Environment

Easley called the [Clean Smokestacks] law “one of the most important pieces of legislation in the state’s history… The health risks associated with poor air quality, Easley said, “affect every facet of our lives. It’s not just an abstract issue called the environment… “I’d like to see the federal government take two steps,” he said, “stop rolling back the protections we have now and move in the direction we have gone in North Carolina.”
-Plant installing clean air device; 6/10/03 Asheville Citizen Times

“There is not another plan in the country that goes this far toward cleaning harmful smokestack emissions from our air — and it does so without raising rates,” Easley said during a bill-signing ceremony in Raleigh that attracted an unusual array of Democratic and GOP state lawmakers, utility executives, environmentalists and public health advocates.
-N.C. Imposes Strict Anti-Pollution Standards; 6/21/02 Washington Post

“I’m seeing more of a rollback in environmental initiatives from Washington than progress,” he said at a news conference in Charlotte.
“It’s more than coal plants,” Easley told about 200 participants who attended the summit, including government officials, industry representatives and environmentalists. “We all arrived here today riding in our own smokestack.”
“North Carolina had to clean its own house first,” Easley said. “I’m glad to say we have taken a gigantic step in that direction.”
-Governors: It’s up to states to clear air; 5/11/02 Durham Herald Sun, Associated Press

Pollution does not honor state boundaries,” Easley said. “A state can’t keep itself clean alone, any more than a state can stop global warming alone. Any more than you can clean up the neighborhood by painting one house. We all have to work together… Easley, whose General Assembly is considering a multi-pollutant cleanup plan, said the billions of dollars utilities say it will cost to meet new regulations should not stand in the way… We ought to start with the basic principle that it is much cheaper to clean smokestacks than it is to clean lungs,” Easley said. “And it is cheaper to clean smokestacks than parks and buildings and to replace mountains.”
-Southern Governors consider pollutant accord; 6/1/01 Associated Press

“We’re going to make sure that we do remove” haze surrounding the state’s mountains, Easley said. “We’re going to see a great impact in North Carolina as a result of that… “We are cleaning up our act all over North Carolina. Once we do that, then we have some credibility,” Easley said.
-Bluer skies for tourism; 4/10/01 Asheville Citizen Times

“We must make certain that this is the last time that North Carolina extends its moratorium,” Easley said. “It’s time to make real progress and move away from this antiquated system. We need to develop new technologies that will allow the pork industry in North Carolina to continue to prosper without posing a threat to public health and the environment.”
-Hog Farms growth nixed; 4/16/03 Raleigh News and Observer