NC WARN Executive Director Jim Warren was a guest on Charlotte Talks, the local talk show of NPR member station WFAE. He deftly countered Duke Energy’s corporate PR weasel-wording. It was a lively and feisty discussion that finally got the debate over North Carolina’s energy future out in the open. Listen here.
Methane, Fracked Gas & Climate
Methane (the main component in natural gas) is 100 times as bad for the climate as carbon dioxide over the short term. Less CO2 is emitted by natural gas than by coal when burned. But significant leakage of methane before burning makes gas a disaster for the climate, even as utilities and the gas industry are feverishly promoting fracked gas.
NC WARN is working hard to connect the dots between climate change, methane leakage and the fracking boom that is driven by demand from the electric power industry.
Learn more about our methane work here.
Watch a 3-minute video by Cornell University’s Dr. Robert Howarth describing why natural gas is a disastrous strategy for the climate. More videos, PowerPoints and documentation here.
“Everything You Need to Know About Methane”, a primer by Earthjustice.
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Groups Begin Legal Action to Ban Duke Energy Influence Spending — News Release from NC WARN
NC WARN, a North Carolina climate justice watchdog, and Friends of the Earth, a leading environmental organization, began legal action today to ban the pervasive influence spending by Duke Energy in a case with national ramifications for climate change, electricity rates and corporate control over government and civic leaders.
See coverage in Facing South
Atlantic Coast Pipeline foes file their broadest legal challenge yet — Energy News Network
Citizen groups filed another lawsuit against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline Thursday, this time taking direct aim at the federal certificate that undergirds all other permits for the complex interstate gas project.
Court tosses construction permits for Atlantic Coast Pipeline — Utility Dive
A federal appeals court on Monday threw out construction certificates for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, likely halting work on the $6 billion project planned by major Southeastern utilities.
Two Dukes, PR and Biogas from Hog Manure– Letter from NC WARN
Letter to Dr. Vincent E. Price, President Duke University, and Lynn Good, President & CEO Duke Energy: Amid prodigious PR by the two Dukes since the spring about creating biogas from hog waste, there apparently has been little or no technology breakthrough in several years.
We are cooking up the Earth for long-range problems — News & Record
Op-ed by Beth McKee-Huger. The Earth is “cooking with gas.” Remember that ad? Large amounts of methane leak from fracking and gas lines. Since methane is 100 times more powerful as a heat-trapping gas than carbon dioxide, that heats up the Earth.
Natural Gas Drillers Are Fighting for Their Lives — Bloomberg
The natural gas industry is on a mission to prove it can keep up with the green energy industry, whose price reductions are starting to become a competitive threat to fossil fuels.
General Electric’s power unit fights for growth as wind, solar gain — Reuters
The competition from solar and wind, along with abundant low-priced gas produced by fracking, is curbing orders for new plants and forcing the closure of old ones. Some utilities are even filing for bankruptcy. “That means companies are going to have trouble selling new fossil-fuel plants,” said Mark Dyson, a principal at the Rocky Mountain Institute, an organization that researches the power industry.
Atlantic Coast Pipeline Faces Civil Rights Complaint After Key Permit Is Blocked — Inside Climate News
Opponents of the gas pipeline say state and federal agencies failed to assess the health impacts the project would have on minorities, as required under federal law.
Pipeline Neighbors File Civil Rights Complaint vs State of NC — News Release from NC WARN
Groups say approval of Atlantic Coast Pipeline cheated vulnerable residents out of federal civil rights protections for low-income communities and people of color. Letter to Connie Walker, President and General Manager of WUNC Radio, on the continuing news media failure in covering Duke Energy, fracked gas and accelerating climate urgency.
See coverage in the N&O
See coverage in the Progressive Pulse
See coverage in Inside Climate News