Conservation Insider Bulletin, June 27

Conservation Insider Bulletin
Published weekly for the Conservation Council of North Carolina
Conservation News to Peruse & Use
Editor: Dan Besse, cib@conservationcouncilnc.org

June 27, 2008

Another state politician's "convictions" on offshore drilling have drifted off in the political winds. Plus, there's more campaign and legislative news, this week in CIB:
--Campaign Watch: Dole Flips on Drilling; Donnan Wins Labor Nomination; Business Lobby Splits Over Campaign Strategy
--Legislative Watch: Drought Legislation Still Pending
--Local Government Watch: Warning—Propaganda Mailers to Your Local Leaders

Campaign Watch: Dole Flips on Drilling; Donnan Wins Labor Nomination; Business Lobby Splits Over Campaign Strategy

Dole Flips on Drilling: U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) this week abandoned her longstanding support of a federal moratorium on Atlantic coast offshore oil drilling. She told press that she now supports lifting the moratorium in order to "increase our energy independence". Sorry, Liddy--U.S. government and industry analysts report that if the moratorium were lifted, it would likely be 2030 before new offshore leases could be brought into production. Dole's general election opponent, N.C. State Senator Kay Hagan (D-Guilford), opposes lifting the moratorium.

The score now for high-profile 2008 contests in North Carolina:

Barack Obama: opposes more offshore drilling
John McCain: supports more offshore drilling
Kay Hagan: opposes
Elizabeth Dole: supports
Bev Perdue: opposes
Pat McCrory: waffles

Donnan Wins Labor Nomination: Mary Fant Donnan on Tuesday defeated former Labor Commissioner John Brooks by more than a 2-to-1 margin in a statewide runoff primary. Donnan, a Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation program officer, and the director of research and policy under former Labor Commissioner Harry Payne, thus becomes the Democratic nominee for Labor Commissioner this fall. A central issue in the general election is certain to be the need for stronger enforcement of workplace safety and health laws.

Business Lobby Splits Over Campaign Strategy: NC FREE. long one of North Carolina's most influential business organizations in the political realms, may be breaking up. NC FREE is probably best known for its well-researched analyses of state legislative campaigns, and the competitiveness of candidates for those seats. It has also served as a forum for business leaders to share their preferences on these candidates. Recently, the organization has begun building more overtly partisan efforts to recruit and assist candidates. Most recently, its leadership has begun promoting the election of candidates who work in business as opposed to some other profession or occupation. Apparently, this trend has proceeded too far for the comfort of some of NC FREE's largest corporate members. According to a 6/27/08 article in the Charlotte Observer, "at least a dozen" member companies (including major corporations Bank of America, Duke Energy, Wachovia, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Progress Energy) have dropped their memberships in recent months. The companies reportedly are concerned that the group's increasingly partisan tone will undercut their ability to maintain influence with elected leaders in both major parties. Because the organization's dues are based on companies' size, the loss of such memberships represents a major financial hit for the group. The group's board of directors is said to be reviewing its policies and organizational status.

Legislative Watch: Drought Legislation Still Pending

One of the environmental priorities for 2008, drought and water resources management, is still alive for potential action this year, but not moving while legislative leadership finalizes the budget. HB 2499, "Drought/ Water Management Recommendations", would strengthen water conservation requirements during droughts, require better reporting of major water withdrawals, prohibit water rate structures that encourage waste, allow use of "gray water" for irrigation, encourage leak detection and repair efforts, and generally improve water supply planning. Environmental groups including CCNC are encouraging members to contact their legislators in support of this legislation.

Local Government Watch: Warning—Propaganda Mailers to Your Local Leaders

CIB has previously reported on an industry-funded right-wing advocacy group known as the Heartland Institute. Here's an updated propaganda alert: Heartland has mailed out to local government elected officials around the state (presumably around the nation) a deceptively serious-looking document titled, "Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate".

Here's a refresher regarding the Heartland Institute's real background. It has received extensive funding from ExxonMobil and other corporations financially invested in the policy debates on which it "reports". Heartland most recently embarrassed itself by releasing a report which included a list of 500 scientists who allegedly doubted that human factors are causing climate change. Heartland soon found itself furiously backtracking and blaming its own "PR department" for errors, after dozens of the scientists cited on the list began expressing outrage that they were included, pointing out that their research and analysis actually contradicted Heartland's claims.

To give you a further idea of who these folks are, here's a tip: Heartland Institute's director of Climate Strategies Watch, Paul Chesser, is also a contributing editor for the John Locke Foundation's Carolina Journal.

The subtitle of the report now being sent to local elected leaders is "Summary for Policymakers—Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change" (NIPCC). The NIPCC is an industry front entity with a name plainly seeking to create confusion with ongoing genuine scientific reports from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). That gives you another picture of the level of scruples shown by this crowd.

For a summary review of Heartland Institute in some detail, here's one source: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Heartland_Institute.

CIB encourages readers to touch base with your local leaders on this point. If they're receiving Heartland's propaganda pieces, let them know what they're really getting.