Wilmington City Council Candidate Mack Coyle is a newcomer to the race. Also new? His ideas. The small business owner installs mobile solar generators, and wants to convert all electricity in city buildings to solar and wind power, and all municipal vehicles to electric. But he has other priorities, too.
Coyle’s other ideas include a massive rail system, connecting Wilmington to nearby beaches and towns, and the formation of two new city departments: one focused on cannabis research, and one on PFAS water contamination.
How he plans to fund these projects?
"We have to confront DuPont and we have to shut them down and seize their assets."
DuPont’s spin-off company, Chemours, recently released an over 1,500 page report on its PFAS reduction efforts. Coyle argues, this isn’t enough.
"We cannot rely on North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. We have to go and confront them as well, all the way up to the governor."
Coyle says other funding would come from the long-term investment in new city electricity, which he says would be cheaper than the current system.