The Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision has allowed the previously unimaginable commodification of free speech by including donations to political action committees in its definition.
Unsurprisingly, third-party organizations that electioneer for and lobby the members of the North Carolina General Assembly have taken advantage. Among these is Duke Energy, which the Institute for Southern Studies named the “top Tar Heel power broker” in their report released this month.
Being a named a power broker merits no admiration. Duke Energy has not only egregiously downplayed the environmental effects of its 2014 coal ash spill but also contributed $944,250 to state-level candidates, party PACs and an independent political spending group in the 2012 and 2014 election cycles.
The legislative consequences are stunning. The Coal Ash Management Act of 2014, which became law in September, forces Duke to remove the contaminant from only four of its 14 plants in the next five years.
As of Feb. 6, not a single truckload of ash has been removed.
On Friday, the Department of Justice filed criminal charges against three Duke subsidiaries. The maximum possible fine is $200,000. Duke’s 2013 earnings were $2.7 billion. While the federal intervention should be welcomed, the political structure that continues to allow companies such as Duke to pervert the democratic process should not be overlooked.
