UPDATE at Cliffside Generator: police have cut out both of the folks who were locked down. 4 have been arrested total
UPDATE @:at Cliffside generator: police are slowly working on cutting through lock boxes and are threatening 1 of 2 locked down women with a taser.
UPDATE: 2 People in handcuffs; Police up on generator with ladders and boltcutters for more folks. Pictures on their way.
Concerned citizens have blocked the shipment of a massive generator to Cliffside Coal Plant.
Keep track at http://twitter.com/RisingTideNA
Greenville, SC Two protestors have locked themselves to the 1.5 million pound generator destined for Duke Energy’s Cliffside coal plant in Rutherford County, North Carolina. Protestors are vowing to prevent the generator, which has been traveling across South Carolina on a 300 foot trailer, from reaching the coal plant. “Our nation has no choice, we must stop burning coal. The only choice that we can make is whether we do that in time to still have breathable air, drinkable water, a livable climate, and standing mountains,” said, Catherine Anne. Protestors also draped a large banner from the top of the generator reading, “Stop Cliffside.”
The controversial Cliffside coal plant would emit over 6 million tons of carbon dioxide ever year in addition to toxic levels of heavy metals such as mercury, greatly exacerbating global warming and our abysmal air quality. Duke Energy is seeking to raise electricity rates in order to pay for the construction of Cliffside at a time when record numbers of families are struggling to put food on the table due to the recession.
This act of civil disobedience comes a week before world leaders meet in Copenhagen to hash out a global climate agreement. “Any agreement made in Copenhagen will be meaningless if the US continues to build coal plants such as Cliffside. It is time to tear down coal plants, not construct new ones,” said Rachel Scarano. There are currently 43 coal plants proposed or under construction in the US, though over 100 others have been canceled due to widespread protests.
Since it was first proposed, there has been massive opposition to Cliffside. In the past year and a half over 60 people have been arrested protesting the plant, and they vow to continue the fight. “Since politicians and corporations refuse to take serious action to stop climate change, citizens must step in to shut down coal plants,” said Attila Nemecz. The protest was organized by Asheville Rising Tide and Croatan Earth First! and is part of a national day of action with dozens of protests around the country including Chicago, New York City, Washington DC, and San Francisco.
A huge thanks to all of you putting yourselves in harms way – very professional, non-violent direct action from what I can see.
Best of luck to all of you.
In solidarity,
Gabriel
Don’t like pollution but wouldn’t want to be sitting in the dark either or paying 400% more for clean energy either. I’m sure if Duke generated all electricity by wind and solar and raised rates to 4 times current levels these folks would change their tune real fast!
Thank you once again Rising Tide! You are courageous and responsible.
By the way Mikal, it would be MUCH less expensive to shut down Cliffside, reduce energy consumption and develop wind and solar in North Carolina. We can’t just live in denial while sacrificing our children’s future just to avoid taking action today.
In solidarity with those who risked there lives to stop this generator from moving toward Rutherford County,
Avram
Mikal: I don’t want my electricity to come from exploitation, destruction and violence.
Great job cliffside activists.
Mikal,
Wind power is on par with Coal in cost. Solar power is quickly approaching the same cost as coal.
Check out this graphic on page 20 of this report, information came from the Energy Information Agency, Department of Energy. http://www.worldwatch.org/press/prerelease/EWP178.pdf
Thats not to even mention the health costs associated with burning fossil fuels – Coal alone costs $62 billion dollars in health costs due to the pollution it spews. See this report from the National Academy of Sciences:
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12794
Please research the facts before posting. Don’t just listen to the lies being spun out by Fox News.
Gabriel
You guys know that the more c02 in the atmosphere the better the climate is for plant life right? Since co2 rich atmosphere is good for plants. Maybe you should try actually growing trees instead of hugging them.
Amazing work today everyone involved! There is an energy in Copenhagen (seriously) today as people are reading about communities in the US continuing to take action for climate justice in a more coordinated and driven way then ever!
Change doesn’t happen overnight.
Coal is bad, but you can’t get everyone on clean/green energy overnight. If Cliffside is shutdown where will those customers get their power from?
Please keep in mind that producing power is a constant process. The levels have to be matched at an instant. Too much power produced, has to be sold to another utility(or risk destroying) equipment/people). Too little power and it has to be bought(at higher rates) from another utility; or brown/black outs will occur.
What happens around 5pm? People come home, turn on their ac/heat, turn on the tv, microwave, computer, etc… When that happens coal plants and gas turbine plants ramp up their production to meet that need. How will solar and wind power solve that issue. Last time I checked, making the sun shine and wind blow at a whim is not possible. Storing large quantities of energy(except in dams and pump stations) is years away. In the mean time using coal more efficiently(with new generators) and building more nuclear generators will fill that gap.
It takes time please be patient.