By Antoinette Ramseur
Multiple groups with the same cause converged outside the Executive Mansion Friday to urge Gov. Roy Cooper to declare a climate emergency and stop Duke Energy from building 50 gas-burning power units.
The primary organizer of the rally, NC WARN, and scientists say the plans for the gas-burning units contradict science that shows such fossil fuel plants should be closed.
“As we face a combination of factors related to climate crises, it is time for North Carolina to step into the leadership we need for our state. Governor Cooper, the time is now to declare a climate emergency,” said Donna Chavis of the Retailed Hawk Collective and Friends of the Earth.
The groups said Cooper should heed climate scientists who insist that curbing emissions of methane (natural gas) can rapidly reduce the rate of global warming.
