Conservation Insider Bulletin, April 24

Conservation Insider Bulletin
Published weekly for the Conservation Council of North Carolina
Conservation News to Peruse & Use
Editor: Dan Besse, cib@conservationcouncilnc.org
April 24, 2009

Environmental action has heated up in Raleigh, with opportunities to speak up on funding priorities and coastal issues coming soon, plus national news on climate change, this week in CIB:

--Legislative Watch: Transit Funding Advances; Mountaintop Protection Stalls; Beach Bummer Up Next; Speak Out On Budget

--Coast Watch: Offshore Drilling Hearing April 27, Climate Change & the Coast May 19

--Washington Watch: EPA Climate Action a "Game-Changer"

--Education & Resources: EPA Report Says Climate Change Will Increase Regional Ozone Pollution

Legislative Watch: Transit Funding Advances; Mountaintop Protection Stalls; Beach Bummer Up Next; Speak Out on Budget

Transit Funding Advances: The N.C. House this week voted twice by convincing margins (77-40, 75-40) to approve HB 148, "Congestion Relief / Intermodal Transport Fund", which would provide a critical public finance option for regional public transit systems. The bill, backed by environmental, municipal, and business groups alike, would permit counties to approve via public referenda a special 1/2 or 1/4 cent sales tax exclusively for the funding of public transit systems. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Mountaintop Protection Stalls: Legislation to protect threatened mountain environments in coal-producing states didn't fare as well. HB 340, "Appalachian Mountains Preservation Act", was heard in the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee this week. Power company representatives made dire and controversial predictions of coal shortages and electric price hikes if legislators approved this bill to bar North Carolina power plants from burning coal obtained by the environmentally devastating process of "mountaintop removal" strip mining. Facing likely defeat in committee, bill sponsors pulled back from a vote. Principal sponsor Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford) indicated that she would instead circulate a letter for concerned state legislators to sign in support of federal action to end the controversial practice altogether.

Beach Bummer Up Next: SB 832, "CRC May Permit Terminal Groin"—which CIB non-fondly calls the Beach Bummer Bill—is slated to be heard next week in the Senate Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee. If approved, this terrible bill would rip a gaping hole in North Carolina's long-standing policies protecting our beaches and barrier islands. A host of leading coastal scientists have condemned these "terminal groins" as costly known failures, which temporarily retain sand in one spot at the expense of accelerating erosion elsewhere on the beaches. CCNC lobbyist Dan Crawford calls the bill "worse than ever" and encourages CCNC members and friends to call their Senators in opposition to SB 832.

Speak Out on Budget: Also next week, there will be important opportunities around the state to speak out for funding for pollution control enforcement, environmental education, and critical land conservation funds. On Tuesday, April 28, from 6-9 p.m., the N.C. House Appropriations Committee will hold a public hearing to receive public comments on this year's state budget. The in-person hearing will take place in Raleigh, in the auditorium of the N.C. Museum of History on Fayetteville Street. Ten community colleges around the state will host simultaneous live interactive broadcasts of the hearing in Charlotte, Dobson, Dublin, Fayetteville, Grantsboro, Henderson, Smithfield, Sylva, Williamston, and Winston-Salem. Speakers will be allowed up to three minutes for comments. Rules for speaking during the event, submitting written comments, and accessing the online broadcast are available at www.ncleg.net/sessions/2009/budget/2009/BudgetPublicHearing.html.

Coast Watch: Offshore Drilling Hearing April 27, Climate Change & the Coast May 19

Two important opportunities to address key issues for our coast are coming up soon.

This Monday, April 27, the state legislative task force on offshore drilling will hold a public hearing in Morehead City at Carteret Community College from 4-6 p.m. Public comments of two to five minutes (depending on turnout) will be heard. Coastal advocates say that the oil industry and its backers will have the "drill now" crowd bussed out in force, so it's important for the voices of environmental reason and long-term economic prosperity for our coast (fisheries and tourism) to be well-represented too. For more details, go to http://www.nccoast.org/Advocacy/2009actionalerts/offshoreoilAA.

On Tuesday, May 19, CCNC and other citizen conservation groups will host an educational event on Climate Change & the Coast, at the N.C. Botanical Gardens in Chapel Hill from 7-9 p.m. Speakers will include Dr. Stan Riggs, Distinguished Research Professor, East Carolina University, and former Secretaries of the N.C. Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources. Due to limited space, advance registration is required, at http://action.sierraclub.org/site/PageNavigator/Sign_Up_Coastal_Evening

Washington Watch: EPA Climate Action a "Game-Changer"

The U.S. EPA late last week announced its formal conclusion that human emissions of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases now "endanger human health and welfare." That's the formal trigger required by a key 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision applying the federal Clean Air Act, which now launches the formal rulemaking process for regulating those emissions.

The availability of this regulatory process helps level the national policy playing field, choking off the threat by opponents in the Senate to block climate change action by filibuster. President Obama, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, and Congressional supporters all say that legislation to address the issue is preferable. However, the clock is now ticking on alternative regulatory action if Congress fails to act in a timely manner.

A leading Congressional supporter of action on climate change, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), calls the EPA decision a "game changer" in the global warming policy debate. "It changes the playing field with respect to legislation," said Markey. "It's now no longer doing a bill or doing nothing. It is now a choice between regulation and legislation."

David Doniger, climate-policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, agreed. Doniger told reporters, "This has enormous legal significance. It is the first time the federal government has said officially that the science is real, the danger is real and in this case that pollution from cars contributes to it." (Associated Press, 4/18/09.)

Education & Resources: EPA Report Says Climate Change Will Increase Regional Ozone Pollution

Speaking of federal pronouncements on climate change, here's another wake-up call just released by EPA's Global Climate Change Research Program. The newly-released report concludes that continued climate change is likely to produce significant increases in summer air pollution caused by ozone in several major U.S. regions. Most of the study's modeling scenarios show North Carolina, especially Piedmont North Carolina, being especially hard hit by the resulting air pollution increases.

The entire report, titled "Assessment of the Impacts of Global Change on Regional U.S. Air Quality: A Synthesis of Climate Change Impacts on Ground-Level Ozone", including appendices, can be accessed at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=203459.