Erin Carey of the NC Sierra Club on a controversial bill that earned the governor’s veto

News & Views

Erin Carey (Courtesy photo)

Over the last several decades, North Carolina has been transformed from a largely rural state covered with forests and farms into an ever more urban place plastered with vast swaths of concrete and asphalt.

And it’s in light of this reality that Gov. Roy Cooper’s recent decision to veto a transportation bill approved by the legislature that would have opened the door to expanded highway tree cutting to allow more room for billboards has been lauded by environmental advocates. Of course, sustaining gubernatorial vetoes is tough these days in the Republican-dominated legislature, and recently NC Newsline caught up with Erin Carey of the North Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club to learn more about the substance of the bill and its prospects going forward.