High-stakes election case before the Supreme Court should alarm all in NC

Welcome to NC Voices, where leaders, readers and experts from across North Carolina can speak on issues affecting our communities. Send submissions of 350 words or fewer to opinion@newsobserver.com.

A threat to democracy in NC

The writer is vice chairman of the N.C. Democratic Party.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday on a case that poses an existential threat to our democracy — Moore v. Harper. With this case, Republicans have made clear that winning elections reigns above all else.

As a senator in the N.C. General Assembly, I sat on redistricting committees and fought against the twisted tactics implored by my Republican colleagues to gerrymander our districts. With these partisan maps, Republicans split communities and neighborhoods down the middle to dilute the democratic process and disenfranchise voters — disproportionately impacting communities of color.

Moore v. Harper seeks a radical misinterpretation of our U.S. Constitution that would have severe implications on future presidential and congressional elections, including empowering state legislators to overturn election results and subvert the will of N.C. voters.

There is nothing in the Constitution that directly permits legislatures to hold a monopoly on state legislative districting. Republicans are merely interpreting the Constitution to fit their needs.

Previous Supreme Courts have already set precedent on the unconstitutionality of gerrymandering, establishing that through the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment all persons should have their vote count equally. To accept the independent legislature doctrine is to forsake decades of judicial precedent and demonstrate Republican judicial activism at its worst.

Republicans have imposed their extreme agenda by rigging our state elections and silencing voters to cling to power. With Moore v. Harper, they are taking matters to the brink by appealing to a Republican-dominated Supreme Court in hopes it will put partisanship before people and support their fringe independent legislature doctrine.

Republicans willingness to cast aside decades of precedent and our very Constitution for partisan gain is alarming and North Carolinians should pay attention. Our democracy is fragile. We must fight to protect it.

Floyd McKissick

Ensure climate justice in NC

This year is shaping up to be a transformative one for climate action, federally and in North Carolina.

The NC Utilities Commission (NCUC) is deciding how to achieve the power sector greenhouse gas emission reductions called for in House Bill 951, passed last year. A final plan, dubbed the Carbon Plan, is due by year’s end.

At the federal level, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) represented the largest piece of climate legislation in U.S. history — an unprecedented $369 billion in investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency, electric vehicles, energy storage, and more. These investments will put the U.S. on a path to reduce climate emissions roughly 40% by 2030, a monumental step.

Even as we celebrate this win we must rededicate ourselves to ensuring that emissions reductions don’t come at the expense of front-line communities. Environmental justice must be a central component of any plan to decarbonize our economy, or we risk perpetuating existing inequities.

That brings us back to North Carolina and the Carbon Plan, an immediate opportunity to meaningfully incorporate environmental justice into state-level climate action.

The NCUC has the opportunity to make significant progress towards environmental justice by choosing a plan that does not rely on additional fossil fuel infrastructure, phases out existing fossil fuel infrastructure as quickly as possible, and enables inclusive clean energy programs that take full advantage of IRA funding.

The good news: Modeling from Synapse Energy Economics demonstrates that doing so would also drive substantial savings for N.C. ratepayers, reducing anticipated costs by up to 19% by 2050.

All communities deserve to share in the benefits of a clean future. With the right policies and programs in place, all communities can. We trust that the NCUC will take advantage of the opportunity before them to help North Carolina realize this promise.

William Barber III

Founder and CEO, Rural Beacon Initiative

Ethan Blumenthal

Co-founder and CEO, Good Solar