FIRST we had the chemical spill in the Kanawha River in West Virginia, then the coal ash spill in the Dan River in North Carolina. The gop / tea-baggers in congress have worked at weakening the regulatory power of the federal EPA and state epa agencies, not only through fighting regulations being adopted but through budget cuts, reducing the staff and so the enforcement power of the agencies. At least these environmental disasters occurred in states where the people have elected gop / tea-baggers to govern their states and to represent them in congress. One can say, without any joy, these people reaped what they had sown. They have allowed corporate money to buy off their politicians and so allowed their politicians to place the interest of corporations over the interest of the people. duke energy in north carolina is under scrutiny by it's own shareholders, they are demanding the company come clean about it's political contributions and the corrupting influence of corporate political contributions.
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America’s biggest utility company, Duke Energy, is responsible for the spilling of 39,000 tons of coal ash into the Dan River in North Carolina. And it gets worse: the spill was totally preventable, but the state’s environmental watchdog didn’t have the resources to catch the problem.
Why? Because Duke has an ultra-cozy relationship with North Carolina’s governor, Pat McCrory, who has been systematically dismantling the state’s once-formidable environmental watchdog’s powers -- to the benefit of Duke Energy. Pat McCrory worked for Duke Energy for 28 years before being elected Governor -- then suddenly when McCrory became Governor, Duke Energy was allowed to flout federal and state law and increase its bottom line.
Federal investigators have begun to ask questions about Duke’s campaign contributions to Gov. McCrory. Buying off political candidates for corporate gain at the expense of everyday people isn’t right.
Duke: come clean about political contributions that allowed special treatment.
Governor McCrory holds the interests of Duke Energy above the good of North Carolina’s everyday people. If Duke is able to make large campaign contributions to a political candidate and then receive special treatment, it doesn’t just affect North Carolina. It has long-reaching impacts on the environment and the way companies do business in the United States.
Even Duke's own shareholders want to know how Duke is spending their money. The largest proxy advisor -- a firm to help shareholders vote on issues in the company -- demands Duke come clean about its dirty spending on politics and lobbying, and is advising all shareholders to do the same at Duke's upcoming annual shareholders meeting next week.
The federal investigation into Duke’s huge environmental mishap has raised questions about the company’s approach to the land it operates in and the people that live there. Coal ash -- a byproduct of burning coal to power Duke Energy’s electrical generation plant -- should never have been stored in leaky, unlined ponds on the river bank, and almost certainly never would have been if the Governor hadn't dismantled the State's environmental regulatory agency.
By taking action, you’ll be telling Duke that you don’t think it’s right to buy off political candidates for corporate gain at the expense of everyday people.
Tell Duke to disclose its political contributions in North Carolina.
Thanks for all that you do,
Taren, Jon, Lisa and the rest of us
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For more information:
Coal ash spill has wide-ranging impacts in North Carolina, New York Times, 28 Feb 2014
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