The AP says this includes a utility North Carolinians are familiar with:

Duke Energy’s Top of the World wind farm, a 17,000-acre site with 110 turbines located about 35 miles east of Casper [Wyoming], 10 eagles have been killed in the first two years of operation. It is the deadliest of Duke’s 15 wind power plants for eagles.

But that doesn’t stop greenies from hyperventilating about efforts to eventually phase out the state’s mandate that utilities use alternative energy, including wind power.

Two bills to end that mandate have come up for consideration in the General Assembly: HB 298, Affordable and Reliable Energy Act and a Senate counterpart, SB 365. Both have faced heavy opposition, and their fate is unclear. But phasing out the state mandate — which under the more recent proposals wouldn’t happen for years anyway — is both a common-sense measure, and a humane one.

Utilities pass along the costs of using wind turbines to your electric bill. So when you pay a bill from an NC utility, you may be paying for wind turbines that kill eagles and hundreds of thousands of birds.

Meanwhile, the United States is sitting vast reserves of oil and natural gas. There’s no need for these bird-killing towers. There’s no good reason NC should force utilities to use sources of power that chop wild birds into pieces.

of a building. It also can discriminate against locally sourced products in favor of products from other places. The LEED certification also judges buildings by such non-construction related aspects as wages paid to people providing materials and labor relations. It even uses how many bike racks you have outside the building and nearby housing density as criteria in some cases (the denser the better – suburbs are bad).

The key part of the bill that protects North Carolina is the new language which says:

To achieve sustainable building standards, 17 a construction project may utilize a nationally recognized high performance environmental 18 building rating system, provided that any such rating system (i) does not use a material or 19 product-based credit system disadvantaging materials or products manufactured or produced in 20 this State; (ii) gives certification credits equally to forest products grown, manufactured, and 21 certified under the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, the American Tree Farm System, and the 22 Forest Stewardship Council; (iii) must be developed in conformity with American National 23 Standards Institute procedures; and (iv) must either be approved as American National 24 Standards or developed by a designator audited by the American National Standards Institute.

This bill is not as the hysterical title of this Business Journal Article an “Anti-LEED bill…” It is a sensible bill to make sure North Carolina products and suppliers are not discriminated against when it comes to competing for projects financed by state taxpayers. Hopefully we will see more such sensible approaches to protecting the environment as we go forward.

Facing Lake Wheeler Road, small-business owner Scott Byers uses his marquee to express his political views.

Every day I drive past a gas station and convenience store, the Grocery Boy Junior. About every other Friday, I stop in to fill up my tank. A few weeks ago, I noticed something on the marquee outside of the building while fueling up and muttering about the high gas prices.

“HIGH GAS PRICES [A]FFECT EVERYONE

VOTE FOR THOSE WHO WILL DRILL”

The Grocery Boy Junior is an emblem of all things that embody the passion- and the pain- of small businesses today. Owned by a local businessman, I was intrigued by his marquee to stop in and ask to chat with the man responsible for this enlightened business. As I waited to speak with the cashier, I noticed something else.

 “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”

This profound quote from Winston Churchill is affixed to the register in the small convenience store with two small pieces of tape, positioned perfectly to be noticed by anyone making a purchase.

A few weeks later, when I sat down with Scott Byers, he grabbed a pack of gum and took a piece for himself. He offered me a piece and sighed. “10 years ago, this pack of gum cost about half of what it does now,” he began, “and people just don’t seem to realize that fuel costs are a huge part of that.”

The polite gentleman told me about his family, that he came from a military upbringing and attended a two year college. He is very involved with his church, working with several different ministries within the congregation. He has three children, and beams when he speaks about them. He has dreams for them like any parent would; but above all, he wants them to understand that they are responsible for their achievements, not entitled to them.

He explained that his income is now half of what it was four years ago, a sentiment felt by nearly everyone in the small business sector.  He spoke with sadness in his voice about the heartbreaking decision to let go of employees that had worked for nearly a decade in his store. “It’s hard to hear people demonizing their bosses,” he explained, “because it’s not easy for us to make those choices.”

When I asked how he felt about local government and the bureaucracy endured by many small business owners, Mr. Byers perked up. The Department of Health told him he could not install and operate the hot dog warmer without having a grease trap beneath the building and two restrooms- one for men and one for women. Curiously, the coed single restroom that the store currently has was deemed insufficient for having a hot dog warmer on the premises. He noted that it seems like these departments whose intentions are to protect the people in fact make it more difficult for businesses to operate. “I would have to sell a huge number of hot dogs just to pay for the investment that I’d have to put in. It just isn’t viable right now.”

When I asked Mr. Byers what issues he was taking to consideration aside from the economy in this year’s election, he did not even blink. Education, he said, was the root of most of our nation’s problems in perpetuating the culture of entitlement that has plagued our nation. Secondly, of course, he continued, is the topic of offshore drilling. Mr. Byers rattled off facts that astonished me. After hearing him speak about drilling, I was ready to go drill for him. He noted that the environmentalists, much like the various Departments that impose restrictions on his business practices, have good intentions- but do not seem to realize that fuel prices affect the whole economy. High fuel costs do not discriminate, according to Mr. Byers.  “It’s not just the middle class, it’s everyone.  And people need to consider that when they vote.”

The Grocery Boy Junior is located on Lake Wheeler Road in Raleigh.

Consider the following example. Duke Energy CEO, Jim Rogers, from Charlotte, has donated about $30,000to the Obama campaign and even more (around $55,000) to the Democratic National Committee over the past few years. His company extended a $10 million line of credit for the vastly underfunded and poorly attended Charlotte convention. He even appeared on CNN touting the President’s energy policies. And what has he gotten in return? Taxpayer money to the tune of $230.4 million and hundreds of thousands more in grant money to fund various projects including the development of the unsuccessful Chevrolet Volt.

Even today, the News and Observer announced that Duke Energy has graciously donated two new charging stations for electric cars in the town of Cary. According to the columnist, these stations are “free.” In reality, people who cannot afford expensive electric vehicles are being forced to subsidize power for those who can.

So according to Obama, the definition of fairness is playing favorites, and according to the media, a company is charitable when it receives taxpayer dollars and gives it back to them in the form of public services that are only needed by wealthier people.

The kind of cronyism that Obama and the DNC have perpetuated means that rich businessmen in our own state are being helped at the expense of the rest of us. Obama at the same time credits himself with creating an economic climate where “everyone gets a fair shot” and implements policies that directly contradict that principle. So despite all of last night’s flowing rhetoric, actions still speak louder than words.