Overall, Governor Cooper earns an A for his actions during his final year in office.

Throughout his time as governor, Roy Cooper has consistently demonstrated steadfast resilience in confronting major polluters in instances where the responsible legislators have not taken decisive action. Cooper has been successful in tackling legislative challenges and utilizing his executive powers to mitigate our most pressing environmental problems.

Despite the veto-proof majority in the legislature, Governor Cooper has used his bully pulpit to denounce Republican issued attacks on the environment, which has energized Democratic voters across the state. During this legislative session, Cooper has exercised his veto power on a series of bills that have been regarded as some of the most stringent and concerning environmental regulation reversals ever presented to this body. In particular, Cooper vetoed S.B. 582, which redefined wetlands so that 2.5 million acres of vital wetlands are open for development in North Carolina. He also vetoed H.B. 488, which prevented home construction from becoming safer from disaster and more energy efficient, and ultimately will cost people more money. He vetoed H.B. 750 at the end of the session, which prohibits the use of environmental, social, and governance criteria for awarding state contracts or evaluating employees.

The governor does not vote on bills, so his score is based solely on which bills he decides to sign into law or veto, his public statements, and executive orders.

This piece appeared in our 2023 Scorecard.