James Taylor Appears In Anti-Fracking TV Ad

The singer-songwriter is starring in a television ad for an environmental group urging North Carolinians to challenge efforts to allow natural gas exploration through hydraulic fracturing in the state where he grew up.

The Natural Resources Defense Council said the ad began running Thursday. A group spokesman would not give a price on the ad buy but said it would run for at least two weeks.

The General Assembly told a state regulatory panel to create rules the industry must follow to participate in the exploration, better known as fracking. Lawmakers still must take further action to allow drilling permits.

Taylor grew up in Chapel Hill and now lives in Massachusetts. He wrote the 1970s hit “Carolina In My Mind” about his state.