Duke Energy Fiddles While Earth BurnsMeanwhile, N.C. treasurer suggests strategic divestment from greenhouse gas polluters

A movement to address global climate change is growing in North Carolina, as I report in this week's Independent. But sustainability advocates face a hard fight against powerful corporate interests – a point demonstrated again today when Duke Energy, the 13th worst investor-owned carbon dioxide emitter in the U.S. power industry, announced intentions to build three new fossil fuel-burning plants in the state.

The company's Duke Power subsidiary has filed plans with the N.C. Utilities Commission to spend $3 billion constructing a new coal-fired unit at the Cliffside Steam Station facility in Rutherford and Cleveland counties west of Charlotte as soon as 2010, with a possible second coal unit to follow there, as well as a natural gas and oil-fueled unit at the Buck Steam Station in Rowan County northeast of Charlotte.

"Our customers' demand for energy is growing," said corporate spokesperson Ellen Ruff. "The preliminary plans for Cliffside and Buck, along with efforts to secure the option to license a new nuclear plant, build on Duke Power's tradition of operating a highly efficient and diverse fleet of power plants."

The company's announcement of plans to increase carbon emissions comes little more than a month after Duke Energy CEO Paul Anderson surprised the business community when during a breakfast gathering of Charlotte civic leaders he acknowledged the reality of global warming and called for an across-the-board federal tax on carbon emissions. The company today also gave lip service to sustainability, with Ruff saying Duke Power "will be evaluating" conservation measures and renewable energy options.

"Ensuring the environment is protected is at the forefront of our minds," she said.

But North Carolina sustainability advocates want more than good environmental thoughts. They want action.

“For the amount of money Duke Energy will spend to build more coal-fired units, we could make tremendous strides in energy efficiency and conservation in North Carolina,” Michael Shore with the North Carolina office of Environmental Defense told Raleigh Eco News. “North Carolina needs more conventional coal-fired power plants like a recovering smoker needs a carton of cigarettes.”

Interestingly, Duke Power's announcement came the day after N.C. Treasurer Richard Moore told a United Nations' gathering of state treasurers, comptrollers and other large institutional investors considering the financial risks of climate change that it was time for aggressive action – as in divestment of stock.

"We should pick four or five companies that could make the most difference and give them a reasonable timetable," Moore told the Institutional Investor Summit on Climate Risk, according to an Associated Press report that has not yet appeared in the Raleigh News & Observer. "We should tell them, 'If you don't do this we will not own your stock.' We will be successful if we all stick together."