Department of Administration

I don't much care for Governor Perdue's tendency toward grandstanding, not so much because she shouldn't be using her bully pulpit in general, but because of the things she chooses to get excited about. For example, if you give her a chance to smackdown some felons serving life-sentences, she'll pull on her shit-kickers and start stompin' in a heartbeat. Doesn't matter what the law says, she's got her own reelection agenda and god help you if you stand in her way.

On the other hand, when a group of citizens asked the Governor to take a stand to preserve wetlands and ensure a healthy, safe environment by stopping a known source of mercury poisoning, the silence was deafening. Without so much as the illusion of thoughtfulness, Perdue has stood behind what is almost certainly an illegal permitting of the Titan Cement plant in New Hanover County.

Rejecting a request from several groups representing residents in the affected areas, Governor Perdue’s Department of Administration this week ruled that the full environmental impact of the proposed Titan America cement plant on surrounding areas--including New Hanover, Pender and Brunswick counties—does not need to be examined before North Carolina begins issuing permits for the plant.