Do you ever stop and wonder how we got here? Angry politicians and mouthy religious figures going head to head with scientists, environmentalists and caring individuals over the state of our planet: soil and water contamination, a breathable atmosphere, poisoned crops, animal extinction, energy production, electric cars. Concern for the planet has been turned into evangelical vs. non-religious, conservative vs. progressive and even straight vs. LGBTQ.
It’s preposterous.
But it isn’t hard to see how this has evolved. Fossil fuel lobbyists leaned on members of the House and the Senate. Through conservative cable news and online media, deceitful politicians turned it into a social issue. The less educated rallied for the right, lumping it in with other conservative causes and buying into deranged notions like “windmills cause cancer” and solar energy would “leave senior Americans without air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter.”
It’s happening in states all around the country. But what’s happening in North Carolina?
Some good, some bad and others a mix of both, let’s take a look at the passed, potential, stymied and squashed. All are examples of state level legislation that have impacted or could affect North Carolina, beginning with the most recent.
As of Aug. 4, 2025, NC lawmakers said yes to a bill that could dramatically marginalize environmental protections. Governor Stein vetoed HB 402 (also known as the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny act), but the legislature found enough votes to override his objections. The new law imposes steep approval thresholds for costly regulations and advocates say public health could suffer.
Advocates warn that the law, combined with the Trump administration’s push to weaken federal environmental protections, could stall urgently needed responses to environmental and public health threats.
In a release from the North Carolina offices of the Southern Environmental Law Center, Director Mary Maclean Asbill said the following: “Lawmakers who passed this bill did not have the best interests of North Carolinians at heart. This new law marks an awful turning point for families and communities across North Carolina when elected officials in the state legislature ignore serious illnesses and deaths in favor of polluters’ profits.”
Power Bill Reduction Act (Senate Bill 266, became law in July 2025)
This sweeping energy legislation, enacted after the legislature overrode Governor Josh Stein’s veto, rewrites state energy policy. It repeals the 2030 interim carbon reduction target that was established in 2021 and allows utility provider Duke Energy to begin charging customers for the construction of future power plants, a practice known as “construction work-in-progress” (CWIP), before they are completed. It also shifts more of the fuel cost burden onto residential customers, which analysts predict will lead to higher electricity bills for families.
2025: Water Safety Act (Senate Bill 666, filed in March, still in review by the Senate Operations Committee)
This bill was introduced to direct the Environmental Management Commission to establish regulatory limits on PFAS contamination, particularly affecting areas like the Cape Fear River basin. The bill was referred to a Senate committee in March 2025 and has not yet advanced.
2024: Disaster Recovery Act (House Bill 149, passed in October 2024, still active)
Passed following Hurricane Helene, this act included environmental provisions intended to support recovery efforts. It created exceptions to some solid waste rules for debris management following the storm. It exempted certain air curtain incinerators from needing a General Title V Operating Permit. It also allows flexibility for municipalities to use funds from the Water Infrastructure Fund for disaster-related damages to water systems.
2023: Regulatory Reform Act (House Bill 600, remains settled state law)
This multi-purpose bill made various changes to environmental regulations. Read on.
Livestock: Reduced the state’s ability to require remediation for the disposal of hog waste.
Solid waste: Banned the landfill disposal and incineration of lithium-ion batteries and restricted the disposal of photovoltaic cells to lined landfills.
Stormwater: Altered regulations concerning water supply watershed protection, including how new development may affect existing storm water infrastructure.
Wetlands: Limited state wetland protections by defining “waters of the state” to match federal “waters of the United States” definitions, eliminating protection for some coastal wetlands previously covered under state law.
Regulatory process: Prohibited the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) from denying a permit based on the applicant’s failure to obtain another permit, authorization, or certification, unless required by state or federal law.
2023: NC Farm Act (Senate Bill 582, remains settled state law)
The legislature overrode Governor Cooper’s veto to enact this law, which reduced environmental protections. It specifically rolled back state protections for wetlands to align with less protective federal rules, without first studying the environmental consequences.