FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 1, 2014
CONTACT: Dan Crawford, Director of Governmental Relations, NC League of Conservation Voters; dan@nclcv.org, 919-839-0020 or 919-539-1422
Raleigh, NC – During the past two days, NC League of Conservation Voters connected over 3,000 voters in North Carolina directly to the offices of Speaker Tillis and President Pro Tem Berger through an aggressive phone campaign. This impressive result emphasizes how concerned voters are about coal ash contamination and supports the key findings of a poll released earlier this week. More than 75% of North Carolinians – across party lines – don’t think the legislature has made Duke Energy do enough when it comes to cleaning up this winter’s coal ash spill. Apparently these concerns were not enough to convince our leaders.
“We find it very disturbing that on the eve of the six month anniversary of the third largest coal ash spill in history, we still don’t have a cleanup plan or something in place to keep this from happening again in North Carolina,” said Dan Crawford, director of governmental relations for NCLCV. “Instead of working together to protect our drinking water from current and future contamination, our lawmakers are caving to corporate polluters and squabbling over who comes out on top.”
Between all the political finger-pointing, the bottom line remains: we need a stronger coal ash bill to protect our state’s drinking water. And now with the Senate going home and the House likely to do the same with no plans to address the coal ash bill again until November, it looks like North Carolina has nothing.
The phone campaign was part of a $1M issue advocacy campaign urging Representative Tillis, Senator Berger, and Governor McCrory to protect our drinking water from coal ash contamination. The campaign also includes the poll and recently aired ad, “Happened Here.” View the ad here.
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NC League of Conservation Voters is a statewide environmental advocacy organization dedicated to protecting, preserving, and enhancing North Carolina’s natural environment. NCLCV has been working to protect North Carolina’s environment and our citizen’s health for over 40 years, turning environmental values into North Carolina priorities. NCLCV’s vision for the future of North Carolina is that all citizens and our elected decision-makers will better understand and appreciate North Carolina’s unique natural environment, and the integral role it plays in North Carolina’s economy and quality of life.
