Attacking NC Environmental Agency

Nothing like enabling the detractors, run by the corporate interests that put the brakes on this once advancing society and country as we were envied for around the world, who locked the brakes on our advancing some thirty plus years ago, from alternatives to a cleaner environment, air, water and ground!!!!!!

N.C. Republican lawmakers move to shrink state's environmental agency

March 24, 2011 - There is a move in the Republican-controlled legislature to downsize and make more business-friendly the state's leading environmental agency, a move that has set off alarms among environmentalists.

A measure moving through the Senate would strip the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) of several of its functions. And Senate budget writers are considering further downsizing measures.

Lawmakers have also begun holding hearings across the state to review the state's rules and regulations, with environmental regulations a particular area of interest.

"I'd like to see DENR downsized," said Sen. Don East, a Republican from Pilot Mountain and co-chairman of the budget committee that controls DENR's purse strings. "I'd like to see them be a kinder, gentler agency. I'd like to see DENR be a help, not a hindrance to business and industry."

The Republican push is likely to win some backing in the business community, but it has caused concern among environmentalists and their allies. {continued}