Dr. Donald van der Vaart, John Locke Foundation senior fellow, discusses the recent coal ash settlement between Duke Energy and North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality. Van der Vaart offered these comments during an interview with Donna Martinez for Carolina Journal Radio.
Amy O. Cooke is the new publisher of Carolina Journal. She is also the new CEO for the John Locke Foundation. Cooke for 16 years filled a variety of policy and operations roles at the Independence Institute, a free-market think tank in Colorado — the past eight years she as the institute’s executive vice president. She...
A Duke Energy lobbyist said Gov. Roy Cooper’s senior policy adviser, Ken Eudy, wasn’t truthful when making statements to a legislative committee investigating the Cooper administration’s role in the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project and an associated $57.8 million discretionary fund. Eudy told Carolina Journal the lobbyist got it wrong. Eudy was the governor’s key negotiator...
Perhaps Cooper and his aides think they are “fighting fire with fire.” But North Carolinians deserve leaders who, in advancing their political agendas, don’t end up scorching the state constitution.
Each week, staff at Carolina Journal looks back at the week in N.C. politics and chooses what we think are some interesting, relevant stories you may have missed. Here’s a week in review: Confederate poll: The latest Elon University poll found 65% of North Carolinians think Confederate monuments should stay on public property, such as...
The utility companies responsible for building the Atlantic Coast Pipeline were confident they would get the environmental permits they needed to start construction in North Carolina. What they didn’t know is whether they would win approval in time to avoid costly delays. The Cooper administration had leverage over the timing and appeared to use it...
This is a developing story. Investigators hired by the General Assembly concluded that Gov. Roy Cooper used the power of his office to pressure developers of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline into creating a $57.8-million discretionary fund as a condition of getting an environmental permit for the pipeline. The conclusion came in a report the investigators...
Did Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration require operators of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to provide Cooper a $57.8-milion “mitigation fund” before the state would approve the portion of the pipeline heading through North Carolina? Reporting by Carolina Journal suggests it did. The results of a legislative investigation into the issue will be released this week. The Joint Legislative...
A legislative investigation into the permit process for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline is a sham, say representatives of Gov. Roy Cooper. The claim was part of a news release sent from Cooper’s office 30 minutes after a Friday, Nov. 8, legislative committee meeting in Raleigh. Legislators, who are looking into how Cooper’s administration handled an...
Each week, staff at Carolina Journal looks back at the week in N.C. politics and chooses what we think are some interesting, relevant stories you may have missed. Here’s a week in review: Comments on Kay Hagan’s death: Former U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., died Monday, Oct. 28, at the age of 66. Hagan died...
Legislators looking into how Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration handled an environmental permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline have asked Cooper and three of his top staffers to testify in Raleigh at a legislative committee meeting Friday, Nov. 8. The request came a few days after Cooper’s chief of staff Kristi Jones sent a testy letter...
