Senate Bill 303 was introduced today, sponsored by Sens. Chad Barefoot (R-Wake), Jim Davis (R-Macon) and Jim Hise (R-Mitchell). The bill would allow North Carolina “to exercise its right to opt out of enforcing the pending EPA rules” on wood-fired stoves, according to a press release from Barefoot’s office.
The EPA rule establishes such rigid restrictions on the airborne particulate emissions of wood-burning stoves, that roughly 80 percent would no longer be legal to produce, according to this Forbes article.
Most wood stoves that warm cabin and home residents from coast-to-coast can’t meet that standard. Older stoves that don’t cannot be traded in for updated types, but instead must be rendered inoperable, destroyed, or recycled as scrap metal.
Especially hardest hit will be rural, low-income communities. For instance, according to Barefoot’s press release, in Yancey County 17.6 percent of residents rely solely on wood-fired heat, while 12.3 percent rely solely on wood-fired heat in Swain County. North Carolina is the 8th state challenging this overreach.
This is a great first step in pushing back against the EPA’s power grab. Next up, let’s hope someone in NC pushes back against the EPA’s war on coal that would cost NC billions of economic growth and tens of thousands of jobs.
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