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Duke Energy has once again reminded us why we hate corporations and the 1%. A little over a month ago, one of Duke Energy’s numerous coal ash ponds in North Carolina sprung a leak and dumped millions of gallons of highly toxic goop into the Dan River. Coal ash is the leftovers from coal burning power plants and contains numerous poisons like mercury and lead.

Unfortunately, the Dan River is used by nearby Danville (in Virginia) for drinking water. There is no feasible way to clean the river.

Since Duke Energy has proven to be too irresponsible to be trusted with the welfare of the population, said population has been demanding that Duke Energy clean its mess up. Duke Energy’s response has been…eye opening.

Duke Energy to the peasants: "eat ash or eat the costs of cleaning it up!"

No, seriously. This is Duke Energy’s actual position on the clean up:

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Approximately 85 percent of our expected environmental compliance investments will be in the Carolinas and Indiana. Both of these jurisdictions have a strong track record of allowing utilities to recover costs related to environmental compliance investments. http://www.wral.com/duke-ceo-customers-will-cover-coal-ash-cleanup/134
60600/

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“Environmental compliance investments” sounds almost noble. Much better than, “The people we’ve been poisoning are tired of it.” Second, when Duke Energy says “recover costs,” what they mean is “charge our victims...er, CUSTOMERS, for the privilege of not being poisoned.” Instead of taking the costs for their own Is that legal? Of course it is! Who do you think wrote those laws? The people that live in the now-toxic Danville? Or the fossil fuel industry?

There’s a phrase that is not used often enough to explain American “capitalism”: Privatize the profits, socialize the risk. This means that fossil fuel companies like Duke Energy are all for polluting (it saves money, you see) right up until the point where the bill comes due. Then they’re all about “My fellow Americans! It takes a village to clean up our mess.”

After all, why should the shareholders be forced to pay for the pollution they’ve been profiting off of? How is that fair to them? Sure, their insatiable greed pushed Duke Energy to cut corners and build cheap (and highly risky) coal ash ponds but they were only trying to maximize profits! And aren’t high profits good for me me me me...er, I mean the country? It’s not like they have to drink the contaminated water, so who’s really being hurt here? No one that really counts, am I right?

The inevitable protests will be dismissed as liberal “class warfare” but the reality is that corporations, particularly the fossil fuel industry, have perfected a system in which they evade the consequences of their actions. A few years (or less) from now, when the residents of Danville start showing the long-term effects of their exposure to Duke Energy’s poisons, no one from Duke Energy will go to jail or even take responsibility. They’ll pay an army of lawyers to squash any lawsuits and they’ll just keep on making billions. In the meantime, there will be more spills and more contamination. Will Duke Energy be the one to pay to clean it up? Don’t bet it, peasant. The rich don’t believe in shared sacrifice so you better open up your wallet and shut your mouth. http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/03/11/duke-energy/

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