Center for Food, Power, and Life
The Center for Food, Power, and Life aims to protect and expand freedom in the vital policy areas of agriculture, energy, and the environment, which we believe will enhance North Carolinians' lives by better access to food, power, and more of life's needs and wants.
Report Argues Offshore Wind Development Activities Are Killing Whales and Dolphins
On November 2, Save Long Beach Island released a report arguing that offshore wind energy vessel surveys were responsible for the recent spike in whale and dolphin deaths off the…
Gobbling Up Expenses: The Price Tag of a Thanksgiving Feast in 2023
The price of a classic Thanksgiving feast for 10 people in the U.S. is estimated at $61.17 this year, marking a 4.5% drop from last year’s record highs according to…
Measuring the Reliability of North Carolina’s Different Electricity Generating Sources
In determining the reliability of different electricity generation sources, a source's "capacity factor" is a useful measure of how much it produces vs. how much it says it can produce.…
Hog Waste Management in North Carolina: A Freedom-Minded Perspective on Alternatives
Several alternative ways of hog waste management have been studied, but few have been implemented in North Carolina. Currently the state caps damages that property owners can collect in nuisance…
Offshore Wind Costs Are Getting Worse
UPDATE: A press release sent out by Orsted on October 31, 2023, stated that “Following a decision by its Board of Directors, Ørsted will cease development of the Ocean Wind…
New Law Stops North Carolina from Repeating Pennsylvania’s ‘Crazy’ Trucking Mistake
I recently wrote about “How the Budget Stops California from Setting North Carolina’s Transportation Policy.” I described how Gov. Roy Cooper had signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” in 2020 with…
North Carolina Hog Farming: Its Importance, History, and Controversy
Hog farming is an integral part of the agricultural industry in North Carolina, contributing $10 billion in economic output a year. Hog farming in North Carolina dates back to the…
Governor’s Vetoes Would Harm Ratepayers and Reliable Electricity
Gov. Cooper vetoed bills that would define nuclear energy as clean energy and help a new natural gas pipeline get permitting. Cooper and certain environmentalists seem to think the vetoes…
How the Budget Stops California from Setting North Carolina’s Transportation Policy
North Carolina’s no-more-stringent law forbids state environmental agencies from imposing stricter environmental regulations than required by the federal government. In 2022, as per his agreement with California Gov. Newsom, Gov.…
Virginia’s Power Provider Also Seeks More Natural Gas Plants
In August, Duke Energy filed an updated resource plan with the North Carolina Utilities Commission. The plan featured three possible portfolios, but Duke made it plain that the third portfolio (P3) was…
China Permits Two New Coal Plants Per Week
A key fact — and important graphic — in last week’s brief describing North Carolina’s China Carbon Time for 2023 has already been rendered obsolete. It’s even more bad news…
Shorter Season, Tighter Regulations Founder NC Flounder Fishing
Attention North Carolinians: If you want to treat yourself to some fresh, wild-caught flounder this season, you better start saving your pennies. With an extremely limited fishing season and stringent…