RESOLUTION TO SLOW THE CLIMATE CRISIS BY REDUCING METHANE EMISSIONS FROM THE FRACKED GAS AND POWER INDUSTRIES
WHEREAS, an unprecedented, three-year global heat wave, ongoing sea level rise and increasingly intense weather extremes are already devastating communities, wildlife and property in North Carolina and around the world;
WHEREAS, those least responsible for causing this crisis have been hurt first and worst, primarily low-wealth communities and people of color, and humanity is quickly running out of time to slow this enormous challenge before it accelerates under its own momentum beyond our control;
WHEREAS, methane is 80-100 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping Earth’s heat, and has become the driving force behind the rapid heating of the planet;
WHEREAS, large amounts of natural gas – which is mostly methane – are being vented and leaked directly into the air from various gas equipment, with emissions measured at rates of up to 12% of the total gas produced by wells using fracking technology;
WHEREAS, these emissions make burning natural gas for electricity at least three times worse for the climate than coal, in addition to other health impacts and explosion risks;
WHEREAS, the recent surge in methane emissions is largely due to the US fracking boom, which is being driven by Duke Energy and other utilities’ expanded use of gas to generate electricity;
WHEREAS, most US gas and electricity corporations are fighting efforts to reduce methane emissions;
WHEREAS, reducing methane emissions can be achieved quickly and cost-effectively while creating thousands of jobs; and
WHEREAS, immediately reducing methane emissions from the US natural gas industry can slow global warming enough to allow time to replace fossil fuels with cheaper clean energy such as solar, wind and storage technologies; now therefore be it
RESOLVED that North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper shall use his constitutionally-granted executive authority to ensure that:
1. by December 31, 2018 no natural gas originating from fracking operations is used in or transported through North Carolina;
2. by December 31, 2022 no other natural gas is used in or transported through North Carolina unless it can be verified that the methane emissions associated with its production, transportation, and end use are at most 0.5% of gas pumped from the well; and
3. no new natural gas-fired power plants or pipelines are constructed in North Carolina, and all existing gas plants and pipelines are phased out expeditiously and replaced with clean, renewable energy.
SIGNERS AS OF SEPTEMBER 20, 2017
ORGANIZATIONS
NC WARN
North Carolina NAACP
Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem & Vicinity
North Carolina Council of Churches
Clean Air Carolina
Clean Water for North Carolina
Food and Water Watch
Dogwood Alliance
Chapel Hill Friends Meeting
Justice Action Mobilization Network
Alliance for Climate Education
Western North Carolina Physicians for Social Responsibility
March for Science-Act on Climate, Greensboro
Forsyth County NAACP
NC Climate Justice Summit
Beloved Community Center of Greensboro, Inc.
350 Triangle
350 Winston-Salem
350 Asheville
Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE)
Rachel Carson Council
The Canary Coalition
Abundance NC
The Morning Sun Foundation
Silk Hope Catholic Worker, Siler City
Student Environmental Education Coalition, Chapel Hill
Alliance for Energy Democracy
Soul Ash Pictures
Asheville Community Rights
Community Roots, Asheville
Temple Emanuel Environmental Movie Action, Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem United Against Hate
EnvironmentaLEE, Lee County, NC
Citizens Coalition for a Safe Community, Los Angeles County, CA
LEPOCO Peace Center, Bethlehem, PA
BUSINESSES
Box Turtle Bakery, Carrboro
Camel City Dispatch, Winston-Salem
Different Drum, Durham
Golden Egg Permaculture, Chapel Hill
Mary’s Gourmet Diner, Winston-Salem
Performance Impressions LLC, Asheville
Ron Stanley, Owner, R&D Tree Service, Lewisville
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Orange County Board of Commissioners
Chatham County Board of Commisioners (modified resolution)
CIVIC LEADERS (affiliations are for identification purposes only)
Everette Witherspoon, Forsyth County Commissioner
Ana M. Blackburn, NC NAACP Latino Liaison
Carolyn Coleman, NC NAACP 1st Vice President
Carolyn McDougal, NC NAACP 2nd Vice President
Courtney Patterson, NC NAACP 4th Vice President
Mary E. Perry, NC NAACP District 10 Director
John E. Williams, NC NAACP District 15 Director
FAITH LEADERS (affiliations are for identification purposes only)
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President, North Carolina NAACP
Rev. Willard Bass, Green Street United Methodist Church, Winston-Salem
Rev. Curtis H. Brown, Greensboro
Rev. Alvin Carlisle, President, NAACP Forsyth County
Rev. Michael Carter, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Swannanoa Valley, Black Mountain
Rabbi Mark Cohn, Temple Emanuel of Winston-Salem
Pastor Tembila Covington, 2nd Vice President, Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity
Pastor Mindy Douglas, First Presbyterian Church, Durham
Rev. Dr. Carlton A.G. Eversley, Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity
Rev. Dr. Lamont Foster, Stokes County
Bishop Todd Fulton, Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity
Rev. Curtis Gatewood, Acting Executive Director, North Carolina NAACP
Rev. Gregory Hairston, Stokes County
Rev. Nelson Johnson, Faith Community Church, Greensboro
Rev. Dr. Dennis Leach, Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity
Rec. Charlotte Leach, Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity
Rev. John Mendez, Winston-Salem
Rev. Monroe Miles, Burlington
Rev. Lisa Mullen, Director of Christian Education, Kernersville Moravian Church
Rev. Pat Phelan, Chapel Hill Zen Center
Rev. Philip Raines, Winston-Salem Friends Meeting
Rev. Karen Richardson Dunn, Creation Justice Network/UCC Southern Conference
Rev. Dr. Rodney S. Sadler, Jr., Union Presbyterian Seminary, Charlotte
Rev. Craig Schaub, Parkway United Church of Christ, Winston-Salem
Rev. Jenny Shultz-Thomas, Community United Church of Christ, Raleigh
Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, President, North Carolina Council of Churches
Rev. Cathy Tamsberg, Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, Raleigh