In response to a column published by Technician on Aug. 30 titled “Governor McCrory’s coal ash hypocrisy is nothing new,” the author is dead wrong. It’s easy to tell one side of the story by reading off liberal democrats’ talking points and carrying out their agenda by deliberately misleading students about our governor. Throughout the author’s career at the Technician, she has written many negative articles against the governor and has misled the entire student body about what he has done for our state. I don’t expect her to tell the truth, so I will. She used words and phrases such as, “corrupt and unresponsive government, shameful and irresponsible.” She even went so far to say that, “The governor’s actions reveal his willingness to put his relationship with Duke Energy and his reelection prospects above the lives of the citizens of North Carolina.” Her accusation could not be further from the truth.

Gov. Pat McCrory has led North Carolina and the nation in cleaning up coal ash. When McCrory ordered that all coal ash ponds be safely closed, we were the first state in the country to do so. The state of North Carolina has also issued record fines for environmental violations at coal ash facilities. So far, under McCrory’s leadership, the state has required that half of all coal ash facilities be excavated and will continue to let science guide the safe closure process for the remaining facilities. McCrory even went so far as to veto the coal ash bill that was backed by his party and overwhelmingly passed the General Assembly. One of his reasons was that the bill lacked “a firm deadline to connect well owners to alternate water supplies.” None of these facts support the author’s comments that McCrory has put Duke Energy over the citizens he serves as governor of the state of North Carolina. 

The Drinking Water Protection/Coal Ash Cleanup Act signed by McCrory provides common sense solutions to solve the coal ash problem permanently. The new law provides permanent drinking water to residents around the coal ash facilities, requires all structural issues to be repaired and mandates the recycling of coal ash. It also requires coal ash pond owners to provide permanent, alternative water supplies for residents in areas surrounding coal ash ponds. Don’t just take my word for it: The law summary states that “$450,000 was appropriated to the State Water Infrastructure Authority from the Coal Combustion Residuals Management Fund cash balance on June 30, 2016, to fund grants to local governments operating public water supplies in areas surrounding coal combustion residuals impoundments. It provides money for additional staff for permitting and construction activities as may be needed to facilitate the establishment of permanent water supplies to households eligible for connection to public water supplies under the provisions of the act.”

I ask this simple question to everyone and especially to the author. Why would you make the claim that McCrory, “put his relationship with Duke Energy and his reelection prospects above the lives of the citizens of North Carolina?” The answer is that the author has a long, clear record of publishing her agenda to mislead the student body about our governor. She wouldn’t even discuss the fact that under the democrat-controlled state government and former Gov. Beverly Perdue, the democrats were incompetent and completely ignored the coal ash situation. Democrats were a factor of the coal ash situation and McCrory has cleaned it up.

Why is the blame for well water contamination from coal ash ponds assigned to McCrory, who has cleaned up the Dan River and shut down the ponds? Why is it not assigned to governors Hunt, Easley and Perdue, who did little regulating and avoided any action on coal ash ponds? Is coal ash less of a pollutant under democrat governors and more under a republican?

Facts will be facts. These are the facts and McCrory has become a national leader in cleaning up coal ash.

Sean Harrington is a junior studying political science and is the chair of the NC State College Republicans 

Editor’s Note: Technician originally did not disclose that Sean Harrington was president of College Republicans.