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A Senate committee on Tuesday morning approved a bill that would repeal environmental protections at Jordan Lake that were enacted in 2009.

SB515, by Sen. Rick Gunn, a Republican from Burlington, and Sen. Trudy Wade, a Republican from Greensboro, would require the state to study what the best approach is to improve water quality. Results of that study would be presented to the legislature for consideration next year.

The North Carolina chapter of the Sierra Club said the protections in place now are the result of years of studies, negotiations and discussions.

The bill also directs the state to focus on treating and improving water quality in the lake rather than on restricting activities upsteam. Gunn said indications are that the current rules have done nothing to improve the lake, which is a source of drinking water for close to half a million people in the Triangle.

John Skvarla, the new head of the state’s environmental protection department, continues to make environmentalists a little nervous.

On Tuesday, he issued a mission statement cautioning that environmental science “contains a diversity of opinion” and that “all public programs and scientific conclusions must be reflective of input from a variety of legitimate, diverse and thoughtful perspectives.”

The statement comes after comments Skvarla has made in news media interviews indicating he believes climate change is a controversy that remains unsettled. Although most scientists think that it is, there are some who dispute that there is global warming or, if there is, that it isn’t caused by human activity.

Environment North Carolina has endorsed a slate of pro-green candidates, and the state chapter of the Sierra Club has dispatched three staffers to work on four key legislative races.

Environment North Carolina’s picks include Wake County candidates Irv Portman, a Democrat running against Republican Tamara Barringer for an open seat in House District 17; Democrat Jim Messina, running against incumbent Rep. Tom Murry, a Morrisville Republican in District 41; and Keith Karlsson, a Democrat running for an open seat in District 49 against Republican Jim Fulghum.

The N.C. chapter of the Sierra Club has waded into unusual territory with today's endorsement of state appellate court Judge Sam Ervin IV for N.C. Supreme Court.

It's the first time the environmental organization has endorsed a candidiate running for the state's highest court.

The North Carolina Sierra Club has thrown its weight behind 59 candidates running for a seat in the General Assembly, statewide office, and local races.

"These candidates have demonstrated their commitment to protecting North Carolina’s environment," said Ken Brame, N.C. Sierra Club political chair. “Our members are concentrated on moving North Carolina forward by embracing clean energy and finding ways to protect our state’s air, water, and natural places.

Keep reading for a complete list of politicians that picked up the endorsements.

Fracking opponents are continuing to apply pressure on Gov. Bev Perdue to veto legislation intended to create a natural gas production industry in the state, John Murawski reports.

The Sierra Club and Clean Water for North Carolina delivered 77 signatures to the governor last week, releasing the letters today. Forty-four are local business owners and 33 are elected officials.
 

This edition of the Morning Roundup is all about travel -- particularly the roads and cars on them:

From Craig Jarvis: Not only will billboard companies be able to cut down many more trees than they could before a new law loosened restrictions, under newly approved rules taking effect in March they won't have to replace them, either.

Environmentalists and others fear thousands of roadside trees that are decades old will be lost as a result. The General Assembly approved a bill expanding the clear-cutting zone around billboards in June. The state Rules Review Commission approved temporary rules last week. Read more here.

From Lynn Bonner: Legislators are taking another look at limiting regulation of car insurance rates with proposals that companies say would get rid of a surcharge most drivers pay. The problem is, there's no agreement on how to do it, or even that anything should change.

State Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin argues that none of the ideas legislators are considering would be better for the state's drivers and would just give insurance companies ways to make more money. Read more here.

The state Building Code Council usually doesn't get a lot of notice unless they get people upset.

The council did that last month when it narrowly defeated proposed building codes that would improve energy efficiency, voting to delay them until 2015.

The council decided on the five-year delay after home builders raised questions about how much the tighter energy standards would add to the cost of a new house.
Home builders said the additional costs could range from $10,000 to $20,000 a house, while a study from Appalachian State University put the additional cost at $2,400 for a $180,000 home.

Eleven environmental groups, including Environment North Carolina, the state Sierra Club, and the Conservation Council of North Carolina, sent Gov. Bev Perdue a letter last week asking her to intervene. The letter quoted Perdue's own promises in a letter the U.S. Energy Secretary last year, where she said the state would adopt a code for residential buildings that met or exceeded an international energy conservation code.

The council, which sets minimum building standards, is made up of governors' appointees.

The council decided today in another close vote, after much discussion about Robert's Rules of Order and many questions of its lawyer, to revive the issue and send it back to a committee,

Council chairman Dan Tingen didn't want the proposal brought back, but suggested another petition to accomplish the same goals could have been introduced at the council's December meeting. A council vote overturned his ruling.

Tingen said after the meeting that he had received a call from Perdue's office reminding him how interested she is in energy efficiency.

The Sierra Club today endorsed Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham, who sought to clarify his opposition to oil and gas drilling off the North Carolina coast.

Christa Wagner of the group’s N.C. chapter applauded what she called Cunningham’s strong record on the environment during his single term in the state Senate from 2001-2003, Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer reports.

Even before the endorsement was announced, rival Democrat Ken Lewis called on the Sierra Club to withdraw it. He was reacting to an AP story in which Cunningham said he would consider offshore drilling "as part of a broader energy plan."

"You can’t have it both ways," Lewis said in a statement. "You can’t be opposed to drilling off of North Carolina’s coast and be open to drilling off of North Carolina’s coast."

Asked about the charges, Cunningham said he remains opposed to drilling but would look at it in the context of a broader energy plan.

“I’ve been consistent in my position that off-shore drilling is insignificant in the larger discussion," he said. "I anticipate that offshore drilling is going to be part of a larger package … We have to have comprehensive energy legislation in this country…

"Give me a straight up-or-down vote on offshore drilling and I'm a 'No,'" he said.

Rand, then the Senate majority leader, also served as co-chairman of the Governor's Highway Safety Program at the time. The Fayetteville Democrat was in a strong position to draft legislation governing the use of ignition interlocks and directly influence who got the lucrative state contract to sell the devices, which detect alcohol on a driver's breath and prevent the car from starting. (N&O)

ENERGY CHANGE: Gov. Bev Perdue's energy chief, Assistant Commerce Secretary John Morrison, says he has been forced out of his job.

"It's been decided that new leadership is needed for energy," Morrison said. Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco told him of the change last week, he said.

Morrison said there was no "precipitating event" but couldn't discuss the circumstances further. He will leave at the end of this month. In filling a newly created position, Morrison was responsible for coordinating the state's energy programs, staffing a new Energy Policy Council and promoting the governor's focus on green-energy jobs. (Charlotte Observer) 

WHAT ASH PONDS? The state largely ignores millions of tons of ash from coal-fired power plants that threatens to contaminate N.C. groundwater, lakes and streams, the N.C. Sierra Club says in a report today. (Charlotte Observer)