It's 5.05 and welcome in to a Monday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you.
Well late last week, Attorney General Jeff Jackson joined 21 other states and the District of Columbia in a lawsuit suing the Environmental Protection Agency, or the EPA, for canceling nearly $7 billion worth of the Solar for All program. This program, created in 2022 by the aptly named Inflation Reduction Act, was designed to provide funding to 60 grant recipients with the goal of helping an estimated 900,000 low-income households across the country utilize solar power to reduce their monthly energy costs. The Democrat Attorney General in North Carolina said in a press release that the funds would have helped more than 12,000 households in North Carolina save an average of 20% on their utility bills and support energy jobs. He wrote in the release, quote, these funds were going to help low-income and rural North Carolinians save money on their energy bills. Thousands of families were going to have the option to install solar power, save money, and have another energy option after a major storm.
Now the EPA has illegally canceled those funds, so I'm going to court to bring back $150 million to our state. In 2024, a company by the name of Energize NC Coalition, led by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, NCDEQ, applied for and was awarded a $156 million solar for all grant from the federal EPA. According to Jackson's news release, over five years, the program would have helped create at least 43 megawatts of solar power and offered financial assistance to help low-income single-family homes as well as multifamily housing, households with medical needs, and community solar pilot programs in various corners of our state. The cancellation, Jeff Jackson said, left the state with more than $150 million without more than $150 million of the $156 that was awarded, and noted that the grants were, quote, abruptly canceled without a valid legal basis. The attorney generals are suing to win back the money that is legally due to North Carolina and other states.
Back on August the 7th, the EPA canceled the program, which was included in the greenhouse gas reduction fund. Lee Zeldin, the administrator for EPA, discussed the cancellation, which resulted from the One Big Beautiful bill. The EPA administrator put out a video on his X account back in early August discussing some of these changes and some of the reasons and why this administration and this EPA decided to move away from this grant program. Here's the EPA administrator. Hi, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin here.
The Trump EPA is proudly committed to fully following the law and being a great steward of your taxpayer dollars. Since being signed into law on Independence Day, EPA has been diligently working to implement President Trump's one big beautiful bill. in accordance with congressional intent. The new law eliminates billions of green slush fund dollars by repealing the greenhouse gas reduction fund. including a $7 billion program called Solar for All.
One of the more shocking features of Solar4All was with regards to the massive dilution of the money. As many grants go through pass-through after pass-through, After a pass-through, After pass-through. with all of the middlemen taking their own cut. at least 15% by conservative estimates. What a grift.
Furthermore, the Biden-Harris administration exempted this program from the Build America Buy America law. that requires federal agencies to use American workers, American products, and American infrastructure for project using American taxpayer dollars. That's great news for China. Not so much for the USA. Lastly, while this program was stood up in 2024, very little money has actually been spent.
Recipients are still very much in the early planning phase, not the building and construction process. But the bottom line again is this. EPA no longer has the authority to administer the program. or the appropriated funds to keep this boondoggle alive. With clear language and intent from Congress in the one big beautiful bill, EPA is taking action to end this program for good.
We are committed to the rule of law and being a good steward of taxpayer dollars. Thank you for your attention to this matter. That's EPA Secretary Lee Zeldin in a video in early August announcing why the administration is moving away from this program. NCDEQ Secretary Reed Wilson said in a press release that the cancellation of the program would eliminate the installation of rooftop solar for more than 12,000 individuals across North Carolina, saying in part, rooftop solar drives down utility bills, reduces air pollution, and creates jobs. The program's cancellation would hurt the electrical grid's ability to be resilient to future disasters and would hamper North Carolina's efforts to ensure reliable, clean, and affordable energy supplies to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population and rising energy demand.
The funds the release said would have also helped households transition to more reliable sources of energy to prevent power outages caused by natural disasters like Hurricane Helene. Additionally, it's Stated that the Solar for All program was also designed to help create an additional 140 local jobs, including those for contractors, construction workers, and maintenance staff, as the solar energy industry employs over 9,000 North Carolinians and supports more than 200 businesses across the state. John Sanders, who is the director of the Center for Food, Power, and Life at the John Locke Foundation, told the Carolina Journal that although Jackson's statements that the Solar for All program would have saved low-income people and their families on power bills and created jobs, that there is truth to that, there is no reason for the Attorney General to think that the Solar for All program is the only or even a good way to help individuals reduce their power bills or create jobs. The quote from Sanders reads as follows, quote, with respect to helping low-income families pay for getting solar panels installed on their houses, the program could do so for only low-income families that have houses. Others in low-income apartments and multifamily housing would not be able to avail themselves for any particular benefits.
Also, the jobs that he is talking about would be contract installation jobs chasing subsidized work, not full-time jobs from an expanding economy. Sanders said that economic research literature is filled with studies demonstrating the faster job growth happens in economies with less regulation, lower tax burdens, and greater protection of individual rights against the government, with him saying, quote, I would welcome a North Carolina Attorney General adopting these goals for his vision of the state. John Sanders also added that given that the electricity is a vital expense for all households and an input cost for every single business across North Carolina, resource decisions that result in lower power bills would lead to a stronger economy and more job creation in the state. noting, quote, as shown by the North Carolina Utilities Commission, power rates are about twenty percent higher in the eastern part of North Carolina than the western part. Owing to the greater adoption of solar and less nuclear.
The repeal of Senate Bill 266 of the interim emission reduction goal in the Carolina Carbon Plan is estimated by the North Carolina Utilities Commission to save ratepayers some $13 billion by choosing more natural gas and nuclear resources over solar and wind power.
However, with some of the objections there from John Sanders, as you can imagine, this lawsuit is going forward. Again, Democrat Attorney General Jeff Jackson here in North Carolina joining 21 other states and the District of Columbia in their suit against the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldon, the administrator of that over the cancellation of this $7 billion solar for all program, which once again was created by the Inflation Reduction Act. We will keep an eye on this lawsuit as it traverses its way through the courts and as we get any new pertinent Details and updates. We'll pass them along to you right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. And of course, we'll have continuing coverage over on our website this morning: CarolinaJournal.com.
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It looks like it'll be about Monday through Thursday here in Raleigh before the end of the calendar year. And we flip everything on over to 2026. The big topic of discussion this week, something we have spent a lot of time on over the last couple of days, the discussion over new congressional maps. Those were proposed or announced that they would be proposed by the General Assembly about a week ago. We learned some details late last week that new maps were going to be drawn and were proposed to the public.
We will get some details and analysis on that with Dr. Andy Jackson from the John Locke Foundation coming up here in just a couple of minutes on the Carolina Journal. News Hour as the calendar shows this morning. Both the House and the Senate are set to convene around 10 o'clock this morning.
Something interesting to note, and we've seen this a couple of times, but there are still a plethora of six of veto overrides that sit in the North Carolina House. They are currently sitting on the calendar for 10 o'clock this morning. We have seen this over the last couple of sessions, so it's not immediately clear whether these veto overrides will be taken up.
However, all of the folks over at CarolinaJournal.com this morning will be keeping a close eye on the General Assembly. They deal with things, for example, things like constitutional carry. We know that's been a big discussion across the state. A couple of DEI bills and some other legislation as well. Those are all calendar for this morning at 10 o'clock in the North Carolina House.
We'll have coverage throughout the day over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. And of course, coming up for you tomorrow morning right here on the Carolina House. Carolina Journal NewsHour. In some news out of the General Assembly this morning, a state senator representing Eastern North Carolina has been charged with driving while impaired in Raleigh, according to online arrest records. Senator Norman Sanders of Pamlico County was arrested Saturday near the intersection of Edward Mill Road and Trinity Road in Raleigh and charged with a DWI.
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol reported that Senator Sanderson had a 0.16 blood alcohol content after testing at a Wake County detention center. Senator Norman Sanderson also faces misdemeanor charges of failure to obey a traffic officer and transporting an open container of alcohol. He was given a $2,000 bond, which was posted, and a court date is scheduled for November the 7th, according to some of those online records in Wake County. A press release was put out by the Senate Republican caucus on Sunday. It reads in part: Last night, referring to Saturday night, I made a regrettable mistake, and I take responsibility for my actions.
I want to apologize to my constituents, my colleagues, and my family for letting them down. I commend the State Highway Patrol and the Wake County Sheriff's Office for their professionalism during the incident. Sanderson, a Republican, represents Carteret, Halifax, Hyde, Martin, Pamlica, Warren, and Washington counties in the North Carolina General Assembly. This is a story that we continue to track this morning right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. In some other statewide news this morning, again, expecting a busy week in Raleigh.
Also in Raleigh this morning, a new undercover report by Accuracy in Media is exposing how local governments are rebranding their diversity, equity, and inclusion programs under different names. The city of Raleigh is under scrutiny this morning after an undercover journalist for Accuracy in Media recorded Assistant Director of Economic and Social Advancement Brianna Scurry discussing efforts to ensure that the city's DEI programs remain quote As protected as possible. Scurry in the video is heard saying, We are certainly being strategic in the ways uh that we and we don't want to draw attention to ourselves, number one. But we also want to make sure that this DEI work is as protected as possible. Brian Balfour, the Vice President of Research at the John Locke Foundation, says that these ongoing programs, these ongoing DEI programs, are costing taxpayers significant sums of money, specifically highlighting in on Raleigh where this undercover report stems.
Balfour told the Carolina Journal: Raleigh taxpayers have been footing a rapidly expanding bill for these DEI programs. The Raleigh Department of Economic and Social Advancement. Has a budget of $2.6 million and 19 full-time employees. This marks a 69% increase in spending in just three years. There has been a growing national trend to root out DEI in government institutions.
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing. That based on the name that it essentially ended DEI initiatives within the federal government. Brian Balfour also pointed out that although the development of economic and social advancement within the city of Raleigh doesn't include diversity, equity and inclusion in its title, it still operates under many of the same principles. He told the Carolina Journal, The department's purpose, as stated on its website, is to create a community for all, an incredibly vague notion. Its business engagement and opportunity program explicitly states a goal of favoring minority-owned businesses for city work contracts, noting that the department also features an LGBTQIA plus police liaison and also has a, quote, consulting lab in which one of its stated benefits is initiatives that foster inclusivity.
This is not the first time that Accuracy and Media has exposed hidden DEI efforts in North Carolina. Back in May, the group released a video revealing how UNC Charlotte continued DEI initiatives even after the UNC Board of Trustees directed campuses across the state to move away from such programs. There is a video that goes along with this story from Accuracy and Media. You can read those details and watch that video over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. That headline story, undercover report, shows DEI alive and well in Raleigh.
Again, those details over at CarolinaJournal.com. It's 5:36. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, new stock 1110-993 WBT. Don't forget, if you miss any portion of our show here live weekday mornings on WBT, you can check out the Carolina Journal News Hour podcast. It's available in Google Play, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your shows.
Search for the Carolina Journal News Hour, tap that subscribe or follow button, and you'll get a new program delivered each and every weekday morning. You can also watch the show live and on demand on our Carolina Journal YouTube channel as well. It's the Carolina Journal News Hour podcast. Download and subscribe now. A very busy week expected in Raleigh as lawmakers make their way back to the state capitol this morning to deal with, well, redistricting.
We talked about those details some last week right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
However, in the latter half of last week, we did learn some information about a proposed map that has been brought forth by the North Carolina General Assembly. To walk us through some of the details and what exactly that means, Dr. Andy Jackson from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Andy, we chatted mid-last week before a proposed map was out. You talked about a couple of different terms, dummy mandering, kind of reshaping some of these congressional districts in the eastern half of North Carolina.
I guess before we get into anything more specific, give us your broad overview of the proposed maps that were released by the General Assembly late last week.
Well, they basically did two things. And one thing is they took a minimalist approach in the sense that they only really changed two districts, the first and the third, out there in the eastern part of the state. And they did so by essentially taking almost all of the coastal counties out of the third district, putting them into the into the Sorry, out of the third district, putting them into the first district, and then in exchange, taking some of those inland counties that were once in the first and putting them into the third, slightly changing the character of both of those districts. They both still have equal population, as North Carolina always does. The interesting thing is, whereas before the first district was pretty much an even district, as far as like Republicans and Democrats, and the third was comfortably Republican, these are now two lean Republican districts.
Depending on how you measure it, anywhere from like a Republican seven to maybe a Republican nine in both of them. And so they were more aggressive than really I think certainly I and other people had thought they'd be as far as making them even. We thought, well, they'd go ahead and try to keep. Uh, Greg Murphy in a very safe district, maybe an R10, which would maybe let them move the first district to an R5. But they were a lot more aggressive in this, and so now we have essentially, as far as political goes, those.
Those two districts are the same. They're both advantage Republican.
So let's talk a little bit about that. You warned in some of your reporting on this over at the John Locke Foundation that this is a big gamble and it could be a big risk for Republicans. It's a midterm election that typically doesn't favor the party in charge. Republicans, complete and total control in Washington, D.C. Andy, with watering down the third district to put some of those more conservative or Republican voters in the one, does this open a position where Republicans maybe lose both if there's a blue wave that moves through in the November election next year?
It's a possibility.
Now, generally speaking, if you're at an R plus seven district, you're going to, Republicans are going to win that thing most of the time. 2026 is that presidential midterm election, though. I went back and looked at some numbers in 2020. 2018, Republican congressional votes dropped off, their share of the vote dropped off by about four percentage points. And that's across all districts.
So you're looking at that point. If that same thing holds, you're going from a Republican seven down to a Republican three. And that is in getting pretty close territory. If Don Davis runs, he's an incumbent. That's probably worth another point or two.
So if Don Davis runs, he's still within striking distance of winning it this year. And if Democrats do a good job in nominating somebody to run against Greg Murphy in the other district, they could also make that one competitive.
So with those kind of tailwinds, this could end up being a doubling mander. Certainly not long term though. I would expect starting in twenty eight and going forward as Eastern North Carolina becomes more Republican, both those districts will develop into pretty safe Republican districts. One of the interesting things, and I'll continue to state, these are the proposed maps by the General Assembly. We will see a lot of work out of the GA this week.
Maybe there's a slight possibility that they shift or change a little bit.
So everything that we're talking about is, again, proposed. The General Assembly has not had any other sessions this week yet. But under this proposed map, Andy, Don Davis, who previously represented the first congressional district, his residence is now in the third. Does that create a problem for him?
Now I think the bigger problem is that he's lost a big chunk of his district.
Now, he's from Greene County. That is his political base. You know, that's the area where he grew up politically. That's where the people know him the best. And so it certainly would hurt him if he would have to run in the first district without that area.
That could have a negative impact on his campaign.
Now, under the U.S. Constitution, you just have to live in the state. You don't have to actually live in the district.
So he's not bound by law or by the Constitution to run in the third. He could choose to run in the first still. But, you know, now the way these things have divided, because this was such an aggressive change, he has a legitimate way to run in either district. He's got a political base in either district.
So it's going to be interesting to figure out. for him to figure out what he wants to do with this. And I'm glad you bring up that point that unlike the North Carolina General Assembly, where you do, as a representative, have to reside within the district in which you represent, that is not the case for the United States House.
So we're talking about Don Davis, but I think this maybe opens the same question for Dr. Greg Murphy, who currently represents the 3rd District.
Some of his postings Friday on social media, Andy, indicate that he could also be looking at maybe making a jump to the 1st Congressional District if that's an area that he decides he wants to represent. Yeah, it applies for Murphy as well. He has lost a fairly substantial chunk of his district.
Now, he's from Pitt County, although he owns a home on the coast, so he could shift his primary residence, especially probably getting near retirement age now. And so he could do that. And both of these districts are roughly the same politically.
So it's an interesting set of choices that both Murphy and Davis have. I think they definitely would want to avoid running against each other because that would raise the risk for both of them. I don't know if they're going to be meeting at a barbecue place somewhere in eastern North Carolina to hash this out, like you run here, I run there, or maybe through public communications, the language of press releases or whatnot, letting each other know what they're going to do. But certainly they don't want to run against each other. They both have a legitimate claim to represent both districts.
So it's going to be an interesting set of choices once the final maps are made. Andy, you've used a term a couple of times. You've said that the General Assembly was aggressive in the way in which they redrew those maps. They could have maybe gone about it a different manner. What do you think led to the aggressive nature in making these districts, as you've noted, pretty much equal in terms of the Republican advantage instead of just making the first a little bit more competitive?
There's a lot of counties that shifted back and forth on this. Yeah.
Well, I think part of it is they really want to deliver. You know, that first district. And in order to do that, they're going to have to do it because Don Davis is an incumbent. It takes a little bit more to defeat an incumbent.
Now, he didn't win by that much. He only won by a couple of percentage points last time around, but he is going to have those tailwinds. Behind him, with this being a Trump midterm election.
So he could, you know, in a normal district, expect, you know, if he was in his old configuration, probably win that by about six, maybe seven percent.
So, in order to make sure they can overcome that, they have to shift that quite a bit more. And so, they really did it as much as they could without making the third district kind of uncomfortably close for Republicans.
So, that's the reason I say this was a lot more aggressive than I thought they would be. And I think. They believe they need to do it in order to try to deliver both those districts. Andy, walk us through the process that we'll expect to see in the early half of this week in the North Carolina General Assembly. Lawmakers will be gaveling in here a little bit later on this morning, and I know that there's some hearings that are already scheduled.
There's some committees dealing with redistricting. What is the process for lawmakers in Raleigh to get these maps approved if they so choose to do so?
Well, congressional districts typically start in the Senate side, and that's what we're looking at here. They'll have their hearing. We've already got a public comment period that opened last week, and this is going to continue on through. It'll pass, it'll pass along party lines, go to the House, pass along party lines. An interesting thing is that redistricting bills are not subject to a gubernatorial veto.
That's something that Democrats wrote when they gave the governor the veto. They didn't really envision that they'd ever lose the General Assembly when they wrote this back in the 90s.
So they said, well, you know, we sometimes have a Republican governor. Let's go ahead and make sure the governor can't veto redistricting bills. Among others, Roy Cooper voted for that. And so now we're in this situation where you have the Republican control and we have a Democratic governor who has no ability to stop this. The only way it would be stopped is with a lawsuit.
And I don't think, even if it's going to be ultimately successful, I don't think it's going to be successful this year.
So we're looking at having these districts in place in time for the 2026 election. Relatively short timeline on all of this. Candidate filing for these elections coming up in November of next year will take place coming up here at the beginning or middle parts of December of this year. We'll keep our eyes on what are expected to be a busy week in Raleigh over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. We appreciate the insight this morning.
Andy Jackson from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Where it's now 547 News Talk 1110-993 WBT will head back to the traffic center on your early Monday morning commute and get an update with Boomer von Cannon. All right, Nick, thank you, sir. All clear now. 77 southbound at exit 10 Trade Street.
Earlier incident moved from the interstate and all travel links are now open, so you're in pretty good shape as you make your way toward exit 10 from exit 11 Brooks or Freeway. And in South Charlotte, still report of a disabled vehicle on Archdale Drive near Nation's Ford Road. Taking a look at Independence, you're in great shape from Matthews to uptown. Your drive time westbound Independence, just under 20 minutes. Boomer von Cannon WBT traffic.
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It's certainly not advancing ideas or values. Fince Coakley this morning at Zan. W W. Your emergency situation station. From the Thai boy Well, it's not the top of the hour.
It is 5:51. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110, 99.3 WBT. As we continue our coverage this morning of what is set to be a busy week in Raleigh, as you just heard our conversation with Dr. Andy Jackson of the John Locke Foundation, lawmakers will again make their way back to Raleigh for the second to final legislative session of the year before we flip the calendar over to 2026. And the topic, the discussion this week will be redistricting.
The House and the Senate are both set to convene at 10 o'clock this morning. We will watch everything that goes on there over at CarolinaJournal.com and, of course, have the latest coming up for you tomorrow morning right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. In some other statewide news, Democrat Attorney General Jeff Jackson is joining 21 other states and the District of Columbia in a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency for canceling a $7 billion grant called the Solar for All program.
Now, this was created back in 2022 by the Inflation Reduction Act. The program, at its inception, was designed to provide funding to 60 grant recipients with the goal of helping an estimated 900,000 low-income households across the country utilize solar power to reduce their energy costs. Jeff Jackson said in a press release that the funds would have helped more than 12,000 North Carolinians and their households save an average of 20% on their utility bills and support energy jobs across the state. The AG said, quote, These funds were going to help low-income and rural North Carolinians save money on their energy bills. Thousands of families were going to have the option to install solar power, save money and have another energy option after a major storm.
Now the EPA has illegally canceled those funds, so I'm going to court to bring $150 million back to our state. In 2024, the Energize NC Coalition, which is led by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, applied for and was awarded a $156 million grant from the Solar for All program that came through the Environmental Protection Agency. According to Jackson's press release, over five years, the program would have helped create at least 43 megawatts of solar energy and offer financial assistance to help low-income single-family homes with installing solar, in this case, some other solar as well, including multifamily housing and households with medical needs. The cancellation, Jackson said, left the state without more than $150 of the $156 million that were awarded, and noted that the grant was, quote, abruptly canceled without a valid legal basis. And so that is.
Is why Attorney Democrat Attorney General Jeff Jackson has brought this suit against EPA. This all started back on August the 7th when the EPA canceled the program, which was included in the greenhouse gas reduction fund. Lee Zeldin, the administrator for EPA, discussed the cancellation, which all resulted from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump back on July the 4th. In a video posted to Lee Zeldin's ex-account, he said, quote, In some cases, your tax dollars were diluted through up to four pass-through entities, each taking their own cut off the top. The bottom line is this.
EPA no longer has the statutory authority to administer the program or the appropriated funds to keep this boondoggle alive. Today, the Trump EPA is announcing that we are ending solar for all and for good, saving U.S. taxpayers another $7 billion. The reaction continues in North Carolina with NCDEQ Secretary Reid Wilson saying that the cancellation of that program would eliminate the installation of solar panels for more than 12,000 low and median income households. Additionally, the solar for all program was designed to help create only 140 new jobs across the state of North Carolina, including those for contractors, construction workers, and maintenance staff.
The solar energy industry employs over 9,000 North Carolinians currently and supports more than 200 businesses across the state. John Sanders, who is the director for the Center for Food, Power and Life at the John Locke Foundation, told the Carolina Journal that although Jackson's statements that the Solar for All program would have saved low-income people and their families on their power bills and created jobs is true, there is no reason for the Attorney General to think that this program is the only or even a good way to help individuals reduce their power bills and create jobs. Sanders also noted that economic research literature is filled with studies demonstrating that faster job growth happens in economies and communities with less regulation, lower tax burdens, and greater protection of individual rights. Sanders also added that given that electricity is a vital expense for all households and an input cost for nearly every single business across the state, resource decisions that result in lower power bills would lead to a stronger economy and more job creation than otherwise. We've got some additional details on this legal challenge, including some additional quotes from John Sanders, Jeff Jackson, and a full video from EPA Administrator Lee Zeldon.
You can read and watch some more details on that by visiting our website, CarolinaJournal.com. That story's headline: AG Jackson joins EPA lawsuit over cancellation of solar. program.
Well, that's going to do it for a Monday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour. WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on News Talk 1110 and 99.3. WBT. Did you know you can save up to 70% on the best brands just by shopping at fromrebel.com?
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