Coal-ash spill and N.C.'s response reflect pro-industry Republicans' takeover of state

Duke Energy's coal-ash spill into the Dan River and North Carolina officials' response to it show how the state's environmental agency, "once among the most aggressive in the Southeast, has been transformed under Gov. Pat McCrory into a weak sentry that plays down science, has abandoned its regulatory role and suffers from politicized decision-making," Trip Gabriel reports for The New York Times.

Republican Gov. Pat McCrory (AP photo)

"The episode is a huge embarrassment for Mr. McCrory, who worked at Duke Energy for 28 years and is a former mayor of Charlotte, where the company is based," Gabriel writes. "And it has become another point of contention in North Carolina, where Republicans who took control of the General Assembly in 2011 and the governor’s mansion last year have passed sweeping laws in line with conservative principles. They have affected voting rights and unemployment benefits, as well as what Republicans called 'job-killing' environmental regulations, which have received less notice."

Gabriel offers plenty of examples. Read the story.