Gov. Roy Cooper has been called out in a piece in the Journal Now for having too narrow of an opinion on energy.
In an editorial written by the newspaper's editorial board, the piece states that while Cooper has taken steps to battle climate change and push policies that promote clean energy, his Department of Revenue is said to be slacking.
The editorial credited Cooper for backing alternative energy, but at the same time, it was also noted that his Department of Environmental Quality is encouraging a rigorous method that will call for businesses, industries and even the state legislature to get involved, causing his Department of Revenue to take a risky position that could make possible investors eerie of future opportunities.
The editorial states that the Revenue Department is relying on a narrow interpretation of laws that define partnerships.
"The department said it follows the federal tax code, which doesn’t allow the sort of 'pass through' arrangement the solar farms had used to finance their projects," the editorial states. "But North Carolina’s tax code can differ from the federal one when state laws differ from federal laws. By insisting on this narrow view, the Revenue Department is in effect making policy, a policy that’s not that of the governor and that also seems to go against the intent of the General Assembly and a recent state Supreme Court ruling involving the IRS code.
"Cooper should do what it takes to get the Revenue Department on board with his ambitious clean energy proposals," the editorial states.
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