SELC

Among all the great non-profits in North Carolina, one of my favorites is the Southern Environmental Law Center. They're doing the hard work of supporting the good guys by taking on the bad guys, and they're very, very good at what they do.

My first serious encounter with SELC was on a field trip to the OLF site in Washington County. Not only was it a transformational experience, it got me on the NO-OLF bandwagon in a big way. Much of the success in stopping the Navy's reckless plan goes to the lawyers at SELC, who handled the case masterfully, to my knowledge.

The Supreme Court unanimously smacks down Duke Energy for trying to end-run the Clean Air Act. This case was argued by lawyers from the Southern Environmental Law Center, who recently spoke at the political salon hosted by my wonderful wife here in Chapel Hill!

This is very good news.

The U.S. Supreme Court gave a boost Monday to a federal clean air initiative aimed at forcing utilities to install pollution control equipment on aging coal-fired power plants. In a unanimous decision, the justices ruled against Duke Energy Corp. in a lawsuit brought by the Clinton administration, part of a massive enforcement effort targeting more than a dozen utilities.

This from the Southern Environmental Law Center, a great organization representing the farmers and environmentalists who are fighting the OLF.

TEN MINUTES OF YOUR TIME CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

You have an important opportunity to help prevent the Navy from constructing a destructive outlying landing field (OLF) next to Pungo Lake and Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and near Lake Phelps and Pettigrew State Park. The Navy’s decision to construct the landing field must be consistent with North Carolina’s coastal management program. North Carolina’s coastal management program designates Pungo Lake and Phelps Lake as Areas of Environmental Concern. As Areas of Environmental Concern, Pungo Lake and Phelps Lake must be managed to maintain their biological, aesthetic, and economic values.

Tonight, three representatives of the Southern Environmental Law Center are speaking to our political salon about their important work. SELC is a non-profit organization that does pro bono representation in cases deemed well worth winning on behalf of Mother Nature.

Blan Holman is one of their attorneys who participated in SELC's case recently in the US Supreme Court against Duke Energy. Attorney David Farren is also here, along with Annie O'Leary in development.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

When does an old coal-fired become new? This is the essence of the Duke Energy case. Years ago, Duke pulled several coal-fired plants off line to make them run more effectively. When Duke brought them back on line, they made everything new except they didn't upgrade the smokestacks. SELC sued for force compliance with laws associated with building new plants (new source pollution). It went all the way to the Supremes.

Later today, Jane and I will be heading to Edenton on a short trip sponsored by the Southern Environmental Law Center. The focus of the trip is to educate people (i.e., donors) about the work of the SELC around the gigantic environmental risk of the US Navy's Outlying Landing Field.

From everything I've read, the US Navy has taken its cues on integrity and honesty from the Bush Sadministration, pushing its agenda without regard to process, facts, or stewardship. There's plenty of organized opposition, and the SELC is right in the center of things.

Most recently, the Navy found its plans to ram through this site flummoxed by a pack of red wolves.

The Southern Environmental Law Center, which is challenging the Navy's plan to build the airfield near a national wildlife refuge, said eight wolves in several packs have moved onto the refuge and surrounding private farmland near the proposed landing field site in the three years since the Navy studied the area.

The presence of red wolves, an endangered species that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been trying to reintroduce in the wild for two decades, could further complicate the Navy's plans to locate an airfield near the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.

"It's another strong reason backed up by the Endangered Species Act that the Navy should look for an alternative site," said Derb Carter, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Amidst the furor of the upcoming elections, equally important events are unfolding at the US Supreme Court today. We the People are taking on Big Energy in a case with far ranging environmental and regulatory implications.

Environmental groups are defending a Clinton-era clean air program that the Bush administration is trying to weaken, arguing to the Supreme Court this morning that Duke Energy Corp. must install costly pollution controls on its aging coal-fired plants.

The outcome of the case, Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy Corp., could affect three dozen power plants in 10 states where utility companies are challenging federal requirements under the New Source Review program. Arguments before the Supreme Court are set to begin at 10 a.m. today.