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Updated at 9:45 a.m. with quotes throughout.

When Gov. Bev Perdue appointed Rep. Lucy Allen to the N.C. Utilities Commission, the lawmaker left the General Assembly and two key environmental posts behind.

Greensboro Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Democrat, told me this morning she'll have a piece of both of them.

First, she'll be a co-chair on the Environmental Review Commission. ERC is a joint House-Senate committee that works between legislative sessions hearing reports and crafting recommended environmental laws to the General Assembly.

"It's basically our environmental oversight committee," Harrison said.

Harrison will be one of two House co-chairs. The other is Rep. Pryor Gibson. This is sure to make people around the General Assembly giggle a little bit because Harrison has a reputation as being one of the greener (as in environmentally friendly) legislators while Gibson is seen as more sympathetic to "brown" or industrial interests.

Allen also chaired House Environment and Natural Resources, a standing committee that vets legislation on its way to the House floor. She'll share that post with Reps. Alice Graham Underhill and Cullie Tarleton. (Basically, the three Democratic vice chairs of that committee will be elevated to co-chair status once the session begins.)

Given how much emphasis there has been on the short session handling "non-controversial" matters, I don't know that Harrison will have the opportunity to push the environmental agenda one way or the other.

"I'm happy I'll be there because I'll get to influence the agenda," Harrison said. And as important as moving new legislation is, Harrison said her part may be to put the brakes on what the green community sees as counter-productive bills.

"That may be as important as moving anything new," she said.

Either way that goes, I'm sure the Loraxes wandering the halls of the General Assembly are happy with appointments.

As for the long-term prospects of these two appointments, they are contingent (of course) on Democrats maintaining control of the House in the fall election. If that turns out to be the case, Harrison hopes to remain on ERC going forward. However, she is also a chairman of NER Appropriation sub-committee and said it was unlikely she could maintain both HENR and NER posts in the next session.