Whenever a problem shows up you can count on the Democrats to say, ‘The solution is more government.’ It happened when GenX showed up in the Cape Fear River, in the drinking water of Wilmington. Governor Cooper and the Democrats immediately said, Give the State Department of Environment and Quality more money.

But is ‘more government’ the right solution?

We now know that GenX has been dumped in the Cape Fear River for 30 years, and during that time DEQ turned a blind eye to the problem. What if the problem isn’t money? What if it’s government bungling? Consider this: DEQ has a $228 million a year budget. Will giving the department which ignored the problem for decades millions more to spend lead to a solution? Or would it be throwing good money after bad?

There’s no doubt liberals sincerely believe more government is the solution to every problem. But, without accountability, it’s not.

Here’s an alternative.

I serve as Co-Chairman of the Senate Committee that oversees DEQ, and I attended the hearings about GenX, including one in Wilmington where people were, understandably, upset. It was the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority in Wilmington that is on the front line of the GenX problem. And they want to solve the problem. Why not work with them rather than setting up another state bureaucracy?

Governor Cooper and the Democrats in Raleigh see the GenX crisis as a way to increase DEQ’s budget. That’s how politics works. But more government isn’t always (or often) the answer. Working with Wilmington’s Water Authority to get GenX out of Wilmington’s water is a practical solution that makes common sense.