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Friday, November 11, 2011
News Occupy Charlotte needs energy
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn on Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 9:39 AM
One of the challenges for Occupy Charlotte as the group camps out at the Old City Hall is a lack of electricity. There are no power outlets on the lawn, and the one nearby outlet — at a city bus stop that also had WiFi until recently — has been cut off.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Capt. Jeff Estes said the power was cut at the bus stop for several reasons: it's only supposed to be on for special events; it costs the city money to allow Occupiers to use it; and police have noticed homeless people plugging in heaters and small appliances at similar bus stops (though the Occupiers haven't done that), and that represents a fire hazard.
The Charlotte Occupiers have a gas-powered generator, which they use sparingly. (They use propane in the kitchen.) But for most of their energy needs — like charging cell phones or laptop batteries — the demonstrators have to go home or to one of the many occupation-friendly businesses that are willing to share.
In New York City, Greenpeace's "Rolling Sunlight" has stopped by to help power the movement:
The ten-year old bio-diesel -powered truck, driven by Robert Gardner and Jesse Coleman of Greenpeace, weighs in at a hefty 9 tons thanks to a 2 kilowatt solar array and numerous batteries that store 50 kilowatt hours of sun-generated electricity; enough to power entire homes.Read the EcoCentricBlog.org entire post, by Peter Hanlon, here.
With Duke Energy headquartered in Charlotte, and the fast-approaching reality that, after its merger with Progress Energy it will be the largest energy company in the world, I wouldn't be surprised to see Rolling Sunshine, or something similar, roll up to 600 E. Trade St. to help out Charlotte's protestors.
The Center for American Progress, a Progressive organization, is also encouraging Occupiers to think outside of the grid with their "Power for the People: Energy for the 99 percent" post, pointing out the inequity in the energy industry and how it impacts us all:
Today Washington politicians publicly bicker over renewable energy credit programs that will only cost taxpayers $2.5 billion while the oil-and-gas industry quietly pulls in $7 billion in annual subsidies. But even that is not enough for Big Oil. These companies are now lobbying hard for even more federal government support, for even more of the public’s waters and lands to be opened up for drilling rigs or pipelines, and for even fewer health and safety standards to govern those projects.At the same time, those of us who pay the taxes that subsidize Big Oil—call us the 99 percent, though in reality we’re more like the 99.99 percent—must continue paying out precious dollars at the pump and must suffer from the ill-health effects of fossil-fuel pollution because we have very little choice in how we power, or fuel, our lives.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. We have the power to choose a brighter, more equitable, more sustainable future.
Read the entire post, by Kate Gordon, here.
Charlotte's Occupiers are paying attention to Duke Energy and thinking about how to power their movement going forward. Here's video from a protest held yesterday at the energy titan:
That wasn't the first time the group protested at Duke Energy. The Occupiers also were part of the protest of the company's rate-hike hearing in Charlotte last month. See our "Duke Energy protesters rail against the 'Master'" post, which includes video from that protest.
Further reading: Occupy Charlotte charges onward amid a movement facing big challenges
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