More than 40 protesters were arrested in Uptown Charlotte today after crossing a florescent pink line spray-painted on the concrete in front of Duke Energy's corporate offices.
At 10 a.m. this morning, the protesters gathered in Marshall Park, across the street from the Mecklenburg County Courthouse, where they passed out signs and listened to a handful of speakers, including Gloria Reuben who marched with the protesters to the courtyard outside Gov. Bev Perdue's Charlotte office.
The group wound their way through the city accompanied by a drum line from Greensboro. Chants included things like, "Green, baby, green," "This is what democracy looks like" and "Hey Duke. Hey, what? It's getting hot in here. There's too much carbon in the atmosphere." Only after the arrests began did the crowd start to chant, "Arrest Jim Rogers."
Rogers, of course, is Duke Energy's CEO, who is often accused by environmental groups of greenwashing, something that happens when corporate giants say they're doing environmentally friendly things, when they aren't.
The peaceful protest lasted nearly four hours and included several hundred people. Though there isn't an official count yet, The Charlotte Observer reports 300 people were at Marshall Park this morning.
What do the protesters want? They want construction to halt on Duke Energy's new coal plant, Cliffside Steam Station, roughly 60 miles west of Charlotte, saying the billions of dollars spent to build the new plant would be put to better use funding renewable energy research and production. They also want Gov. Perdue to take action and shut down the plant's construction herself.
Now that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has officially declared that CO2, one of the toxins emitted from coal plants, endangers the public's health, it is up to Congress to determine how new power plants will be regulated.
The E.P.A. announcement did not contain specific targets for reductions of heat-trapping gases or new requirements for energy efficiency in vehicles, power plants or industry. Those will come after a period of comment and rule-making or in any legislation that emerges from Congress.Read the rest of this New York Times article here.
Why is burning coal bad? Check this out: