The League of Women Voters of North Carolina is urging the state's two U.S. senators to support strong climate change legislation.

Judie Burke, former president of the state league, was part of a delegation in Washington that met with the staffs for Sens. Kay Hagan, a Democrat, and Richard Burr, a Republican. Women around the world are disproportionately affected by global warming, Burke said in a written release.

"The message brought to the Senators today is that their support of strong climate change legislation is important to both North Carolina and our country," Burke said, according to a release from the league. "Without immediate action, the impacts on our state will be devastating. Global warming will cause, and has already caused, more intense heat waves, more frequent heavy rainstorms and changing conditions that will threaten many native species.”

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Jim Neal is calling on Kay Hagan to take part in a series of six debates as part of the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate.

"These debates will give voters an opportunity to see who the Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate really are and what we believe,” Neal said today in a statement, reports Rob Christensen.

“It seems Appropriations Chairwoman Hagan thinks this campaign is about calling in favors from high-dollar Capitol insiders to pay for carpet bombing the state with poll-tested political ads, but the people of North Carolina deserve better.”

Neal said Hagan has turned down a debate in New Bern March 28 sponsored by the League of Women Voters of North Carolina. It is to be broadcast on statewide public radio.

Colleen Flanagan, Hagan’s spokeswoman, said Hagan had agreed to the New Bern debate.

But Hagan does not seem interested in further debates — or at least those that would reach wide audiences.

Flanagan said Hagan is willing to participate in a second debate before an African-American audience. It’s not clear whether that would be broadcast.

But Neal’s proposal?

“It’s important for Kay to meet voters one on one,” Flanagan said. “That doesn’t mean that interaction should be limited to those who get tickets to the debate.”

Update: Flanagan said it was “untrue” that Hagan was not interested in further debates.

Flanagan said the Hagan campaign had not ruled out a proposed debate on WTVD in Durham, although she said there were potential scheduling problems.

She said any debate before an African-American audience could be broadcast.

“We cannot plan it,” Flanagan said. “We would be interested in having TV.”