SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER

Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.

* indicates required
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Keiller MacDuff 202 679 2236

Greenpeace Condemns Opening of Country's Newest Coal Fired Boiler; Urges Duke to Switch to Clean Energy

WASHINGTON

On the eve of the opening of the newest coal fired boiler in the country at Cliffside Coal Plant, Greenpeace has again urged Duke Energy to make the switch to renewable energy, a move that stands to save North Carolina ratepayers more than $100 billion over the next twenty years.

Duke has already indicated they will be seeking rate hikes to pay for dirty and dangerous coal plant. Cliffside is currently responsible for 31 heart attacks, 340 asthma attacks and 21 deaths every year, and turning on the new boiler will only make it more lethal to the people of North Carolina.

"From the destruction of mountains in Appalachia, to the disposal of toxic coal ash, burning coal is dirty and dangerous. North Carolinians will continue to demand a brighter, cleaner future, and just like last year, will work together to block Duke's offensive rate hikes for dirty energy," Ms Embrey said.

CO2 pollution is the leading cause of global climate change, and by turning on this new boiler, Cliffside will be emitting twice as many CO2 emissions as it did in 2011. [Ventyx Velocity Suite, 2012]

"After a summer of historic heat across the Carolinas--when it got so hot that highway pavement actually buckled--it's hard to imagine that Duke Energy is taking this backward step into the 19th century. North Carolina, with its motherlode of brains and research capacity, could be on the leading edge of the clean energy revolution, instead of stuck with yesterday's technology," said author and climate change activist Bill McKibben

Greenpeace's recent report, Charting the Correction Course, details how Duke could save more than $100 billion by switching to clean energy and focusing on energy efficiency.

"The people of North Carolina are sick and tired of paying more and more for the same old dirty energy. As the largest utility in America, Duke Energy should be leading the way on clean energy, not lagging at the back of the pack," said Greenpeace North Carolina Organizer Monica Embrey.

Greenpeace is a global, independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.

+31 20 718 2000