NC legislature still trying to gag state employees

The Raleigh News & Observer is reporting that the NC legislature attempted to sneak an order gaging state employees (like me) from working on climate change (impacts, social resilience, etc).  This is just one of many anti-environment legislative actions including the crazy legislation against sea level rise and the dismissal of the members of the NC Coastal Resource Commission or to eliminate it entirely.

Climate change ‘gag’ tucked in bill

In the Senate Bill 10 that emerged from House and Senate negotiations, Republican lawmakers added a provision that would prohibit any state agency from developing or implementing a plan to address climate change unless authorized by the legislature.

The new language is tucked into the conference committee report that sweeps clean several key boards and commissions. It received no discussion as the House rejected the measure and the Senate approved it.

But Ryke Longest, director of the Duke University Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, said it has far-reaching implications and could affect research grants at public universities in the state.  “This bill is problematic because it goes beyond the budget power of the General Assembly to create a gag rule on executive branch agencies,” he said. “These terms are so broad as to include work of academic research or long-range infrastructure planning.”

Staff writer John Frank