COOPER AND DEQ PRESENT PLAN TO CUT NC'S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS: Many more North Carolinians would get their electricity from renewable energy sources if a plan proposed by Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration moves ahead. The plan the state Department of Environmental Quality released Friday proposes reducing greenhouse gases from electricity production by 60% to 70% of 2005 levels by 2030, with a goal of getting to zero emissions by 2050. The plan offers suggestions for pushing emissions lower: requiring retirement of coal power plants and requiring utilities to increase use of renewable energy; setting carbon dioxide budgets or carbon caps; or a combination of those approaches. The proposal is a sweeping discussion of a possible energy future for the state that includes increasing energy efficiency and using clean energy development to create jobs.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article234079272.html

RABON PUTS FUNDING FOR START-UP RELIGIOUS COLLEGE IN GOP BUDGET: The provision first surfaced in the conference committee budget and doesn’t appear in the original House or Senate spending plans. Senate Rules Chairman Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, represents Pender and requested the funding. Mt. Calvary is founded by Jimmy Tate, a former president of Roanoke-Chowan Community College and former Pender County commissioner. The university’s website says its goal is to “ensure the development of a well-prepared religious workforce, equipped to study, research, and enter professions with unshakable Christian principles and foundations.” Tate said the program is open to everyone, regardless of religious affiliation, and it will “let them know what the attributes of Christianity teach as it relates to leadership.” A total of 18 people signed up for the inaugural class in May, but Tate hopes to serve 200 more students by next year.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article233994642.html

NEW AD IN NC09 RACE GOES AFTER DAN BISHOP OVER WHITE SUPREMACY: The potentially incendiary ad from a group called Stand Up Republic comes a month before the special 9th Congressional District election between Bishop, Democrat Dan McCready and two third-party candidates. “Remember when neo-Nazis marched in Charlottesville and killed a young woman?” a narrator says over graphic images from the 2017 rally. “When they were banned from social media, Dan Bishop took their side. In fact he invested in a social media website because it welcomed the white supremacists.” The ad that starts Monday refers to Bishop’s 2017 investment of $500 in Gab, a site that billed itself as a free speech platform. It has become popular with white supremacists including the alleged killer of 11 people at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article233778417.html

MASS SHOOTINGS CAN HAPPEN HERE. COMMON SENSE ACTION IS NEEDED NOW: We’re angered that, amid the recriminations and speeches, the calls for change and action will be muted by the political maneuvering of the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers. Soon, it will be back to business as usual for those who should know better and who need to act. It is past time to get something done. In much of the world, news of mass killings comes from places in the midst of civil wars, international conflicts or violent rebellion. Weapons of mass destruction are car bombs; explosive vests worn by suicidal partisans; or combatants armed with military weapons. In the United States news of rampages comes from places of peace where people are doing back-to-school shopping, spending an evening out on the town or celebrating local heritage. The weapons of mass destruction can be purchased at a local sporting goods store by almost anyone.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-mass-shootings-they-can-happen-here-common-sense-action-is-needed-now...

DAN FOREST FORCED TO RETURN $15,000 IN CAMPAIGN DONATIONS: N.C. Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, a Republican who plans to run for governor in 2020 against Democrat Roy Cooper, has been forced to forfeit thousands of dollars due to campaign finance violations. An audit of Forest’s campaign by the North Carolina State Board of Elections found numerous violations. In all, Forest resolved the audit by giving up more than $15,000. Most of the money the Forest campaign had to forfeit came from conservative groups that operate in federal politics but weren’t properly registered to get involved in state politics. That included $5,000 from a group whose name appears to have been listed as a misspelling of the EnergySolutions Inc. Fund For Effective Government, which supports electric utility companies, $2,500 from the Susan B. Anthony List, which opposes abortion, and $500 from a group called Citizens for Constitutional Liberties.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article233652187.html