The left’s forced march into its aggressive green agenda has left devastation in its wake in states across the country, but that hasn’t stopped Gov. Roy Cooper from quietly colluding with the elite left to force the agenda on North Carolinians.
Headlines tell the story that politicians and bureaucrats won’t. A Politico headline about California warns, “Democrats pushed climate action. Then utility bills skyrocketed.” A recent Colorado report predicts monthly utility bills anywhere from $907 to $1,279.
Auto dealers have thousands of unwanted electric vehicles. It’s so bad that auto unions successfully pressured President Biden to roll back the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Act regulations “mandating two-thirds of all cars sold by 2032 must be electric vehicles.”
Fortunately, North Carolina lawmakers have taken a more prudent approach to energy policy and the costly green agenda. The General Assembly hasn’t used state taxpayer money to incentivize expensive electric vehicles, and it protected ratepayers through HB 951 — North Carolina Energy Solutions — by prioritizing reliability and cost over climate activists’ preference for expensive, intermittent industrial wind and solar.
Unfortunately, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper works with elite climate activists to hinder that prudent approach. He’s taken $1.2 million in United Nations Foundation (UNF) funding to pay for executive branch staff positions to push climate policies that will increase the cost of living and restrict our freedoms. He’s done it behind the backs of voters and lawmakers.
So far, neither Cooper nor Democrat gubernatorial hopeful Attorney General Josh Stein have commented on the private funding of influencers within the executive office. Understandably so. It’s not a good look.
In 2016, NC voters gave Cooper the Governor’s Mansion for the first time and helped send Donald Trump to the White House. Within a year of his election, Cooper joined the US Climate Alliance.
Housed and staffed by the UNF, the alliance is dominated by a group of progressive governors, such as Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, New York Gov. Cathy Hochul, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and others Democrat leaders. They have pledged to achieve the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement goals after President Trump, citing high cost and ineffectiveness, formally withdrew the US in June 2017
When Cooper joined, the alliance wanted to trumpet that “Trump state” North Carolina joined the alliance, but Cooper’s communications team rejected the strategy. Instead, they kept a lid on Cooper’s participation, quietly taking money from the UNF for executive branch staff positions and pushing the Climate Alliance agenda via executive order without the General Assembly or North Carolinians getting word of who or what was funding it.
The funding scheme has been exposed thanks to good work from Chris Horner and the nonprofit watchdog group Government Accountability & Oversight. In an earlier report, Horner uncovered the machinations, saying, “Documents suggest politicians are now using nonprofits and consultants as pass-throughs for donors to support politicians with resources that the relevant legislatures will not provide and that donors cannot legally provide directly.”
One email Horner received through an open records request reveals the global scope of influence peddling: “Theres [sic] of course a plethora of advocate and funder interest, a leadership vacuum from the feds, and a voracious appetite at home and abroad, for this sort of governors’ initiative.”
Alliance spokesman Evan Westrup admitted to the Carolina Journal that UNF funding “bolsters state-level staff capacity to help Alliance members advance climate priorities, deploy federal funds, and take durable and equitable climate action.”
Forget what North Carolinians want. This is what a group of global elitists want for North Carolinians. They privately fund staff positions inside the NC executive branch to get it.
At $1.2 million, Cooper’s office has been the group’s largest recipient of the UNF funding, and it’s part of a larger climate power play that also funds positions inside some states’ attorneys’ general offices.
For their investment, activist donors got Cooper executive orders targeting statewide carbon emissions and curbing North Carolinians’ mobility freedom — get out of your car and into an electric bus, van, or bike. They want to reduce the number of miles driven, and whatever mode of transportation should be electric or pedal powered.
Cooper’s goal is to have 1.25 million electric vehicles registered in North Carolina by 2030. Considering the state has only about 81,000 now, according to the most recent NCDOT data, local dealers would have to sell roughly 167,000 annually to hit Cooper’s goal. Fortunately, consumers will get the last word.
It’s important to note that Cooper’s plan to electrify the state’s transportation sector hasn’t gone through the General Assembly, where North Carolinians could have an open debate via elected representatives about the effectiveness and cost of such a sweeping program.
Elite climate funders like Tom Steyer, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and Michael Bloomberg disregard the messiness of the democratic process. Instead, they buy government staff positions. They are good with banning our gas stoves, SUVs, and freedom to travel, but not their own. Roy Cooper is a philosophical ally, denying voters the right to know and decide if they trust privately funded staff positions influencing his decisions.
The elite climate-activist influence-buying issue needs a dose of sunshine, as do Cooper’s related executive orders. Voters deserve to know who influences decisions that impact every aspect of their lives.