Tag Archives: dnc

DUKE: DUMP ALEC!

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Written by Monica Embry, Greenpeace field organizer in Charlotte, NC.

Yesterday, members of Greenpeace, Energy Action Coalition, and other groups sent a message loud and clear to Duke Energy that we want them to dump ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council) before the end of the Democratic National Convention.

Group Duke Dump ALEC

ALEC is a rightwing bill mill group that connects corporations with our elected officials
to draft model legislation in support of corporate profits over the welfare of people and our planet. ALEC has written legislation including Arizona’s racist immigration law SB1070, Stand Your Ground Laws relating to the murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida, and many voter suppression laws such as Voter ID here in North Carolina. But that’s not all, ALEC also has an Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force which is working on legislation to stop regulation of coal fired power plants and to prevent laws from being passed that support renewable energy. Continue reading →

Greenpeace at the DNC: Day 2

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Greenpeace calls on Democrats to cut ties with Duke Energy

It’s a very different feeling today at the convention that it was yesterday. The Occupy rally rattled a few cages, the good people from Undocubus got out of jail today, and there was a great protest outside of a Southern Company sponsored event. I think that the delegates are getting the message.

To quote today’s Greenwire headline, “Democrats and the energy industry…it’s complicated.”

Well, it’s less complicated than they may think.

This is Duke Energy’s convention and CEO Jim Rogers is the star. Despite ringing this city in four coal and two nuclear power plants, they’ve still managed to escape a good deal of scrutiny. No doubt they are greenwashing every chance they get; including a full publication that given to every member of the press upon arriving at the convention.

That’s a full-on sham if you ask me. So, we’ve had to ramp up the pressure a bit and asked a couple of other folks. Chuck Schumer said they should drop ALEC. So did Dick Durbin. So did 150,000 people from around the country.

What else could we do? Activists in Ohio and right here in North Carolina delivered those petitions right to their doorstep. Then, along with our friends over at Energy Action Coalition, we walked on over and asked Mr. Rogers if he is ready to leave ALEC. He said he’s heard us loud and clear and are making a decision as we speak.

People want Duke Energy out of ALEC. Sounds like it’s time for that “leadership” that Duke speaks about so often.

Leaving ALEC is a first step. Then, maybe they’ll be freed up a bit from the corporate scandals, utility commission hearings and DNC planning to stop using blown-up mountains to power ancient coal plants. Live up to their own sustainability rhetoric – then I’m sure you’d both Duke and the Democrats would have a more inclusive, less confrontational convention space inside a clean, green, renewable Charlotte.

By being a leader, Duke Energy can make this convention less of a locked down security space and more of an opportunity for real change in America.

Greenpeace at the DNC: Opening Day

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Tell Duke Energy to Stop Polluting our Democracy

Today the Democratic Convention officially opened. Weeks of anticipation, months of work, and years of lobbying are all coming to a head. For the environmental world, significant questions abound about what a second Obama administration might look like.

Will the Democrats wise up and prevent drilling in the Arctic? Will they stop the Tar Sands pipeline? Will they support real chemical security? Will they stop selling coal on public lands to China or India? Will the president explicitly call for an end to mountaintop removal mining? Will they make sure that the production tax credit is extended?

What is this political party going to do to help stop, mitigate and adapt to the effects of catastrophic climate change?

The energy package the Democrats rolled out today makes it clear they will not be doing enough. Through the embrace of an “all of the above” strategy on energy, the Democrats of 2012 have started to sound a whole lot like the Republicans of 2008.

All of the above doesn’t work when most of those options are deadly.

The administration has done some good work on standards for mercury and air toxics (MATS) in addition to CAFE standards for cars and trucks. And to be fair, they had a major setback in the DC court tossing out the much needed nitrogen and sulfur cross-state pollution rule (CSAPR). However, they have delayed proposals for greenhouse gas standards (GHG), or “carbon pollution,” on existing stationary sources (like coal plants), particulate matter 2.5 (soot), ozone, and cooling water (for power plants mainly). The administration has also delayed final rules on industrial boilers (like cement plants), coal ash (think TVA ash ponds), and cooling water intake (aka sucking up fish to cool power plants). In addition, we have seen delays on fracking emissions (until 2015) and GHGs from new sources (new coal plants).

That’s a problem.

I think it’s pretty clear that any sustainable energy future requires “all of the above” (and many more) questions to be answered and more importantly acted on. The habitability of our planet is at stake and I want to know what the plan is to ensure our viability as a species.

More to come…

Is dirty energy bankrolling the DNC?

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Greenpeace Takes Action at the DNC

Greenpeace Charlotte Field Organizer Monica Embrey’s statement at opening rally at March on Wall St South.

Listen to Monica’s interview with Democracy Now

September 2, 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina

It’s great to be here today with all of you. My name is Monica Embrey and I’m the NC Organizer with Greenpeace based in Charlotte. Today we stand here with many different issues — social, economic and environmental — but our vision of the world we want is clear: a world that is just for all of its people and the planet. Continue reading →

Coalition letter to DNC: Tell Duke Energy to Dump ALEC!

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Today, Greenpeace and the Coalition to March on Wall Street South sent a letter to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee, highlighting the DNC’s connection to the American Legislative Exchange Council through Duke Energy.

The American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, is a corporate bill mill that not only drafts state laws attacking clean energy and global warming laws, but circulates voter suppression laws that the Democratic party has called “unnecessary and suppressive.” These “Voter ID” laws require registered American voters to show government-issued identification at the polls, something millions of legitimate voters do not have. Voters who are disenfranchised by these laws disproportionately represent communities of color, senior citizens and college students. A recent report by the Philadelphia Inquirer found that of the 39 of the 62 “Voter ID” bills introduced in various states over the last two years were linked to ALEC. Continue reading →

Duke Energy Uses ALEC to Attack Climate and Clean Energy Laws in Pay-to-Play Politics

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In the lead up to this fall’s Democratic National Convention, polluter giant Duke Energy has offered a $10 million loan. Good thing, since Duke CEO Jim Rogers has taken the lead on the remaining fundraising for the DNC and is now being criticized for doing a shoddy job of it amid his controversial takeover as CEO following a big merger with Progress Energy.

Lost amid this dramatic transition is Duke’s ironic role in the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. ALEC is the infamous corporate bill mill that connects notably-conservative state lawmakers with lobbyists, PR agents and other representatives of companies ranging from Koch Industries to Phillip Morris to Pfizer. ALEC’s agenda spans across Big Business priorities, creating template state laws that serve to deny climate change science, privatize schools, protect killers (as with the Trayvon Martin “castle doctrine” legislation) and disenfranchise voters through Voter ID laws.

Voter ID laws that Democrats call “suppressive,” an ironic contrast to Duke’s $10 million line of credit to the DNC.

Duke Energy is heavily invested in ALEC in several ways. Duke sponsors ALEC’s meetings, dedicates its staff to help oversee ALEC’s state operations, and consistently operates in ALEC’s anti-environmental task force, a who’s-who of polluters and apologists attacking clean energy legislation that Duke purportedly supports. Here’s an overview of Duke’s notable role in ALEC: Continue reading →