In the energy business, natural gas is supposed to be one of the good guys — the cleaner-burning fossil fuel that can help wean the world from dirty coal during the transition to a low-carbon future.
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, as revealed even more by recent science. Yet utilities and the gas industry are still 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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Regulators Hike Environmentalists’ Bond For Asheville Plant Appeal — WFAE
State regulators have delivered another blow to environmentalists trying to block a new power plant in Asheville. The North Carolina Utilities Commission says two groups must post a $98 million bond before they can appeal.
Regulators order $98M bond in Duke plant fight — News Release from NC WARN
By setting a $98 million bond in today’s order, the Utilities Commission again has wrongly attempted to block our access to the courthouse – and shield itself and Duke Energy from scrutiny over the approval of a new $1 billion power plant in Asheville that is unneeded, would rely on a shaky supply of shale gas, and would further speed the climate crisis.
Backroom Dealing Taints Yet Another Duke Energy Case — News Release from NC WARN
For at least the fifth straight time in a major Duke Energy case, state regulators have undermined any semblance of fair process – this time by cutting a backroom deal with the utility in a $6 billion merger with Piedmont Natural Gas even before receiving input from either the public or formal parties to the case. The NC Utilities Commission took the extra step this time of granting Duke’s request to disallow testimonies by two natural gas experts fielded by NC WARN and allies.
Duke Energy’s worrisome move to silence nonprofits — News & Observer
One of the most important roles that nonprofit organizations play in our society is that of values guardian… That Duke Energy wants two nonprofits to have to raise $240 million to challenge it in court shows how barriers can be erected to make it difficult for nonprofits to play this vital role. (Op-Ed by director of Institute for Nonprofits at NC State.)
Duke Energy’s planned power plant tied to fracking — Mountain Express
When Duke Energy announced it was canceling plans for a transmission line to a new plant in South Carolina, local environmentalists hailed it as a victory. The utility instead proposed two natural gas-powered units to replace the coal-fired generators at Lake Julian. But what wasn’t heard much during this feel-good narrative was a word that’s generated its own fair share of controversy in recent years: fracking.
Duke Energy wants 2 nonprofits to risk $240M to challenge it in court — News & Observer
What’s a reasonable cost for a nonprofit environmental organization to pay before it’s allowed to legally challenge a state power plant permit issued to the nation’s largest electric utility? Duke Energy’s suggestion: $240 million.
Groups Rebut Duke’s Latest Court-barring Bond Claim — News Release from NC WARN
In one of the strangest regulatory cases in state history, a 45-day rubber-stamp approval of a $1.1 billion gas-fired power plant in Asheville has been swamped by the subsequent 120-day battle over our right to appeal the pro-utility regulators’ ruling, a fight with no end in sight. Late yesterday NC WARN and The Climate Times filed an expert’s affidavit rebutting each point of Duke Energy’s recent call to escalate the appeal bond to $240 million.
130 Groups Seek Investigation of EPA Methane Scandal — News Release from NC WARN
NC WARN sent the Inspector General of the US EPA a statement signed by 130 diverse organizations calling for an investigation into our June 8 complaint that scientific fraud and cover-up by agency officials has already wasted crucial years in slowing the climate crisis and has enhanced hazards for gas facility workers and neighbors.
Temperature Record Shattered Again in May per NOAA
The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for May 2016 was the highest for May in the 137-year period of record, at 0.87°C (1.57°F) above the 20th century average of 14.8°C (58.6°F), besting the previous record set in 2015 by 0.02°C (0.04°F). May 2016 marks the 13th consecutive month a monthly global temperature record has been broken—the longest such streak since global temperature records began in 1880.