News
Judge grants stay in dispute over quarry permit near Umstead park
A Superior Court judge has granted Wake Stone’s request for a stay in the dispute over a permit for quarry operations near William B. Umstead State Park.
Opinion
Utilities commissioner warns against ‘throwing good money after bad’
Commissioner Donald van der Vaart compares Duke Energy's solar energy planning to buying seven substandard cars and hoping one always works.
News
NC senators seek federal official’s help assessing solar projects
Two North Carolina state senators are asking a top federal Energy Department official for help as the state assesses costs and benefits of new solar energy projects.
News
Judge rejects latest challenge to mining permit for quarry near park, RDU
A group opposing operations of a stone quarry near William B. Umstead State Park has faced another legal setback. The state’s top administrative law judge issued a ruling on Feb. 21 rejecting the group’s challenge of two changes to the quarry's permit.
News
Former top lawmaker loses political discrimination case at state Appeals Court
The state Court of Appeals has rejected a political discrimination claim from Bill Culpepper, the former high-ranking Democratic lawmaker who was fired in 2022 from his job as general counsel at the Office of Administrative Hearings.
News
Former top Democratic lawmaker asks NC Appeals Court to revive political discrimination case
One of the most powerful N.C. lawmakers of the 2000s is asking the N.C. Appeals Court to allow him to pursue his political discrimination complaint against the state agency that fired him last year.
News
Revenue Department faces courtroom loss in renewable tax credit dispute
The N.C. Department of Revenue faced a legal setback last month in an ongoing fight over renewable energy tax credits. The state’s top administrative law judge rejected the department’s attempt to deny credits to a renewable energy investor. The decision from Chief Administrative Law Judge Donald van der Vaart arrived Sept. 23 in a case...
News
Van der Vaart: Trump expected to scrap excessive green regulations
President-elect Donald Trump is likely to reshape the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and alter some of its most burdensome regulations, which will benefit North Carolina farmers, businesses, and utility ratepayers, state Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Donald van der Vaart says. Two of President Obama’s signature regulations, the Clean Power Plan, and Waters of the...
News
VIDEO: Top N.C. Environmental Regulator Tallies Clean Power Plan’s Costs
RALEIGH — The federal government’s proposal to restrict carbon dioxide emissions from power plants across the country could boost North Carolina’s electricity prices by as much as 22 percent, according to some estimates. The environmental benefits would be almost nonexistent. That’s the assessment from the head of the newly renamed N.C. Division of Environmental Quality, who spoke Monday to the John Locke Foundation’s Shaftesbury Society.
