Spillover

Published March 4, 2014

by Gary Pearce, Talking About Politics, March 3, 2014.

Business and industry got exactly what they wanted when Governor McCrory and DENR Secretary John Skvarla took office. Then they got exactly what they didn’t need when Duke’s coal ash spilled into the Dan River.

 

Suddenly, “customer friendly” sounds like “polluter friendly.” The U.S. Attorney raises the threat of criminal indictments. And The New York Timesunearths this episode: A DENR official telling employees in charge of stopping water pollution:  “The General Assembly doesn’t like you. They cut your budget, but you didn’t get the message. And they cut your budget again, and you still didn’t get the message….If you don’t like change, you’ll be gone.”

 

Now, you wonder who is going to be gone. And where this will all end.

 

Now, environmental issues are odd political animals. They have a passionate, but relatively small, constituency. On most polls, they rank down the list of priorities. But that changes when people hear that poison is being dumped in rivers where they fish, boat and get their drinking water. The environment goes from zero to 90 overnight.

 

Governor McCrory is scrambling to get in front of this. He knows he can’t afford another department in scandal, on top of DHHS. But the water is, as they say, under the bridge. Now we see who drowns. And DENR may learn who the ultimate customers are: the citizens and taxpayers.

 http://www.talkingaboutpolitics.com

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March 4, 2014 at 9:10 am
Norm Kelly says:

It seems that what Gary fails to recognize, what all libs are ignoring, is that the story behind the story is slowly coming out. Some stories, but not in any lib rag, are showing that DENR has been ignoring things like coal ash ponds for years. For years! Who was in charge of the entire state FOR YEARS? Who was in charge of the entire state FOR A FULL CENTURY? Come on people. Stop reading Gary's editorials long enough to get your head out of the sand. The DEMON PARTY controlled Raleigh and EVERY department for a full 100 years.

Does it make it better that this type of situation has a long history? Of course not. But what matters is the way the media is portraying this and many other situations. For years the media ignored situations in state government when the Demons were in charge. Now that Republicans control Raleigh, all of a sudden it seems the media is interested in digging up dirt and pointing fingers.

Gary, and all you other libs, take the opportunity to prove us wrong. Show us how you have questioned state government policies and practices for years. Show us, with previously written editorials, that you were interested, even mildly, in keeping your friends/compatriots in check as much as you are interested in pointing fingers at Republicans. And how many of the people at DENR are career employees? How many of them ignored the situation when Demons controlled Raleigh versus how many of them are in place under Republican control and continue to ignore the situation? How many state agencies have NOT been doing their job for YEARS but only recently has the media cared or investigated? If as much effort were spent on doing your job of keeping the government in line, reporting on the people in power, as you do keeping us informed about the status of American Idol, or NC State's basketball team, or the controversy with sports people at UNC, perhaps the public would be more well informed. For Gary to put out there that DENR is failing in it's job only now is pointless. Give us something to compare it to. What's DENR's history like? What scandals happened in state government when the socialists/comrades/Demons/libs controlled Raleigh? Mike Easley's administration got some coverage, but most of it after he left office. During his tenure, the media basically ignored him. But he was ripe for the pickin', as they say.

March 5, 2014 at 10:13 am
Rip Arrowood says:

How many times have the Feds opened a criminal investigation in the past.....?