To be credible on climate issues, Governor Roy Cooper should take the No Toxic Money Pledge
Governor Roy Cooper (D) should get off the fence on climate issues. His rhetoric in this area is fine, but in his most recent race he took campaign donations from Duke Energy and Dominion Energy, corporations dedicated to making climate change worse. Governor Cooper can build the trust of environmentally focused voters by taking the No Toxic Money Pledge, which requires politicians to say no to donations from Duke Energy or Dominion Energy, and to oppose new fossil fuel infrastructure. Given the recent actions of the GOP-controlled General Assembly, strengthened credibility on climate issues from Governor Cooper is especially important.
In May 2021, HB 951 was introduced in the North Carolina legislature. If passed, the bill would slow decarbonization and authorize new fossil fuel plants. It is astonishing that a policy like this would be proposed at a time when North Carolina should be dismantling carbon dioxide sources as fast as possible, and racing to construct wind, solar, and storage capacity as a replacement.
In 2019, Governor Cooper testified before the US House of Representatives, “We can’t afford not to take urgent action to fight climate change”. Urgent action should preclude taking money from Big Fossil Fuel, which plans to emit greenhouse gases indefinitely. Yet, Open Secrets reveals that the political action committee (PAC) Roy Cooper for North Carolina took $5,400 from Duke Energy and $5,400 from Dominion Energy in 2020. In the 2020 governor’s race, North Carolinians could vote against the absurd climate denial of Dan Forest (R), but could not vote against Duke Energy and Dominion Energy.
Duke Energy and Dominion Energy, two Toxic Giants, are a duopoly in the North Carolina utility business. In 2020, Duke Energy made $1.1 billion in net profit. Dominion Energy made $1.3 billion. This year, same as every other, a fraction of these stupendous profits will be set aside, and invested into ‘running the regulators’. The North Carolina GOP is utterly captured by Big Fossil Fuel, as evidenced by their lock-step dedication to climate denial. The North Carolina Democratic Party has a more complicated relationship with Big Fossil Fuel. The party is free in public, but its most powerful echelons are captured in private.
Top state Democrats acknowledge climate change and promote various decarbonization plans, such as Governor Cooper’s Clean Power Plan. Yet, the governor takes Duke Energy and Dominion Energy donations. Minority Leader of the NC Senate Dan Blue takes them. US Congresspeople GK Butterfield, Alma Adams, and David Price take them.
Consider the case of Senator Dan Blue (D). In public, the Minority Leader is somber: “Climate change is real, and it’s having a devastating impact on our state”. In private, his law firm Blue LLP was happy to be hired by Duke Energy and Dominion Energy to sue to seize the land of at least 32 North Carolinians to clear the way for a new natural gas pipeline. The now-cancelled Atlantic Coast Pipeline was planned and administered through ACP LLC, which was 95% owned by Duke Energy and Dominion Energy. A disappointed public is left to wonder which is more important: public speeche or private deals?
How can these Democratic high officials be pushed to cut their ties with Duke Energy and Dominion Energy? Let’s use Governor Cooper as an example. Electoral pressure is difficult to exert, since withholding votes in a general election would self-defeating, and it is almost impossible to primary a popular incumbent. So what can be done? The solution is to remember that elections are only a small part of politics. Voters head to the polls on only a few days each year. That leaves about 360 days free for organization, education, and demonstration. Effective use of this time by any organization with political goals would make political figures take notice. In fact, Duke Energy lives by this lesson.
The company spends three times more on lobbying than on campaign donations. Translation: they care a lot more about bothering politicians when there are no elections than when there are. Does this interesting strategy work? Take a look at the gift of HB 951 that the GOP-controlled General Assembly is trying to give to the Big Fossil Fuel. Energy News Network tells us that HB 951 sets a 60% carbon dioxide reduction target by 2030, which is lower than Cooper’s desired figure of 70%. ENN also reports that HB 951 would allow the construction of an unknown number of new natural gas plants, an unbelievable proposal.
To assess whether it makes sense to be building new fossil fuel plants right now, let’s examine a recently leaked report from the IPCC. The study “concludes that climate change will fundamentally reshape life on Earth in the coming decades, even if humans can tame planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Species extinction, more widespread disease, unlivable heat, ecosystem collapse, cities menaced by rising seas — these and other devastating climate impacts are accelerating and bound to become painfully obvious before a child born today turns 30.… on current trends, we’re heading for three degrees Celsius at best.”
Even though legislators are aware of these terrifying consequences, year-round pressure from Duke Energy and Dominion Energy won these lavish concessions. Imagine what grassroots organizations could accomplish if they copied this constant vigilance and relentless advocacy. Corporate spending is tough to beat, but social movements can level the playing field by drawing on public support.
Sunrise Movement Durham is in the early months of a year-long campaign: No Toxic Money and No New Natural Gas! Get involved by emailing sunrisedurham@gmail.com, or reaching out through our social media channels. The campaign was inspired by the No Toxic Money Coalition, and other organizations like the NC Environmental Justice Network, Appalachian Voices, and NC Warn whose combined decades of public advocacy for environmental causes is inspiring.
What does No Toxic Money mean? It means don’t take political donations from Duke Energy or Dominion Energy. Governor Cooper raised $41 million to get re-elected in 2020. Big Fossil Fuel donated $10,800. These donations are relatively small, but accepting them sends a signal that Governor Cooper will not live up to his rhetoric on climate change. He should change course, and promise to reject donations from Big Fossil Fuel in any future campaign, perhaps for Senate.
No New Natural Gas is more self-explanatory. North Carolina must stop building new sources of carbon dioxide, such as Duke Energy’s expansion of the Lincoln CT Turbine Station, scheduled to open in 2024. Instead, our state should be making a public investment into building solar farms in the Piedmont, as well as wind farms off of the Outer Banks and on the Blue Ridge. Governor Cooper’s Executive Order 218 encourages offshore wind energy, a welcome breakthrough, but this must be complimented by a firm recognition on his part that no new sources of carbon dioxide are acceptable.
Sunrise Movement Durham demands that Governor Cooper sign the No Toxic Money Pledge. North Carolina needs un-compromised, un-conflicted leadership on climate issues, particularly when the state is threatened with HB 951. Governor Cooper can’t rise to the occasion if he continues to take money from companies who derive billions in profit from a suicidal status quo.
In the past, no one would have trusted a politician funded by Big Tobacco to reforms smoking regulations in a meaningful way. In the present, no one would trust a candidate funded by United Healthcare or Humana to fight for Medicare for All. In just the same way, Governor Roy Cooper can’t be trusted to confront Big Fossil Fuel, until he stops taking Toxic Money.
