Breaking: North Carolina ALEC-Modeled Bill To Repeal Clean Energy Standard Fails In Committee [View all]

[octoberlib]

North Carolina’s renewable energy industry is safe from legislative threats, for now. Republicans and Democrats in the sponsor’s own committee voted down his bill that would have repealed the state’s clean energy standard. This bill mimicked “model legislation” from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
WRAL NC Capitol reports:
[Bill sponsor] Rep. Mike Hager, R-Rutherford, had pulled House Bill 298 from the House Committee on Environment, where it faced questionable support, to put it in front of the House Committee on Public Utilities and Energy, which he chairs, in hopes of keeping the legislation moving forward.
Instead, an 18-13 vote killed the bill, with powerful Republican Reps. Tim Moore, Ruth Samuelson, Nelson Dollar and others joining Democrats in opposing the measure.
Passed in 2007 with bipartisan support, the state’s renewable energy standard required utilities to use increasing amounts of renewable energy. The clean energy industry has since created thousands of North Carolina jobs and pumped billions into the economy. North Carolina was the first state in the Southeast to achieve a renewable energy standard. It is not just solar panel and wind turbines that support the bill. Prestige Farms is a turkey and pork processor, and opposed Hager’s bill because it would jeopardize the construction of a waste-to-energy plant in eastern North Carolina.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/04/24/1915831/breaking-north-carolina-alec-modeled-res-repeal-bill-fails-in-committee/



Yes!!!!