Among the most worrisome bills under consideration in Raleigh this year is a Senate proposal that would weaken the state’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. By removing a 2030 target for a 70 percent reduction in carbon emissions, the bill takes another big step backward in confronting the global climate crisis. But as Tom Ervin, a f…

Few initiatives of modern American conservatives have been more successful than the crusade to take control of the courts. From the U.S. Supreme Court on down, big dollars and a commitment to hardball politics have helped give Republicans large majorities on several courts where the partisan divide should be about even. Notably, however, Republican…

The list of Trump administration cuts to vital public services has become so long and destructive that it’s easy to get overwhelmed, but as North Carolina anti-poverty advocates continue to remind us, it’s important to hold the cuts up to the light, to document their cruel illogic. Take, for instance, the disastrous scheme to eliminate the AmeriCor…

Why are so many conservative politicians obsessed with denying the existence of transgender people? Several years ago, it was the infamous bathroom bill that sought to micromanage the public restrooms trans people used. Now, the same forces are at it again with bills targeting transgender youth. Under legislation approved by the state House last we…

It’s been six long months now, but North Carolina’s seemingly never ending state Supreme Court election may soon be over. This past week, federal Judge Richard Myers II – a Republican appointed by President Trump — issued a complete rejection of GOP candidate Jefferson Griffin’s effort to overturn his narrow defeat by tossing the ballots of thousan…

This past week was crossover week at the North Carolina General Assembly – a chaotic period in which lawmakers considered and voted on scores of bills in just a few days – often with precious little informed discussion. It’s a tough time for legislators who take their jobs seriously and try to understand every proposal on which they’re voting – a t…

The challenge of keeping state voting rolls current and accurate has always been a big task and today, in a fast-growing state with more than seven and a half million voters – many of them often on the move – it can be tougher than ever. That said, there are sound and accurate ways to do this important work that keep things up to date without disen…

Fears about the trouble that lies ahead for North Carolina now that judges have okayed the scheme to give auditor Dave Boliek control over the state Board of Elections, were confirmed last week by the cruel and classless behavior of Boliek’s new right-wing appointees. After firing longtime elections board executive director Karen Brinson Bell – a r…

No modern political leader has done more to undermine science and research – both by slashing funding and directly spreading myths and disinformation — than President Donald Trump. Whether defunding everything from cancer studies to the National Weather Service or placing a troubled conspiracy theorist like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in charge of the n…

The nation’s last unsettled election contest has finally been decided. On Wednesday, Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin conceded to incumbent Democratic Justice Allison Riggs. It was a long overdue act that many observers, including Justice Riggs (who prevailed in two separate recounts), are rightfully celebrating as a victo…

If you’re like the vast majority of North Carolina voters, the decision you made last November in the auditor’s race was pretty low on your list of priority contests. Ah, but for Republican lawmakers looking for ways to seize more powers from Gov. Josh Stein, newly elected Republican auditor Dave Boliek has turned out to be a convenient tool. Thank…

While it’s no surprise that President Donald Trump is undoing years of hard won national progress in combating discrimination, the decision by many corporations to cowardly follow suit is shameful. Take North Carolina-based Duke Energy. As researchers at the Energy and Policy Institute recently reported, Duke once held itself out as a leader in fig…

Few issues on the public policy agenda in 2025 are more urgently important than the health of the environment. Whether it’s global challenges like climate change and the rise in weather disasters or hyperlocal matters like land use planning and access to clean drinking water, elected leaders undoubtedly have their work cut out for them. Fortunately…

Donald Trump’s return to the White House has helped give rise to many disturbing trends in merican politics and policy in recent months, and one of the most troubling has been the crusade to marginalize and revive discrimination against LGBTQ+ Americans. Both in Washington and Raleigh, conservative politicians and their appointees have been working…

Like many seemingly inexplicable practices that just sort of happened over time, designers of our state government could probably never have imagined something like “crossover week” at the North Carolina legislature. “Crossover” is an artificial semi-annual deadline by which bills must be approved by at least one body – the Senate or the House – in…

As anyone who steps outside of a gated community these days is aware, the number of impoverished and homeless people living on the street is, thanks to our unjust and top heavy economy, way up. What’s more, providing useful assistance to these people – many of whom struggle with disabilities, mental and physical health challenges and just plain hop…

It’s a pretty remarkable situation when elected leaders feel compelled to share their own intimate personal health stories in hopes of passing legislation that would save the lives of others. And it’s even more remarkable (and troubling) when the leaders doing the sharing are all women and the officials blocking action are all men. But that’s what …

There are many factors that go into the overdose epidemic of opioids and other drugs that kill thousands of North Carolinians each year. As a pair of law and medicine experts explained, however, in a recent NC Newsline op-ed, there are some increasingly successful strategies that deserve public support. And topping the list is the urgent need for e…

North Carolinians are generally of two very different minds on the gun violence that plagues our society. While polls consistently show that most favor stronger laws to regulate firearms, a loud and determined minority opposes virtually any regulation. Here, however, is at least one simple prevention step that all sides should be able to endorse: i…

Members of the North Carolina General Assembly took a post-Easter break last week as they prepared for what promises to be the busiest period of the 2025 session in May and June, but prior to that, Republican leaders in the state Senate unveiled and quickly approved their version of a new two-year state budget. The proposal attracted sharp criticis…

It’s hard to believe, but it’s now been nearly six months since the November 2024 election and one race remains officially undecided – the contest for an associate justice seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court. Two recounts have confirmed that incumbent Justice Allison Riggs was the narrow victor, but remarkably, challenger Jefferson Griffin ref…

We’re now more than three months into the second Trump administration and to say that it’s been a tumultuous period would be a vast understatement. From the precipitous economic decline, to the mass firings of federal workers, to the rise of an immigrant deportation program that has cast aside traditional norms of due process, the national news has…

For the second time in recent weeks, a North Carolina Republican judge has courageously put the constitution ahead of their political party. First, it was Supreme Court Justice Richard Dietz who rightfully dissented when his four Republican colleagues okayed a GOP effort to change election rules after the election in last fall’s disputed Supreme Co…

Enough! That’s what a large, growing and bipartisan chorus of legal experts, government watchdogs and average North Carolinians are saying right now in response to Judge Jefferson Griffin’s farfetched effort to overturn his Supreme Court election loss last fall to incumbent Justice Allison Riggs. It’s been almost six months now since Griffin was na…

Flood insurance. It’s something that most people have heard of and that many probably have a notion they should look into as the climate warms and severe storms grow more frequent. To their credit, some have done more than think about it. As NC Newsline’s Galen Bacharier reported this week, about 10 percent of businesses and five percent of homeown…