Carolina Journal reporter David Bass has an excellent article today on the relationship between a private non-profit called the Climate Registry, North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and its Division of Air Quality (DAQ). It is quite clear from the article that this relationship is a collaborative effort meant to advance an alarmist global warming agenda held by both the non-profit and officials at DENR. There are several key points from the article that should be highlighted:
- First is that DENR has given the Climate Registry a total of $100,000 in taxpayer money, part of which has come from gasoline taxes, and that this was simply seed money for the organization with the state receiving nothing in return. It was a pure revenue transfer from the taxpayers of North Carolina to an independent, out of state, non-profit.
- Second is that DENR, through its Deputy director of the Division of Air Quality, Brock Nicholson, has, on behalf of the Registry, been going out of its way to put pressure on other states and North Carolina companies to fork over thousands of dollars to join the Registry. In this regard probably the most disturbing bit of information to come from David’s article is that Nicholson sent a letter on DENR stationary to over 3000 companies that he is in charge of regulating, requesting that they bear the expense of becoming members of the Registry. These are companies that, in may cases, the Division of Air Quality holds the power of life and death over through its emissions permitting process. What is even more amazing is that in statements to Carolina Journal, Nicholson says that he sees nothing improper about this.
- Lastly, it is clear that the Climate Registry is part of the same general network of left wing foundations and organizations as the Center for Climate Strategies. While a complete list of their donors is not yet available through IRS records (they are too new) CJ was able to show that they are receiving funding from several of the same foundations that fund the work of the CCS. To remind the reader, CCS is the Pennsylvania based environmental advocacy group–masquerading as objective analysts–that DENR, DAQ, and Brock Nicholson have put in charge of devising new regulations and taxes to be placed on the citizens of NC, allegedly to fight global warming. As an aside neither CCS nor DAQ has even made an attempt to show that these measures will have any impact on the climate.