Tag Archives: clean energy

Duke Energy & Koch Brothers aim to kill clean energy in North Carolina

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As anticipated, former Duke Energy engineer and North Carolina Representative Mike Hager has introduced a version of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s “Electricity Freedom Act” into the state’s General Assembly.

House Bill 298 would fully repeal North Carolina’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS)–a state law requiring utilities to generate more electricity from clean sources over time. The existing RPS law is credited for contributing to the rapid growth of the clean energy sector in North Carolina.

By introducing a bill to fully repeal North Carolina’s RPS law, Rep. Hager is backtracking on his own promise not to eliminate current renewable energy targets for NC’s dominant utility, Duke Energy. From the Charlotte Business Journal last December:

Hager says he does not support eliminating the renewable requirements. N.C. utilities already have committed to long-term contracts to meet the current level of renewable-energy requirements. So changing the rules could cause problems for the utilities, he notes. That is why he generally favors capping renewables at the current level.

But Rep. Hager abandoned this position, instead marching in lockstep with the American Legislative Exchange Council’s full repeal initiative.

At least seven of the bill’s sponsors are known affiliates of ALEC, including three of the four primary sponsors–Rep’s Mike Hager, Marilyn Avila, George Cleveland, Rayne Brown, Justin Burr, Sarah Stevens, and Mike Stone. Continue reading →

Koch Brother Fronts Flood into Kansas to Attack Wind Industry – REPORT

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Correction: this post listed KS Sen. Julia Lynn as a supporter of the RPS freeze–she is not and her name was removed below.

A recent flood of Koch-supported think tanks, junk scientists and astroturf groups from inside and outside of Kansas are awaiting the outcome of a bill this week that could stall progress on the growth of clean energy in Kansas.

States around the country, including Texas, Ohio, Missouri and North Carolina are poised to cut back on government support for clean energy jobs using model legislation from the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC, which brings companies together with state lawmakers to forge a wish list of corporate state laws behind closed doors, is coordinating this year’s assault on state laws that require a gradual increase of electricity generated by clean energy sources.

ALEC and a hoard of other Koch-funded interests operating under the umbrella of the State Policy Network have hit Kansas legislators hard with junk economic studies, junk science and a junk vision of more polluting energy in Kansas’ future. Koch Industries lobbyist Jonathan Small has added direct pressure on Kansas lawmakers to rollback support for clean energy.

This fossil fuel-funded attack ignores the good that wind energy has done for Kansas, a state known for its bipartisan support for its growing wind industry (see key report by Polsinelli Shughart). The state now has 19 operating wind farms that have brought millions to farmers leasing their land and millions more to the state, county and local levels (NRDC). The American Wind Energy Association says that Kansas wind industry jobs have grown to 13,000 with the help of incentives like the renewable portfolio standard.

Unfortunately, clean energy is not palatable to the billionaire Koch brothers or the influence peddlers they finance. Continue reading →

Salesforce the latest company to commit to clean energy

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The effort to build a world powered by clean energy needs champions in every arena of our economy: activists on the streets, politicians in government, engineers in labs, and corporate leaders in boardrooms. Continue reading →

NC: Duke Energy Gave $147,000 to Sponsors of SB10 Power Grab

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The North Carolina legislature is taking the unprecedented step of firing 131 officials from several policy and regulatory boards, including the Utilities Commission overseeing Duke Energy, the Environmental Management Commission, and two bodies overseeing policies for the N.C. Coastal Management Program. The bill, SB 10, has already passed in the state Senate and is expected to make its way through the House before winding up on Gov. Pat McCrory’s desk.

Contributions from freshly-merged Duke Energy and Progress Energy to the SB 10 SPONSORS total $147,000:

3 of 3 primary sponsors: $102,500 from Duke Energy and Progress Energy

  • Sen. Tom Apodaca – $35,000 from Duke and $30,500 from Progress (2002-2012)
  • Sen. K. Neal Hunt – $19,000 from Duke and $12,000 from Progress (2004-2012)
  • Sen. Bill Rabon – $3,000 from Duke and $3,000 from Progress (2010-2012)

4 of 9 co-sponsors: $44,500 from Duke Energy and Progress Energy

  • Sen. Andrew C. Brock – $8,500 from Duke and $2,000 from Progress (2002-2012)
  • Sen. Harry Brown – $14,000 from Duke and $11,000 from Progress (2006-2012)
  • Sen. Thom Goolsby – $1,000 from Duke and $2,000 from Progress (2010-2012)
  • Sen. Louis Pate – $3,000 from Duke and $3,000 from Progress (2008-2010)

While Duke Energy recently shut down a couple old coal plants, it also just started operating a new coal boiler at its Cliffside Steam Station in NC. Duke’s coal pollution already contributed to over 400 deaths in North Carolina each year according to the Clean Air Task Force (see also this map). NC Governor Pat McCrory worked for Duke Energy for 28 years, and has already hired several other former Duke executives for his transition team and cabinet.

Groups like NC Warn and AARP of North Carolina were already concerned about incoming Gov. McCrory’s ability to promote industry-friendly regulators to open positions in the NC Utilities Commission. With SB10 well on its way toward McCrory’s desk, the situation is far more grave than good-government advocates realized.

It appears that between Duke Energy, McCrory’s new multimillionaire budget director Art Pope, and shill groups bankrolled by Pope and the billionaire Koch brothers, North Carolina’s government is co-opted and poised to deliver some serious blows to the state’s environment, the global climate, and the health of people affected by pollution and climate-related disasters.

We did it for the future

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Film and TV star Lucy Lawless and seven activists were today convicted and sentenced to 120 hours community service each
and for attempting to stop an Arctic-bound oil drilling ship last year.

Along with six Greenpeace volunteers, the New Zealand actress occupied the Shell-chartered Noble Discoverer in New Plymouth last February in a move that captured headlines around the world.

Actor Lucy Lawless, right, aboard Shell drillship

It’s almost a year since we climbed the Shell-contracted drilling rig, Noble Discoverer.  Landing on the pier that day we felt dwarfed by the vast 53 meter drill tower that sat atop this rusting hulk which Shell was to use to pioneer their drilling programme in the Arctic.

Insignificant as we were we felt something had to be done – a light had to be shone on Shell’s insane plans to drill for oil in the icy Arctic wilderness.

Not in my wildest dreams did I think we would succeed as we did remaining atop the drill tower for over 77 hours. Continue reading →

U.S. Dept. of Interior has 60 days to review Shell’s blooper reel

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Crewmembers of the mobile drilling unit Kulluk evacuated after the rig floated around loose off Alaskan coast

As many of you have read, Shell set out to prove to the world in 2012 with big oil conceit that indeed they were Arctic Ready and could drill successfully for oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off the North Coast of Alaska. Well, after literally limping back out of our Northern Pole waters, Shells’ plans crumbled under the rigors of the Arctic. Continue reading →

Duke Energy is Shutting Down Two Coal Plants: What’s Next?

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Kumi Naidoo and Greenpeace boat at Riverbend coal plant

Today, Duke Energy, the biggest electric utility in the country, announced that it is shutting down two coal-fired power plants near Charlotte, North Carolina — the Buck and Riverbend plants.

The closures are great news, both for communities in North Carolina who want healthy air and water, and for everyone around the world, since burning coal is the leading U.S. cause of global warming.

Continue reading →

Virginia: Ken Cuccinelli’s Clean Energy Rollback Mirrors ALEC Agenda

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Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli is working with coal companies and State Policy Network groups backed by Koch Industries to rollback VA’s voluntary clean energy program.

In states across the country, the American Legislative Exchange Council–or ALEC–and other State Policy Network groups are lining up to roll back clean energy laws, an effort complimented by captured politicians like Mr. Cuccinelli.

Ken Cuccinelli is a former ALEC member, and he’s working with ALEC member company Dominion Resources to end Virginia’s clean energy program. The same Dominion that just gave him $10,000 for his run for governor, on top of almost $46,000 in previous years for other political positions.

While Virginia’s voluntary renewable portfolio standard is far from perfect, it’s neither helpful nor inspiring for Mr. Cuccinelli to scrap the program altogether on behalf of a few vested dirty energy interests.

Rather, as Chesapeake Climate Action Network suggests, Virginia’s law needs to be strengthened in ways that increase clean energy production and the good jobs that come with it. Both Cuccinelli and CCAN agree the law has flaws and loopholes that don’t properly incentivize new clean energy development within the state of Virginia. Some of the law’s weaknesses: Continue reading →

Duke Energy Flip-Flop: ALEC Leads Attack on North Carolina Clean Energy with Duke Funding

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Corporate polluters are taking aim this year at states with renewable energy laws, starting with an attack on North Carolina’s clean energy economy by a corporate front group known as ALEC with support from Duke Energy, ExxonMobil, and Koch Industries.

NC Rep. Mike Hager: ALEC member and former Duke Energy employee.

North Carolina state Representative Mike Hager says he is confident that he has the votes needed to weaken or undo his state’s clean energy requirements during his second term. Rep. Hager is a former Duke Energy engineer and a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. Duke and Progress Energy (now legally merged) have given Rep. Hager $14,500 for his last two election bids, outspent only by the NC Republican Party.

This is where ALEC makes things awkward for Duke Energy: the law that Rep. Mike Hager is targeting (2007 SB3) was created with input from Duke Energy, and Duke explicitly opposes ALEC’s “Electricity Freedom Act,” the model law to repeal state Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards (REPS). Duke Energy re-asserted its support for North Carolina’s REPS law to the Charlotte Business Journal last April and Progress Energy publicly supported the law before merging with Duke.

Apparently, Duke forgot about supporting North Carolina’s clean energy incentives somewhere along the way. Duke Energy remains a paying member of the American Legislative Exchange Council. Continue reading →