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NC Sen. Paul Newton, a point person on energy legislation, is leaving the...
Sen. Paul Newton (R-Cabarrus County) (Photo: NCGA video stream)Sen. Paul Newton, the chamber’s Republican point person on energy legislation, is retiring from the legislature effective Wednesday....
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Signs of hope and great need six months after Hurricane Helene
An Asheville cyclist pedals toward a "WNC Strong" billboard moving past an enormous debris pile from Helene on his right. (Photo: Clayton Henkel/NC Newsline)Residents of western North Carolina are...
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Western NC went offline during Helene. Can the state stay connected in future...
Flood debris piles left in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Bat Cave, North Carolina. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)When Hurricane Helene tore through western Yancey County, Steve Boyd was...
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Proposed pipeline project would harm North Carolina communities, report shows
This map -- produced by the group Appalachian Voices and republished in the 7 Directions of Service/Sierra Club report "Overburdened and Overlooked: Communities Harmed by Transco's Southeast Supply...
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Scientists urge Stein to stop Duke Energy’s fossil fuel expansion
A Duke Energy coal fired power plant near Roxboro, NC (Photo: Courtesy of the Southern Environmental Law Center) More than 60 research scientists signed an open letter Thursday urging North Carolina...
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Few were insured against Helene’s floods. Those that were faced delays,...
Depot Street in Asheville flooded during Hurricane Helene. Among those storefronts damaged was Ashewell Medical Group, Dr. Carly Brown's primary care clinic. (Photo: Courtesy of Carly Brown)Just a...
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U.S. House Dems say NOAA cuts will harm weather forecasting, fisheries, Navy...
A NOAA NO-XP radar antenna prior to operations in VORTEX 2 in Norman, Oklahoma, on Oct. 5, 2010. (Photo credit NOAA)Democrats on the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee and a panel of experts on...
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‘Quality work, fast’: NC gears up for homebuilding after Helene, trying to...
A storm-damaged home in western North Carolina. (Photo: North Carolina Department of Commerce HUD CDBG-DR Helene recovery Action Plan)As she briefed contractors about their upcoming bids to rebuild...
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NC Farm Bureau asks state Supreme Court to strike environmental protections...
A hog CAFO in eastern North Carolina. (Photo: Rick Dove)This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the...
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What would a Great Dismal Swamp National Heritage Area look like?
The Great Dismal Swamp is home to one of Virginia’s highest concentrations of black bears, according to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (Photo courtesy of Rob Wood and the U.S. Fish and...
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NC House committee advances bills targeting clean water
A pipe deposits water from upstream and discharges into the Cape Fear River in Wilmington. (Photo: Lisa Sorg)The North Carolina House Agriculture and Environment Committee voted to approve a flurry of...
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North Carolina will get $25M in latest round of USDA disaster aid
Flooding in western North Carolina from Hurricane Helene. (Photo: David Davis, County Extension Director, N.C. Cooperative Extension)North Carolina farmers are set to receive $25 million in aid from...
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N.C. Treasurer names conservative climate skeptic to state Utilities Commission
Image: NC Utilities Commission -https://ncuc.gov/This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment....
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Trump signs orders targeting revival of ‘beautiful, clean coal’
A group of coal miners watch as President Donald Trump speaks at the White House shortly before signing executive orders on the coal industry on April 8, 2025. (White House livestream)President Donald...
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Trump budget puts clean-energy spending in crosshairs
President Donald Trump's budget request, released on May 2, 2025, proposes slashing $21 billion in unspent funds from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law for renewable energy, electric vehicle...
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States’ nuclear energy growth needs federal action to follow Trump’s vocal...
The shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania, pictured on Oct. 10, 2024. The plant’s owner, Constellation Energy, plans to spend $1.6 billion to refurbish the...
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The NC Conservation Network’s Grady McCallie and Luna Homsi discuss State of...
NC Conservation Network's Grady McCallie and Luna Homsi (Courtesy photos) Few issues on the public policy agenda in 2025 are more urgently important than the health of the environment. Whether it’s...
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As demand for AI rises, so do power thirsty data centers
A complex of data centers in Ashburn, Va. (Photo by Gerville/Getty Images)This is the first of two States Newsroom stories examining the implications of the growing need for electricity largely from...
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Trump attack on state climate laws likely doomed, but attempts to yank funds...
A Union Pacific train transports coal through Spanish Fork Canyon in Utah County, Utah. on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. President Donald Trump signed an order on April 8, 2025, aimed at boosting coal...
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Inspired NC Republicans target environmental justice, clean energy jobs and...
(Photo: Robert Zullo/ States Newsroom)This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for...
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FEMA leader ousted, one day after publicly opposing agency’s elimination
Cam Hamilton, at the time senior official performing the duties of the administrator at FEMA, testifies before a House Appropriations subcommittee on May 7, 2025. (Screenshot from House...
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Mining is an environmental and human rights nightmare. Battery recycling can...
Consumer batteries at Redwood’s facility prepared for recycling. (Photo courtesy of Redwood Materials)This story was produced by Grist and co-published with States Newsroom Rows of dead batteries...
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FEMA will stop matching 100% of Helene recovery money in North Carolina
Hurricane Helene is estimated to have caused $9.8 billion in damage to western NC's transportation infrastructure. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images) FEMA has denied North Carolina’s request to...
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NC will appeal FEMA ruling to end 100% Helene cost-share, as state braces for...
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, seen here speaking to reporters as he unveiled his two-year budget proposal on March 19, 2025, says North Carolina will appeal a recent Trump administration decision to...
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EPA weighs NC environmental harms from sewage sludge used as fertilizer
After the Winston Weaver fertilizer plant caught fire, the facility's owners shipped thousands of gallons of fire suppressant water to a dairy farm in Yadkin County. That material contained toxic PFAS....
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One USDA staffer is handling all of western NC’s post-Helene farm loans after...
Flooding in western North Carolina from Hurricane Helene. (Photo: David Davis, County Extension Director, N.C. Cooperative Extension) The Farm Service Agency has closed two local offices and cut five...
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Dozens of members of Congress from both parties plead with Trump to unfreeze...
A person uses a garden hose in an effort to save a neighboring home from catching fire during the Eaton Fire on Jan. 8, 2025 in Altadena, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)WASHINGTON —...
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NC Senate panels endorse van der Vaart for Utilities Commission slot
Donald van der Vaart addresses Senators during his confirmation hearing on May 14, 2025. (Photo: NCGA screengrab)The North Carolina Senate Select Committee on Nominations voted Wednesday afternoon to...
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Is Congress trampling on state laws protecting property rights against...
South Dakota state Rep. Karla Lems, R-Canton, speaks to hundreds of rally attendees at the South Dakota Capitol in Pierre on Jan. 13, 2025, during an event highlighting opposition to a carbon dioxide...
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White House is evaluating the future of FEMA. After Helene, NC governor has...
Gov. Josh Stein signed the Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 (Part 1) into law. (Photo via the Governor's Press Office)Under the Trump administration, the future of the U.S. disaster management agency is...
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Stein asks lawmakers for $891M in Helene relief, warning of increasingly...
A chainsaw operator cuts down debris collected from the bottom of Lake Lure in Rutherford County, North Carolina, on April 14, 2025, to make it easier to load into dump trucks for disposal. The...
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RFK Jr. insists upcoming ‘Make America Healthy Again’ report won’t target...
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (Screenshot from committee webcast)WASHINGTON — U.S. Health...
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Environmental advocates urge lawmakers to remove pesticide section from Farm Act
(Photo: NC Department of Agriculture 2018 Pesticide Report)Leaders of the nonprofit advocacy group Toxic Free North Carolina held a virtual press conference along with community advocates on Wednesday...
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How a disaster recovery firm pitched itself to North Carolina, years after...
A storm-damaged home in western North Carolina. (Photo: North Carolina Department of Commerce HUD CDBG-DR Helene recovery Action Plan)The firm that will run North Carolina’s Hurricane Helene recovery...
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House swiftly passes $464M in Helene aid for business grants, WNC repairs
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractors sort debris pulled from the bottom of Lake Lure in Rutherford County, North Carolina on April 14, 2025. Vegetative and man-made debris was washed into Lake Lure...
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U.S. Senate vote to nix California tailpipe emissions standard blocks 17...
Highway 170 in North Hollywood, California. (Photo by Trevor Srednick/Getty Images)The U.S. Senate voted early Thursday to prevent California from enforcing regulations on tailpipe emission from new...
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Stein: NC will carry on with Helene recovery work despite federal funding...
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractors sort debris pulled from the bottom of Lake Lure in Rutherford County, North Carolina on April 14, 2025. Vegetative and man-made debris was washed into Lake Lure...
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NC firm says its bid to manage Helene homebuilding was improperly disqualified
Flood debris piles left in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Bat Cave, North Carolina. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)A North Carolina-based firm that submitted a bid to manage the state’s...
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Advocates say US House budget cuts will harm NC’s electric vehicle industry
An EVgo fast charging station charges a vehicle. (Photo: Loren Elliott for CalMatters)Advocates for speeding the nation’s transition to electric vehicles have joined the list of groups and individuals...
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Stein calls on Congress to preserve electric vehicle industry tax credits in...
Gov. Josh Stein speaks with reporters after addressing attendees at the 2025 Emerging Issues Forum: "Future Forward Energy." (Photo: Christine Zhu/NC Newsline)North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein on...
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Senate Agriculture Committee reviews zoning, excavation, wasterwater bills
(Photo: NC Department of Agriculture 2018 Pesticide Report)The Senate Agriculture, Energy, and Environment Committee approved one bill and discussed two others during its hearing on Tuesday. Lawmakers...
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Senate Agriculture committee considers Wilson for DEQ secretary
North Carolina Legislative Building (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)The North Carolina Senate Agriculture, Energy, and Environment Committee reviewed Reid Wilson’s appointment as secretary of the...
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Funding shortfalls hamper North Carolina’s program to buy out hog farms in or...
A hog CAFO in eastern North Carolina. (Photo: Rick Dove)This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the...
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NC environmental, labor advocates ask Tillis to back clean energy in GOP...
(Photo: Robert Zullo/ States Newsroom)North Carolina environmental and labor advocates held a press conference Wednesday to call on Republican Sen. Thom Tillis to preserve tax credits and jobs in the...
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Environmentalists say they’re cautious to adopt AI into their work
An Arizona State University climate tech project uses AI to provide water conservation information and suggestions for responsible water use via a simple, personable chatbot called “Blue.” (Screenshot...
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NC Senate uses Juneteenth holiday to advance numerous bills, including DEI ban
The North Carolina Legislative Building (Photo: Clayton Henkel) In a move that raised eyebrows and drew criticism from members of the public and Democratic lawmakers, the North Carolina Senate...
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Senate committee passes bill to temporarily stop surface water transfers
North Fork Reservoir provides 80 percent of Asheville’s water. After Helene washed out the two main transmission lines from North Fork and a backup bypass line, the city focused on restoring service as...
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Shrimp and grit: Commercial fishermen, coastal legislators vow to spike...
Advocates and businesses of the shrimping and seafood industry gathered at the North Carolina Legislative Building to protest a proposed ban on inland trawling. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)...
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Heat wave sends request for fans, air conditioning units surging
Children played in the heat Thursday at Forest Hills Park in Durham. The park has a "spray ground" to help visitors beat the heat. {Photo: Greg Childress) It was a scorcher Thursday in the Triangle,...
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Exploding bulbs and fridges on the fritz reveal NC town’s fraying electric...
The Town of Red Springs owns and operates it electric utility, which has fallen into disrepair. (Photo: Lisa Sorg/Inside Climate News)This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a...
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