Press Center
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Southern forests put at risk by move to rescind “Roadless Rule”
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Today, United States Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced plans to roll back the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The “Roadless Rule,” adopted in 2001, culminated a decades-long process to better protect...
Twin Pines Minerals sells controversial mine site on the edge of the Okefenokee
ATLANTA— Thanks to the incredible work of The Conservation Fund, the site of a proposed mine on the doorstep of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is permanently protected. The Conservation Fund announced the purchase of...
Elon Musk’s xAI threatened with lawsuit over air pollution from Memphis data center
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — On Tuesday, the Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of the NAACP, sent a letter to xAI signaling their intent to sue over the company’s continued use of unpermitted gas turbines...
Environmental groups to BOEM: don’t reopen Atlantic to offshore drilling
46 nonprofits urge Trump administration to protect Atlantic coast WASHINGTON — Today, the Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of 45 nonprofit groups, urged the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to exclude the Mid- and...
Duke Energy’s proposal for North Carolina solar favors fossil fuels
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Duke Energy’s proposed process for procuring new solar power projects would unreasonably discriminate against the resource’s growth, clean energy advocates explained in comments submitted to the North Carolina Utilities Commission.
New executive order aimed at wildfire puts communities and forests at risk
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — On Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order that will throw wildland firefighting forces into confusion and drain resources from the use of controlled burns that prevent future wildfires. The move...
EPA repeals rules for power plants
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed new rules today, repealing Biden-administration era federal standards to control toxic pollution from coal-fired power plants and limits on power plant climate pollution. The limits...
Groups challenge Duke Energy refusal to power multifamily affordable housing unit using rooftop solar
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.–Nonprofit EMPOWERment Inc., represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, filed a consumer complaint at the North Carolina Utilities Commission over Duke Energy’s refusal to provide electrical service to an EMPOWERment multifamily...
Duke Energy’s latest North Carolina gas plant proposal would drive up bills, pollution
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Clean energy advocates urged the North Carolina Utilities Commission on Monday to deny Duke Energy’s application to construct and operate a second large methane gas-fired power plant in Person County —...
Conservation groups sue to stop toxic pollution of drinking water source for nearly 900,000 North Carolinians
1,4-Dioxane pollution from Asheboro and plastics manufacturer, StarPet Inc. threatens the Cape Fear River basin CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – On behalf of Cape Fear River Watch and Haw River Assembly, the...