“It is shameful to sign away public trust while residents are left to ask basic questions about our energy, wells, water, wildlife, and our health." Richmond County officials secretly crafted the deal w Amazon then sprang it on an area burdened by pollution insideclimatenews.org/news/0408202...

Inside the Secretive Deal for a $10 Billion Data Center in Rural North Carolina - Inside Climate News

Residents say they were left out of the decision-making process for a project that includes hundreds of polluting diesel generators.

insideclimatenews.org

ICYMI: Inside Climate News reporter Lisa Sorg discusses PFAS litigation and other top environmental stories ncnewsline.com/2026/08/03/i... @lisasorg.bsky.social @insideclimatenews.org #ncpol #PFAS (podcast)

Inside Climate News reporter Lisa Sorg discusses PFAS litigation and other top environmental stories • NC Newsline

Inside Climate News reporter Lisa Sorg on PFAS litigation and why a Durham energy company filed for bankruptcy

ncnewsline.com

Time to build an ark in Durham. Rain is unreal

This just happened: I was standing on a public thoroughfare (airport road in Hamlet) photographing the @amazon data center when the site manager approached me and said I could not take photos, citing “policy” 1/2

On 7/10 Asheboro discharged **high**levels of a carcinogen 1,4-dioxane into the drinking water supply for 100K+ people: Sanford, Fayetteville, Brunswick Cty, Wilmington +more How high? 5,700 x the standard NC Enviro Mgmt Comm approved in '22 but never implemented for legal reasons 1/2

Facing $1.1 billion in federal penalties Durham company American Efficient declares bankruptcy. Feds alleged AE defrauded energy markets & ratepayers. Top official is Ben Abram, spouse of state Sen. Sophia Chitlik insideclimatenews.org/news/2107202...

North Carolina Energy Company Accused of Fraud Files for Bankruptcy - Inside Climate News

In April, federal regulators fined American Efficient $1.1 billion for perpetuating “a scam” they said cost ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

insideclimatenews.org

The State Auditor's report on the Town of Cary is worth multiple tubs of popcorn ... including the fact the former Town Manager "lost the receipt" to his hotel penthouse booking ... plus $1600 on 10 pairs of Ray Ban sunglasses www.auditor.nc.gov/documents/re...

Because of current weather, public health and geo-political events, my hatred of summer has reached another level

Planetary barbecue: The World’s Largest Meat Company Abandons Its Climate and Deforestation Goals - Inside Climate News insideclimatenews.org/news/1307202...

The World’s Largest Meat Company Abandons Its Climate and Deforestation Goals - Inside Climate News

After encountering the “immense” challenge of actually executing its net-zero goal by 2040, the company said it will instead lower its “emissions intensity.”

insideclimatenews.org

After 8 yrs, 2600 plaintiffs were ready for a jury trial but the case vs Chemours and DuPont was settled out of court before opening arguments insideclimatenews.org/news/1307202...

A Key Forever Chemicals Lawsuit Settles Out of Court in North Carolina - Inside Climate News

More than 2,600 people sued Chemours and DuPont over PFAS contamination. After eight years, the trial won’t move forward.

insideclimatenews.org

Chemours just settled a class action suit of 2600 plaintiffs re PFAS contaminated drinking water wells, soil, etc from Fayetteville Works. Trial was to start in fed ct this morning Stand by for details

Shipping haz waste thru downtown Zebulon to a warehouse w/o a permit. Spilled petroleum products. Open barrels of sludge. Lauren Dalban & I wrote about the chronic haz waste violations at Braven Environmental, now closed & 1/4 mile from East Wake Academy insideclimatenews.org/news/1007202...

A Chemical Plant Mishandled Hazardous Waste for Years, Then Quietly Shuttered - Inside Climate News

Questions remain about cleanup at the North Carolina site, which had been hailed as a solution for dealing with plastic waste.

insideclimatenews.org

Chatham Co. residents in NC have valid reasons to be concerned re: Enbridge's proposed nat gas pipeline: In Tennessee, the company damaged wetlands & streams, encroached on private property + feds issued a stop-work order on one segment of its Ridgeline project insideclimatenews.org/news/2506202...

A Pipeline Company Says It Will Protect the Environment in North Carolina. Its Record in Tennessee Says Otherwise. - Inside Climate News

Damaged wetlands and streams, spills of drilling mud and a federal stop-work order have plagued the Ridgeline Expansion Project in Tennessee.

insideclimatenews.org

It's raining in Durham. Halla-effin-lujah

This is incredible journalism by the INDY Every Durhamites' blood should boil: corporate landlords getting major property tax breaks + county tax office incompetence = big budget holes for the city indyweek.com/news/durham-...

How $4 Billion Came Off Durham’s Tax Rolls Last Year, Mostly Benefiting Corporate Landlords—and Blowing a Hole in the City Budget

Landlords and national companies won billions in property tax reductions. City leadership, banking on the revenue, didn’t know until April.

indyweek.com

“How do we solve the moral dilemma of my possibly directing the pipeline away from my property and then destroying my neighbors’ land? That’s the position you’ve put us in” says Chatham resident to Enbridge nat gas reps

Another Chatham resident to Enbridge nat gas pipeline reps “We are all united against you and this pipeline”

85 year old widow in Chatham County tells Enbridge nat gas pipeline reps “I’m usually a courteous person but you bring the worst in me. I’m going to fight you to the death”

Census bureau says 115k NC households don't have A/C of any type. Some are in the mountains (where it still gets hot) but Guilford, Forsyth & Mecklenburg are in Top 10. Looking for NCians who are without this essential service, for a story lisa.sorg@insideclimatenews.org

First time I've ever used the term "mucilaginous goo" in a story. DEQ is suing Brenntag over pollution in an East Durham creek, aka the "Creek That Reeks" or the "Creek That Smells Like Death"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/10062026/north-carolina-sues-brenntag-for-water-contamination/

North Carolina Sues Chemical Company for Polluting a Nearby Creek - Inside Climate News

Since 2023, the city of Durham has fined Brenntag $157,000 for violations related to water contamination.

insideclimatenews.org

My dreams for a slow news day? Dashed by the Trump adm announcing it plans to award $28m to Duke Energy to upgrade its coal-fired power plant in Roxboro/Hyco Lake; a $44m match would come from ratepayers insideclimatenews.org/news/0506202...

Trump Administration Doubles Down on Coal Power in North Carolina - Inside Climate News

Duke Energy could receive $28.4 million in federal grants for upgrades, matched by $44 million in ratepayer funds.

insideclimatenews.org

I collaborated with the great @lisasorg.bsky.social to look at the state of anaerobic digesters in California, North Carolina and elsewhere. Environmental groups see the tech—intended to cut greenhouse gas emissions— as driving expansion of large-scale animal farms.

USDA Extends Pause on Loans for Controversial Digesters That Turn Manure Into Biogas - Inside Climate News

Anaerobic digester loans showed “significant delinquency rates,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture said, while environmental groups see the technology driving an expansion of large-scale animal farmi...

insideclimatenews.org

This PFAS presentation by the NC Water Quality Assn is professional malpractice. So many inaccurate statements backed by science

Rep from NC Water Quality Assn telling #ncga municipal wastewater treatment plants want to do the right thing and not pollute downstream drinking water Paging Asheboro, major source of 1,4-dioxane

Good, bad and ugly: Senate Bill 730 would rein in data centers but could liberate Duke Energy and fossil fuel companies from pesky oversight. It goes to the House floor today at 1030ish insideclimatenews.org/news/0306202...

A New N.C. Ratepayer Bill Puts the Brakes on Data Centers, but Incentivizes Fossil Fuels - Inside Climate News

The price of fuel, such as natural gas, and the build-out of fossil fuel infrastructure are largely behind recent rate hikes in the state.

insideclimatenews.org

Four years after Vietnamese automaker VinFast announced plans to build a new line of electric vehicles in North Carolina, Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced his office has filed suit filed suit against the company on behalf of the NC Department of Commerce. ncnewsline.com/2026/05/21/n...

North Carolina slams brakes on EV megafactory deal after years of delay  • NC Newsline

In 2022, Vietnamese carmarker Vinfast announced it would build a megafactory to produce EVs and batteries in Chatham County, bringing $4 billion in investment and 7,500 jobs. Four years later, the sta...

ncnewsline.com

13 acres on Duke’s Central Campus once had mill houses, then student apartments. Now the university is building a small data center on the neglected land insideclimatenews.org/news/2105202...

Duke University Plans a Data Center It Says Will Boost ‘Environmental Responsibility and Sustainability’ - Inside Climate News

The small project is underway at Central Campus, with room for expansion. Its energy usage could complicate the university’s climate goals.

insideclimatenews.org

The anti-union rhetoric in the NC Senate Ag, Energy, Enviro committee is breathtaking. Bill would put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to enshrine the 77-y-o Right to Work law in the constitution: "Because people are moving here with different ideas." 🤯

Story coming soon: @DukeU plans to build a data center (not hyperscale) at Central Campus, near the Carolina Friends Early School, the Friends Meeting House and the Ronald McDonald House. I have questions into Duke. @CityofDurhamNC issued a building permit on 4/8

My mom died suddenly last week, and I am adopting one of her dogs. Meet Ginger, who will continue to be adored.