north carolina

June 15, 2012 - The deal to combine the two North Carolina-based utility giants has won conditional approval from federal regulators, but could it fall apart over worries about Progress Energy's Crystal River nuclear debacle in Florida and other expensive problems?

June 14, 2012 - Perseverance paid off for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee in North Carolina as Reynolds finally agreed to meet with the union to discuss tobacco pickers' abysmal work conditions.

June 13, 2012 - State lawmakers rushing to legalize a controversial method of natural-gas drilling got a visit from the former mayor of a rural Texas town where fracking is booming. Calvin Tillman shared a cautionary tale about what the gas industry can do to a community's landscape, residents' health and property rights.

June 12, 2012 - Despite a record of environmental pragmatism as Charlotte mayor, the North Carolina Republican gubernatorial hopeful has embraced a paranoid conspiracy theory that sees sustainable development as an evil United Nations plot to take over the world. Where did this idea come from, and what does it mean for McCrory's political future?

June 11, 2012 - NC WARN, a group that advocates for clean energy policies, has launched a campaign to provide free solar electric and hot water systems to organizations serving the poor.

June 6, 2012 - Conservative political activists connected to Wal-Mart and Amway are funding a campaign to funnel public money to religious and other private schools.

May 31, 2012 - Big industrial polluters have been investing millions in lobbying and campaign contributions while seeking to weaken North Carolina standards governing health-damaging pollution.

May 31, 2012 - As the cost of proposed nuclear projects spirals out of control, regulated utilities across the Southeast turn to ratepayers for financing -- but they face growing resistance.

May 24, 2012 - A report from North Carolina Voters for Clean Elections documents how companies with an interest in legalizing fracking in the state are investing heavily in legislators' campaigns.

May 23, 2012 - A new documentary produced by students at Duke University in collaboration with the voting-rights watchdog group Democracy NC puts recent laws restricting the minority vote in historical context.