Poll: Florence spurs NC interest in more rules on coal ash, hog farms

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Devastation from Hurricane Florence and increasing concerns over climate change have made North Carolinians more open to possible regulatory changes that could affect real estate development, energy and agriculture, according to polling by Elon University released on Thursday.

Jason Husser, director of the Elon Poll, told CBJ that, while there is more openness to considering changes to how all of those industries are governed, the results reflect a broad interpretation rather than specific policy proposals.

“My sense is we are seeing major support for the idea of those changes,” he said. “But when the rubber hits the road, interest groups will mobilize and I would expect opposition to increase substantially.”

Given the choice of three answers — good idea, bad idea, don’t know — respondents favored incorporating findings from scientists on climate change into local government planning as well as increasing environmental regulations for hog farms and coal-ash ponds. They also supported by a wide margin restricting real estate development in flood-prone areas.