A new joint House-Senate committee met for the first time this week to discuss the future of North Carolina’s annexation law. John Locke Foundation Legal and Regulatory Policy Analyst Daren Bakst spearheaded an effort to gather support from groups with a common interest in reforming that law to offer better protection for property owners. The result was a letter submitted to the committee. Meanwhile, Bakst also submitted written comments to the N.C. Environmental Management Commission about a proposal to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. (Download the comments here.) While in Washington, D.C., this week, Bakst delivered a presentation on “renewable portfolio standards” for a committee of the American Legislative Exchange Council. In addition, the Lenoir News-Topic recently published Bakst’s op-ed on “government greed.”