A Duke Energy coal fired power plant near Roxboro, NC (Photo: Courtesy of the Southern Environmental Law Center)
More than 60 research scientists signed an open letter Thursday urging North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein to halt Duke Energy’s fossil fuel expansion and what they called the “suppression of renewable energy solutions” with his executive authority, according to a press release.
Four public health and climate scientists, along with the Center for Biological Diversity and solar nonprofit advocacy group NC WARN, organized the letter. It’s signed by a total of 61 scientists from universities and agencies across the country, some of which are at Duke University or the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
The letter asks Stein to prevent Duke Energy, what the letter authors termed “the third-largest corporate climate polluter in the United States,” from delaying transitions from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
The town of Carrboro, N.C. sued Duke Energy at the end of last year, alleging the company’s top executives have misled the public about climate science and its harms for decades.
“Duke Energy executives are brushing aside scientists’ warnings and Gov. Stein needs to step in for the sake of people and our planet,” Drew Shindell, Ph.D., a climate scientist at Duke University and lead author on two U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports, said in a statement. “The science is clear that as long as we keep burning fossil fuels, climate disasters like Helene and extreme heat waves will keep getting worse. These disasters will cost lives, drive species extinct and obliterate many of the places we call home. This is urgent and Gov. Stein has a responsibility to use all the tools at his disposal to force mega-polluters like Duke Energy to do what’s best for North Carolinians.”
The company possesses one of the biggest planned gas buildouts of any utility for the decade. Duke Energy recently announced its intent to consider delaying retiring its coal fleet as a result of the Trump administration’s climate protection rollbacks.
Historically, Duke Energy has not invested into local renewable energy solutions, like rooftop and community solar, according to the press release. The company generates only 1.4% of its power from solar energy.
“Duke Energy’s reckless expansion of fossil gas is costing lives and saddling North Carolinians with skyrocketing utility bills and deadlier extreme weather. Trump and his billionaire buddies are throwing communities and our climate under the bus, so we desperately need Gov. Stein to step up and challenge the polluters putting our planet in peril,” Gaby Sarri-Tobar, senior energy justice campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.
In response, a spokesperson for Duke Energy declined to address the scientists’ contention directly. “We are committed to our customers and communities and will continue working with policymakers, regulators and other state leaders to deliver reliable and increasingly clean energy while keeping rates as low as possible,” Duke Energy lead communications manager Garrett Poorman told NC Newsline.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Scientists urge Stein to stop Duke Energy’s fossil fuel expansion )
Also on site :
- Exactly How Many Times a Week To Walk To Improve Your Heart Health, According to Cardiologists
- DWTS Pros Support Beloved Mirrorball Winner, 38, Amid Personal News
- Israel orders military to block aid flotilla carrying Greta Thunberg from reaching Gaza