Complaints about the handling of animal wastes are on the rise:

Stench and flies. Noise and traffic. Waste flowing into waterways. Manure-infused spray. Complaints about industrialized livestock farms prompted the NC Department of Environmental Quality to inspect those facilities at the second-highest rate in 10 years, according to a report recently submitted to the legislative Environment Review Commission.

From June 30, 2018, to July 1, 2019, 8.3% – or 215 – of the 2,571 state inspections were driven by complaints. In the the previous fiscal year, the rate was 9.4%, the highest in at least a decade. In 2016, only eight-tenths of 1% of DEQ inspections were the result of complaints: Just 19 of 2,237 total inspections.

And again the "property rights" crowd from NC's faux-Libertarian "think-tanks" are either silent or on the wrong side. There is simply no justification for one neighbor to spray shit on another neighbor, but it happens daily. Imagine if that were a suburban or urban neighborhood, and the sheer outrage that would ensue. Oh, you want to have a cookout or garden party in the back yard? Here's a little airborne gift for you. That contradiction goes to the core of environmental justice issues across the state, and has been that way since the birth of our nation. And hog farms make up the bulk of those operations:

Wherever the oil flows, the risk is great:

Environment North Carolina Research & Policy Center’s Offshore Drilling, Onshore Damage delves into a series of possible adverse impacts offshore drilling would have on land well beyond state’s beaches.

The report released Wednesday highlights the infrastructure needed on land to support offshore drilling. Construction of pipelines and potential ruptures of those lines, the possibility of spills at marine and port terminals, construction or expansion of oil refineries, and on-land disposal of offshore waste generated from drilling are “less known, but no less real,” according to the report.

The drilling is bad enough, but the transportation of crude oil has also been a major source of pollution and massive spills:

Joe Killian at NC Policy Watch is all over this:

“I’m going to do everything I can to fight it,” Doucette said in an interview with Policy Watch Wednesday. As a student, Doucette served as president of the UNC System Association of Student Governments, which made him a non-voting member of the UNC Board of Governors in 2008. He said he’s disgusted with the way the board has handled the Silent Sam issue. Last week’s settlement led him to get actively involved.

Doucette said he’s been talking with fellow attorneys and interested parties since the settlement was announced. He’s identified a number of irregularities in everything from how the issue was handled at the Board of Governors level to the finer legal points of the settlement itself. “If I can find people willing to get involved in filing a lawsuit, I’m going to do it,” Doucette said.

I've been following Greg's progress as he's dug into this issue, starting with the leaked e-mail where Kevin Stone was bragging to his fellow SCV members about his "backroom" deal with the UNC BOG. At the heart of the (legal) matter is the fact that the SCV lawsuit would not have passed muster if UNC had actually opposed it:

When business gets to regulate government, you live in a Corporatocracy:

To support its contention that Alec is responsible for strengthening white supremacy, the joint report cites four of the network’s most hotly disputed policy interventions. The first are the “Stand Your Ground” laws that became notorious after the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager who was shot by George Zimmerman in a gated community in Florida.

In 2005, Florida had passed a “Castle Doctrine” law, SB 436, that extended the right to “stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force” to anyone in any public place who “reasonably believes” it is necessary to do so “to prevent death or great bodily harm.”

If you're wondering why Jason Saine is pictured, he just relinquished his position as National Chairman of ALEC, which he held since December 2017. But he's still on the Board of Directors, so he's deeply responsible for outrageous relationships like this:

Apparently kissing Trump's ass religiously eventually works:

Raleigh businessman Garland Tucker won't face U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis in next year's GOP primary after all, sources with knowledge of his plans said Monday.

Tucker was calling supporters Monday with the news, and a formal announcement is expected soon. Tucker announced a challenge against Tillis earlier this year, and the two were already been advertising against each other in what was expected to be an expensive GOP primary.

I wouldn't be surprised if Trump or somebody in his unstable orbit leaned on (or worse) Garland Tucker to get him to drop out. So much for him losing in the Primary...