Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Opportunity to Speak Out Against Coal, In Favor of Clean Energy

Dear Readers

Carolinas Clean Air Coalition and the Sierra Club are trying to get 200 folks to the Main Library in Charlotte tonight (Weds Jan 10) for a press conference at 6:00 and a public hearing at 7:00 sponsored by the NC Utilities Commission.

Duke Energy has increased the price tag, which we will pay for through increased rates, from $2 billion to $3 billion to expand its Cliffside coal plant 55 miles west of Charlotte.

Coal is an environmental disaster that begins with blowing up 6 tons of mountaintop to extract every single ton of coal. Coal-fired power plants spew tons of greenhouse gases, ozone-producing pollution, and highly toxic mercury into the air. Recent studies have shown that NC can provide adequate energy through renewables (solar, wind, methane from hog waste, landfills, timber waste, etc.) AND by maximizing energy efficiency.

We invite you to TAKE ACTION for a few hours at this pivotal point in NC's energy policty debate. We need BODIES to show up at the library tonight. If there's any way you can make it, a large audience will show the Utilities Commissioners that ordinary people want to move away from old polluting power plants to clean energy sources.

The room downstairs at the library holds 114 chairs and we want to overflow the room. We will have speakers lined up, so we mainly need lots of folks to show their support.

The press conference will be at 6:00 outside the library and we encourage folks to come then so they can get into the hearing room early.

The US is the major contributor to global-warming greenhouse gases and Duke is the 3rd largest producer of electricity through coal in the US. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IF WE SPEAK OUT NOW!

KEYWORDS:: COAL DUKE ENERGY NORTH CAROLINA NC UTILITIES COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING CLIFFSIDE POWER PLANT RENEWABLE ENERGY RENEWABLES ENERGY EFFICIENCY SIERRA CLUB CAROLINAS CLEAN AIR COALITION GLOBAL WARMING GREENHOUSE GASES CARBON DIOXIDE AIR POLLUTION MERCURY EMISSIONS

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