Young people across North Carolina are spearheading a national call-in to the offices of Governor Mike Easley and Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers TODAY, in an effort to stop Duke Energy from constructing a new coal-fired power plant in Cliffside, NC.
Duke Energy has proposed to expand its Cliffside coal plant in Rutherford County, North Carolina. The NC Utilities Commission has given them a permit for one 800 megawatt pulverized coal generator. The plant, if built, will emit 312 million tons of carbon dioxide, the primary pollutant responsible for global warming, over its fifty-year lifespan. That’s equal to putting an additional one million cars on the roads for the next 50 years!
Join the ranks with James Hansen of NASA in telling elected and corporate leaders in North Carolina “NO COAL!”
Not only will the new Cliffside plant emit more carbon dioxide into the air, it will also emit nasty pollutants such as mercury, nitrogen dioxide & sulfur dioxide. In addition to many orange and red ozone days this year, Charlotte (downwind of the existing Cliffside facility) even had a purple air quality day this summer, indicating VERY UNHEALTHY air quality. (On purple air quality days, people with respiratory or heart ailments, children, and older adults should avoid outdoor physical activities. Even healthy individuals are encouraged to avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors).
Furthermore, Duke’s own numbers project a 10-fold increase in mercury emissions from the proposed plant over 2005 mercury emissions from the existing units, as well as 13 to 50-fold increases in releases of other toxic metals like arsenic and cadmium. We cannot tolerate the devastating possibilities associated with this dirtiest form of energy known.
While our state leaders are living in a fossil-fueled past, we are sitting still and watching as the opportunities to build a clean energy economy pass by. A study by the national Apollo Alliance estimates that North Carolina could gain an additional $6 billion of economic activity and 94,159 new jobs through renewable energy investments. This opportunity far outweighs the paltry estimated 20-30 jobs created by the Cliffside plant. North Carolina needs “green-collar jobs” in the new green economy, not hazardous jobs in a dying industry. The public utilities companies serving our state should begin investing in renewables and energy efficiency now, creating a foundation for economic and job growth far into the future.
Around the country states are standing up against these dirty power plants. They have realized that meeting the power needs of the future using the technology of the past is a losing proposition. In October 2007, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), denied the air quality permit for the two proposed 700-megawatt generators at the Sunflower Electric Power Corporation plant. This is a landmark decision in which the Secretary of KDHE cited the Massachusetts vs. EPA Supreme Court ruling as the main reason for their decision. “Denying the Sunflower air quality permit, combined with creating sound policy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions can facilitate the development of clean and renewable energy to protect the health and environment of Kansans,” said Roderick L. Bremby, Secretary of KDHE.
Earlier this week, Idaho Power Co. abandoned plans to build new coal facilities by 2013. The Idaho based utility “determined that coal-fired generation is not the best technology to meet its resource needs in 2013.”
North Carolina’s elected leaders and public officials should join Kansas, Idaho and the many other states who have been proactive in moving away from the dirty energy of the past and towards a clean energy future.
North Carolina can – and should – do better, especially when cleaner alternatives like energy efficiency, conservation and renewable energy are available.
Join us in solidarity, from wherever you are, as we flood the Governor’s office and the Duke Energy Headquarters in Charlotte with calls, emails and faxes. Urge Governor Michael Easley and Duke CEO Jim Rogers to stop Duke Energy from expanding Cliffside. Demand investment energy conservation and efficiency programs to offset the power this plant would provide, save us money and create jobs. Insist that Duke fund clean, renewable energy for future expansions.
On November 15th, make your voice heard by calling and telling Governor Easley and Jim Rogers that renewable energy is the future of NC and not “clean coal.” Why? Because the future of North Carolina depends on it.
Contact the Governor’s Office TODAY:
Phone: 1-800-662-7952 valid in North Carolina only; (919)733-4240, or (919)733-5811
Fax: (919)715-3175 or (919)733-2120
Email: governor@ncmail.net
Contact Duke Energy Office TODAY:
Phone: (704) 594-6200 (Corporate Office)
Jim Rogers Direct Line: (704) 382-1087
Email: tcwillia@duke-energy.com (Tom Williams, Policy/Energy Efficiency/Environmental Media Relations)
Fax: 704-382-0199
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