Air Pollution, Power Plants, Energy Policy, Preservation
Background
Ms. Ouzts is responsible for coordinating policy development,
research,
and legislative advocacy for Environment North Carolina. She works to
clean up the largest sources of
air pollution in the state—automobiles and power plants—and to preserve
the state’s forests, farmlands, and natural areas. Ms. Ouzts serves as
the organization’s main representative in the North Carolina General
Assembly, and was one of the primary environmental advocates for the
state Clean Smokestacks law in 2002.
She has appeared on local
affiliates of NBC, ABC, and CBS in Raleigh and Charlotte, and has
testified before the state legislature on a wide range of issues. She
is on the executive
board of the NC Conservation Network and is a steering committee member
of the Land for Tomorrow coalition, the statewide effort to create a
permanent, dedicated source of funding for protecting forests and
farmlands.
A graduate of the NC School of Science and Math, Ms. Ouzts
began her work with the state PIRGs in New
Jersey, where she completed service for NJ Community Water Watch, a
project of NJPIRG Law and Policy Center. In 1998, she returned to
North Carolina to work with NCPIRG. She became the director of NCPIRG
in 2001, then launched Environment North Carolina in 2006.
