New Website

The NC Sierra Club's new website is up and running. Check it out at nc2.sierraclub.org to learn more about fracking and offshore wind in NC! You can also find information on our endorsed candidates in the upcoming election and we urge you to support them. On that note, our endorsed candidate here in the Raleigh area, Erv Portman, is conducting canvassing and phone banking this weekend. Canvassing on Saturday at 9:30 am and phone banking is Sunday from 1-5 at his office in apex. Erv can use all the support he can get. Anyone that is interested in volunteering, please contact Travis or me at dpisbrec@gmail.com or travis.hargett@sierraclub.org.

About Erv Portman

For those people who may be unfamiliar with Erv Portman, our endorsed candidate in the district 17 State Senate race, I just wanted to let you know a little about him. He is currently the Wake County Commissioner, and is running for an open Senate seat against Tammara Barringer. He also previously served on the Cary Town Council, was a member of the Wake County Healthy Schools Task Force and is the owner of a small business which makes parts for the aerospace, medical, and wind industries and employs over 30 people in his district. This means he understands the challenges that small businesses face and ways to help them overcome those challenges. He is a strong proponent of sustainable growth to ensure our children can enjoy the same standard of living we do. This is why he fought to do away with mass grading and clear cutting of our trees on the Cary Town Council and has voted to protect our parks and greenways while on the Board of Commissioners. He helped to convince the Board of Commissioners not to delay action on the Falls Lake cleanup project. As the father of 3 public school teachers, Erv understands the importance of quality teachers and principals in creating an educated workforce that can compete in the global marketplace and, if elected, plans to reverse budget cuts that have led to the layoffs of many teachers. Erv is also a strong believer in bipartisan cooperation, and working together to get things done. For this reason, he has support from Republican, Democrat, and Unaffiliated voters all over Wake County. Erv can win, especially with our support. I will once again mention that we will be canvassing for Erv every Saturday morning leading up to the election. If Erv sounds like the kind of leader you would like to see in the Senate, I strongly urge you to join us help get him elected. Email me at dpisbrec@gmail.com to sign up. Thanks again!

Friends,

Just wanted to let people know that we will be conducting canvassing for Erv Portman again this Saturday and to encourage anyone who can to come out and help. Erv will be a great ally in the NC Senate and we really need to to all we can to help him win. Anybody interested in volunteering can email me for more info (dpisbrec@gmail.com) or call the office at 919-833-8467. We will also be conducting phone banking and volunteering at the polls so there are a few ways to get involved. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Election Goals

Just wanted to let everyone know that we here at the NC Sierra Club in Raleigh have set some goals to attain in the leadup to the November election. Ultimately we would like to raise $7,000 as well as put in 500 volunteer hours to support our endorsed candidates. Most of these hours will consist of canvassing on the weekends in September and October. We would also like to identify 100 percent of our members and will be conducting phone banking on Tuesday evenings. We will also be organizing some outings in the area as well as parties to help us raise money. I will post more information about these events as the details are finalized. In the meantime, anyone who would like to help us attain our goals can email me at dpisbrec@gmail.com or Travis Hargett at travis.hargett@sierraclub.org. Any kind of support would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The newly formed North Carolina mining and energy commission has just announced their first meeting. It will be September 6, from 1 to 5 pm in the Ground Floor Hearing Room of the Archdale Building, 512 North Salisbury St. in Raleigh. Topics covered will include compliance with open meetings and public records law, state ethics requirements, and the commission’s duties under the 2012 legislation that created the commission. More information about the commission, including its membership, can be found online at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mining-and-energy-commission/home.

Under the “Clean Energy and Economic Security Act”, the State Mining Commission was reconstituted as the North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission. The commission will be responsible for developing a regulatory program to oversee oil and gas drilling, including horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. The commission is working to develop a new Energy Program that will oversee permitting, inspection, and regulation enforcement of all oil and gas drilling and production in the state. The Energy Program will consist of 3 staff members, a hydrogeologist, an environmental senior specialist, and a program supervisor. Anyone seriously concerned about oil and gas drilling in North Carolina should consider attending this first meeting.