After years of objecting to taxpayer subsidies, including but not restricted to those for energy, the N.C. House today quietly passed legislation that would create a task force to explore ways to provide public funding to incentivize the expansion of fracked gas infrastructure in the state.
House Bill 1073, “Establish Economic Development Task Force,” calls for creation of a “blue ribbon” task force made up of 10 voting members (eight from the majority party) and seven advisory members, none of whom would represent clean energy interests or perspectives.
The task force would be charged with evaluating, among a long list of things, existing legal mechanisms to direct funds to support gas expansion, whether a new fund to do so should be created, whether local governments should be given authority to issue bonds for developing gas infrastructure, and whether liquified natural gas (LNG) projects should be eligible to receive such funds.
The bill goes next to the Senate for consideration.
Molly Diggins, N.C. Sierra Club state director, made the following statement on House passage of H 1073:
“North Carolinians should be concerned that, with this bill, the House is opening the door to using taxpayer funds to subsidize fracked gas infrastructure. This is totally unnecessary, given the availability of private funds. Further, subsidizing an expansion of fracked gas infrastructure would lock us into decades of reliance on dirty fuels when we could get our power from clean, renewable energy sources.”