Good Morning Wilmington!

I took a little deeper dive into the letter sent by the United Nations to Chemours about their violations of human rights. It’s such an interesting and unfortunate situation. Some key points include:

Claudia Polsky at UC Berkeley submitted a document to the U.N. on behalf of Clean Cape Fear in Wilmington. She says the contamination in Southeastern North Carolina is part of a much larger story.

As a result, the U.N. wrote a strong letter to Chemours offering the lightly worded threat that they are seeking clarification on (Claudia Polsky’s) accusations:
“We are sending this letter under the communications procedure of the Special Procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council to seek clarification on information we have received. Special Procedures mechanisms can intervene directly with Governments and other stakeholders (including companies) on allegations of abuses of human rights that come within their mandates by means of letters, which include urgent appeals, allegation letters, and other communications.”

It’s my understanding that the U.N. does not actually have authority to force Chemours to comply with any mandates or regulations. They typically apply diplomatic pressure on nations and organizations to influence or help persuade compliance. At least for now, the U.N. doesn’t have any teeth to enforce policies upon nations and organizations–or citizens for that matter.

Chemours response was along the lines of what you might expect:

• They claimed some of Claudia’s information about Chemours was “mischaracterized” and that they carry out their work in a manner consistent with the U.H. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

• Chemours, an eight-year-old company, is dedicated to corporate responsibility and sustainability, achieving success in reducing PFAS chemical discharges–if anyone has watched Dark Waters, you’ll know that Chemours is a newly branded spinoff created to help dilute the bad publicity and liability related to the discharging of GenX into the Cape Fear River

• They claim that their fluoropolymers are essential for use in the transition to a low-carbon (green) economy

What’s really frustrating to me is why does it take an international organization to call out Dupont/Chemours on poisoning our community. Kudos to Claudia Polsky for sending this letter to the U.N. and kudos to Roy Cooper for sending a similar letter to the EPA…but we should be able to take care of this matter locally, if not federally. The EPA gets into every aspect of our lives when it comes to who owns the land, what you can do with it–even to our stoves and light bulbs–but when it comes to this mega corporation poisoning people, they allow it to happen and even join the corporations via revolving doors of employment and leadership. Meanwhile, Chemours has the audacity to say it’s doing this for the “low-carbon” (green) economy/environment. Incredible!

This is one of the reasons I wanted to create this newsletter. We all have this water issue in common and it’s best to be as informed as possible as information and events change.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Some homeschools and private schools exploit loophole to sell diplomas

• Monica Lewinsky calls for constitutional ban on presidential self-pardons

• Hunter Biden Is Willing to Testify in Public Hearing Before House Oversight Panel

• Top Pentagon Official Arrested in Human Trafficking Sting

• China bringing back masks and social distancing

• Statue of Thomas Jefferson is removed from New York City Hall after 187 years

• The National Christmas Tree has fallen

LOCAL NEWS

• Wilmington woman wins $100,000 Powerball prize

• Air France flight canceled after plane clips electric tower at RDU

In today’s PortCityPulse:

• Santa has elves in St. James Plantation

• High ambitions for Coooper?

• Carolina Country Music Fest is SOLD OUT!

News

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Live Music

Tomorrow

• 7:00 PM Asia Daye @ Seven Mile Post @ Seven Mile Post · ILM

FRIDAY

• 7:00 PM A Punk Rock Night at Reggie's @ Reggie's 42nd Street Tavern · ILM 

• 10:00 PM Shadowgrass @ The Palm Room · WB 

• 7:00 PM Friday Night - DJ Slim Deluxe @ ILM Distillery · ILM 

• 10:00 PM The Turkey Buzzards and Joe Kaplow @ Live At Ted's · ILM

• 7PM-10PM: Live Music @Carolina Ale House

Upcoming

• FRI, JAN 19, 2024 6:00 PM Shot Thru The Heart- Bon Jovi Tribute Band @ Bowstring Burgers and Brewyard - ILM

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