Senator Michael Lee’s Newest Attempts to Greenwash
We are calling out a State Senator who represents areas impacted by toxic PFAS water pollution for “greenwashing” his environmental record on that problem. “Greenwashing” is the term commonly used to refer to an effort to cover up or gloss over actions with adverse environmental consequences.
The campaign of incumbent State Senator Michael Lee (R-New Hanover) has been running an ad campaign claiming that Lee acted to curtail PFAS pollution and hold polluters accountable for their actions. In response, multiple clean water groups have pointed to what they call Lee’s real record of delaying strong action to clean up this pollution. Lee’s critics include Clean Cape Fear, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), and NCLCV.
The groups and other pollution control experts cite Lee’s backing for legislation that weakened the authority of state regulators to require cleanup of water pollution, including PFAS. They also criticize his support for shifting funding from state pollution regulatory efforts to a private “collaboratory” which has no enforcement authority and is led by pro-polluter legislative appointees.
“NCLCV publishes an annual Scorecard and Michael Lee’s record on PFAS and clean water is abysmal,” NCLCV director of governmental relations Dan Crawford told the Port City Daily. “He has a lifetime score of 5% and in the 2023 long session he earned a 0.”
Don’t be fooled by campaign greenwashing—check NCLCV’s 2024 endorsements here.
