Press Release | October 13, 2021

Statement on Governor Cooper’s signing of a North Carolina energy bill, House Bill 951

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The Southern Environmental Law Center today issued the following statement by Derb Carter, senior attorney, regarding the signing of a North Carolina energy bill aimed at reducing heat-trapping gas emissions.

“While today’s signing puts into law admirable climate change goals, it requires yet another plan to reach goals that the governor set out three years ago. The Environmental Management Commission already has a plan underway that would result in carbon emissions reductions beginning next year and we can’t afford to wait on another plan with more delay.”

On behalf of Clean Air Carolina and the North Carolina Coastal Federation, the Southern Environmental Law Center filed a rulemaking petition to reduce heat-trapping carbon pollution from power plants, along with a proposed rule, that was approved by the N.C. Environmental Management Commission on July 13, 2021 and sent to DEQ for rulemaking.

###

The Southern Environmental Law Center is one of the nation’s most powerful defenders of the environment, rooted in the South. With a long track record, SELC takes on the toughest environmental challenges in court, in government, and in our communities to protect our region’s air, water, climate, wildlife, lands, and people. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the organization has a staff of 200, including more than 120 legal and policy experts, and is headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., with offices in Asheville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Chapel Hill, Charleston, Nashville, Richmond, and Washington, D.C.

southernenvironment.org

Are you a reporter and would like more information? Please visit our press contact page for a full list of SELC’s press contacts.