[Editor’s Note: This op-ed was written by Emily Donovan and Jessica Cannon, co-founders of Clean Cape Fear, a grassroots group advocating against PFAS contamination and water pollution in eastern North Carolina.]
As moms and community leaders who watched the GenX crisis unfold and saw the trauma it left on the Cape Fear region, we’ve made it our mission to hold Chemours accountable, clean up our drinking water and ensure our community’s fight against forever chemicals isn’t erased.
“(Whatley) hasn’t said a word about the Environmental Protection Agency trying to roll back regulations limiting PFAS in drinking water or deploying Chemours scientists onto the board advising EPA about pollution controls. And it was radio silence when the federal government entered into a vastly underfunded, lopsided settlement that failed to hold Chemours accountable and did nothing for North Carolinians.”
Oftentimes, that starts with electing the right people to office — people who will side with us over polluters like Chemours.
Read More: A key ‘forever chemicals’ lawsuit in North Carolina settles out of court. What to know
It takes just a few key strokes worth of research online to find out that U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley doesn’t stand with us: Chemours is one of his campaign donors. Yes, Chemours.
Despite all the harm they’ve done to our communities with their toxic forever chemicals, Whatley took thousands of dollars from the Chemours Company PAC — unlike Roy Cooper, who hasn’t taken a dime from them.
Accepting money from the corporate polluter who used our river as a sewer, contaminated our fish and turned the sea foam toxic along our favorite beaches is a clear sign Whatley does not give one whit about North Carolina families or small business owners.
And it goes beyond his campaign donors. His words and actions — or lack thereof — tell us everything we need to know.
He hasn’t said a word about the Environmental Protection Agency trying to roll back regulations limiting PFAS in drinking water or deploying Chemours scientists onto the board advising EPA about pollution controls. And it was radio silence when the federal government entered into a vastly underfunded, lopsided settlement that failed to hold Chemours accountable and did nothing for North Carolinians.
We believe Whatley has been a complete failure when it comes to defending us or calling for accountability for corporate polluters like Chemours.
Campaign donations and policy positions speak volumes
And he has turned his back on our active service members in the military. Last year, he supported budget cuts that delayed the cleanup of forever chemicals at Seymour Johnson Air Force base by five years. North Carolinians can’t wait years for clean drinking water — that shouldn’t even be an option.
He has made it quite clear that he will be an excellent friend and ally to Chemours in the U.S. Senate.
We need someone to step up and be a leader for North Carolina on this issue, and we know Roy Cooper is the only candidate who will do that.
Not only did Roy fight to hold Chemours and other polluters accountable as governor, but he has promised to do the same as our Senator.
Unlike Whatley, Roy understands that public service is about doing right by the people living in North Carolina, not corporate campaign donors.
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
