Steve Troxler
Ballot bites: Prominent candidates for Governor, Congress, Council of State join the fray
Major news on the filing front Tuesday is that Republican U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry (NC-10) is not running for reelection. McHenry announced he will retire after 10 terms that included three weeks earlier this year as temporary House Speaker after Rep. Kevin McCarthy was kicked out of the job. “There is a season for everything […]
PW investigates: Lack of transparency, scrutiny involving state agency’s Pesticide Section
North Carolina's dated and weak pesticide regulations do little to discourage the misuse of dangerous chemicals A few hours before dawn one March morning in 2013, Johnathan Covington woke to find his young daughter on the couch, crying. The night prior, an acrid smell had begun infiltrating the family home. Covington’s daughter said her eyes hurt and she couldn’t sleep.
Editorial: Ag Commish Troxler needs to explain request for farm aid blank check
As Policy Watch reporter Lisa Sorg explained yesterday morning, state Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler has some rather grand plans for aiding farmers with state money in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. Troxler, a Republican, asked lawmakers on the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources yesterday for the $250 million to […]
Fact-checking the allegations lodged about hog farms at the National Ag Leaders Roundtable
The language was bellicose, the atmosphere hostile. The statements, sometimes hypocritical. With less than 24 hours’ public notice, US Rep. David Rouzer convened a “National Agriculture Leaders Roundtable” at the state fairgrounds on Friday morning. To a room packed with contract swine growers, representatives from the USDA, farming interest groups and state elected officials — including […]
Columnist debunks myth-making by Forest, Troxler on industrial hog farms
Be sure to check out columnist Ned Barnett’s latest entry in this morning’s edition of Raleigh’s News & Observer in which he debunks the dishonest politicizing/pandering in which Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and Ag Commissioner Steve Troxler have been engaged of late on the subject of industrialized hog farming. This is from Barnett’s column (“A […]
NC Farm Act, fattened with protections for hog industry, up for Senate vote at noon
Room 1127 of the Legislative Building was hot, noisy and crowded, with onlookers packed cheek to jowl. The scene at yesterday’s Senate Judiciary Committee meeting felt temporarily like a hog confinement barn, but without the manure. However, private property and environmental advocates would argue that the NC Farm Act stinks. Among its many problematic provisions, Senate […]
Facing lawsuit, NC Department of Agriculture agrees to provide public records without exorbitant fees
Under the McCrory administration, it was pain-staking, if not impossible to pry public records from the hands of state agencies; requests for the taxpayer-funded information languished for months, even years. Yet since Gov. Cooper took office, most of these departments have been more responsive and forthcoming with providing public taxpayer-funded information — with one notable […]
As EPA prepares to rescind the Waters of the US rule, state ag department has an extra $250K sitting around
[dropcap] H [/dropcap] ouse lawmakers handed the state Department of Agriculture $250,000 to fight a legal battle that is all but moot. And now, unlike many cash-strapped agencies, the department has an extra quarter-million dollars that it needs to spend. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced late last week that he would rescind the Waters of […]
State ag commissioner Troxler “pleased” with EPA’s ruling to allow brain-damaging pesticide on crops
[dropcap] W [/dropcap] arhawk, Hatchet, Eraser and Vulcan: The pesticide chlorpyrifos is sold under many lurid, yet apt brand names. Known to harm a child’s developing brain, the chemical is nonetheless sprayed on golf courses, fruit trees and vegetable crops throughout the U.S. — including North Carolina.. Other than golfers, such as President Trump, farmworkers and children […]
Gov. McCrory berates federal government over Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge
Gov. Pat McCrory, who rarely misses an opportunity to accuse the federal government of overreach, is now targeting the Department of Interior and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over regulations on a national wildlife refuge. Yesterday McCrory and Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler toured Tyrrell and Washington counties, where Tropical Storm Hermine dumped five to 10 inches […]
North Carolinians Against Gun Violence sponsoring “thank you” note to Ag commish
If the recent actions of State Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler in upholding the ban on hidden, loaded handguns at the North Carolina State Fair has been enough to convince you that there may still be a little bit of hope for the Old North State, check out the “thank you” campaign that’s been organized by […]
Advocates seek Troxler records in turkey tip-off
Could North Carolina have another Ag Commssioner scandal (Butterballgate?) on its hands? It’ll be interesteing to see what the records request filed by the good folks over at Progress NC turns up. Here’s an announcment they sent out this morning: Troxler Remains Silent on Butterball Tip-Off