Lawsuit victory triggers de facto moratorium on fracking in the state as a bill that would freeze renewable energy shift at current rate heads towards senate vote It was one step forward and one step backward for environmentally concerned North Carolina residents on Wednesday. A successful local lawsuit ended in a de facto moratorium on fracking in the state, while a bill that would halt progress requirements on renewable energies continued to cycle its way through the legislature. Wednesday’s successful lawsuit, brought by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) on behalf of the Haw River Assembly and a North Carolina resident from Lee County, argued that with a majority of the appointments within the state’s mining and energy commission coming directly from the very legislative body that had created it, basic constitutional rules of separations of power had been violated. The now-unconstitutional commission was created three years ago by the North Carolina general assembly following the legalization of fracking-type activities. It was put in place to issue and process fracking permits. With an unconstitutional commission creating fracking rules, it follows that “their actions are therefore unconstitutional, null and void”, said Derb Carter, a lawyer and the director of the SELC’s North Carolina office. The result is a halt on any fracking-related activities. But shortly after the news was released, a state house bill providing for the freezing of current renewable energy provision standards, also referred to as REPS, continued to move its way through the North Carolina legislature, appearing in front of committee on its way to a vote in the senate. If passed, the bill would permanently freeze a requirement previously introduced in the state providing for a gradual shift by energy providers towards renewable energy and away from fossil fuels. Under current North Carolina law, energy companies must have a 12.5% renewable portfolio by 2021, gradually stepping up their share of renewable energy over time. This year energy companies’ renewable requirement share is set at 6%, meaning a permanent freeze following successful passage would in theory keep requirements steady at 6%. Carter, of the SELC, said the bill was “a step back in terms of the energy direction that the state had said it was taking”, adding the renewable industry has also been credited with the creation of tens of thousands of new jobs.