Nine national organizations join call for Lynn Good to get on the right side of history; ad campaign will urge more nonprofits, businesses and individuals to speak up
Durham, NC – Today NC WARN and allies escalated our call for CEO Lynn Good to personally help slow global climate disruption by shifting Duke Energy from being a leading cause of the planetary emergency to joining those working to avert runaway climate, social and economic chaos.
In a letter endorsed by a diverse range of social and environmental justice nonprofits and entertainment professionals*, we cite a powerful new NASA study linking rapidly rising global methane emissions to the fossil fuel industry. NASA’s findings strengthen arguments that the U.S. fracking boom is linked to record-breaking global heat since 2014, and thus contributing to the acceleration of weather extremes that are devastating communities and wildlife worldwide.
We’re honored that Grammy Award winner Bonnie Raitt, an NC WARN ally for nearly 25 years, has endorsed our appeal to CEO Good. And we’re grateful for the support of Hollywood United, a campaign led by entertainment industry professionals dedicated to shining a spotlight on California’s fight for environmental justice by hosting events like toxic tours through frontline communities with Mark Ruffalo, Leonardo Dicaprio, Norman Lear and many more.
We’re encouraged that these savvy activists agree with the importance of directly challenging a key corporate CEO to move to the right side of history at this critical time, and we urge others to join them.
This alliance includes communities across North Carolina that are already suffering repeated floods, fires, droughts and other effects of global warming, some of whom are on the route of the massive Atlantic Coast (fracked gas) Pipeline proposed by Duke Energy and Dominion Resources.
We are urging CEO Good to do two things as quickly as possible in all states and nations where Duke Energy operates: 1) Stop venting unburned methane – a super-potent heat-trapper – into the air from all operations involving natural gas, and 2) Expeditiously replace all fossil fuel electricity with renewables bolstered by energy storage, efficiency and energy-balancing programs.
We urge the news media to help the public understand these key points:
- Urgency: Leading scientists indicate the climate tipping point is likely within five years unless dramatic actions are taken.
- Duke Energy’s greenhouse emissions are rising due to methane venting and leaking from its massive expansion of “natural” gas from fracking.
- Curbing such methane emissions is essential to slowing global warming – and can have immediate, positive impacts.
- Clean energy solutions are cheaper, create far more jobs and are well-positioned to replace coal and gas-fired generation.
- Duke Energy claims to be green – but is only 2% renewable in the Carolinas and plans to peak at only 7% years from now.
Today we urge civic groups and businesses of all types across the U.S. and beyond to endorse the letter and tweet @DukeEnergy with #ClimateAction. And we’ll be using various ads to call on individuals to contact CEO Good directly at ceo@duke-energy.com and urge her to help avert climate chaos instead of making it worse – with a first step being cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
Although the hour is very late for averting climate catastrophe, action by the nation’s largest electric utility could help move the entire industry in the right direction.
*Those endorsing the NC WARN letter include:
Center for Biological Diversity
Hip Hop Caucus
Food and Water Watch
Friends of the Earth
Rachel Carson Council
Alliance for Climate Education (ACE)
Public Citizen
350.org
198 methods
Hollywood United
Bonnie Raitt, Musician/Activist
Connie and Jesse Colin Young
Guacamole Fund
Morning Sun Foundation
NC Environmental Justice Network
Winston Salem NAACP
Beloved Community Center
Concerned Citizens of Tillery
Dogwood Alliance
Appalachian Voices
Clean Water for North Carolina
Clean Air Carolina
North Carolina Coastal Federation
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
NC Climate Justice Summit
NC APPPL (Alliance to Protect Our People and the Places We Live)
350 Triangle
350 Winston Salem
350 Asheville
350 Charlotte
The Canary Coalition
Crystal Coast Waterkeeper/Coastal Carolina Riverwatch
Climate Reality Project: Triangle, NC Chapter
UNC Asheville Divest
Community Roots
Chatham Research Group
Triangle Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Additional endorsements after February 19:
Americans Against Fracking
Protecting Progress in Durham
Climate Voices US
Golden Egg Permaculture
Moore Beatty Investments, LLC
The Wakaboomee Adventure Traveling Education Program LLC
Working Films
Box Turtle Bakery
Shift Bars, LLC
Inclusive Development International
Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Earth Justice group
Universal Blessings Unlimited, Inc.
Perper Design
My NC Homes
Forest City 350 Climate Coalition (Illinois)
Elgin Green Groups 350 (Illinois)
World Stewardship Institute
National Religious Coalition on Creation Care
ECO Committee of The Community Church of Chapel Hill Unitarian Universalist
Transylvania Indivisible
Connect Marketing