
Full coverage of the 9th District hearing and its implications, including: 1. In shocking reversal, Mark Harris calls for new election; Board agrees unanimously When 9th congressional candidate Mark Harris took the stand Thursday and called for a new election in light of evidence his political operative orchestrated a fraudulent absentee ballot scheme, a collective […]
Got something to say about coal ash? This is your week to share that input.
The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is accepting public comment through Friday (February 15th) on how Duke Energy should handle the storage of its coal ash. Duke Energy has proposed leaving the coal ash at six unlined pits, but environmental groups say it will keep polluting groundwater, lakes, and rivers. Frank Holleman of the […]
Editorial: Why is Senator Berger ignoring a serious public-safety concern?
The StarNews Editorial Board bluntly asks in its Tuesday paper: Does Berger even care about GenX? The newspaper that first broke the story of the emerging contaminant in the Cape Fear last year notes that it is long past due for Senate leadership to act. Here’s an excerpt from the paper: With voter outcry growing […]